StephenCJ Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) A few months a ago I placed an order with Hannants, and they sent me this little gem by mistake. At first I was a little cranky but they soon fixed up their error and I got a free model. I called it a little gem and it is. I don't know how accurate it is and I don't care, it is something I wouldn't buy but a very interesting aircraft. The boxing is really good everything is protected in plastic bags and foam covers. The pitot tube only lasted a couple of hours before it broke off, though. I was careful with it. The detail looks good and the kit goes together quickly. As you can see there are thousands of intricate parts. I have the interior ready for paint, but no idea what colours to use, mainly because Hobby Boss haven't put that info on their instruction sheet. Here are some pictures of the boxing. I have to go shopping for some paint tomorrow. Pictures will follow when I sort out how to take my WIP pictures. Some info on colours would be useful if anybody can help. My other builds are coming along nicely, but having 2 broken ribs I have become a little depressed and I thought something that won't need a lot of filler like the Stuka I am building will boost moral. mmmmm... Thanks for looking. Edited January 20, 2015 by StephenCJ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Interesting breakdown of the fuselarge I'll follow this with interest. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 The version that is on the box would be in standard 3 colour upper camouflage, green, grey and a tan colour with light blue undersides, there is a great thread on VVS colours here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234933995-vvs-colours-in-the-great-patriotic-war/?hl=akan Cheers Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenCJ Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 thanks Spitfire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) Any more on this build? One thing you definitely need to watch out for is that the armament is all wrong - the arrow (swept-winged) variant did not have the 37-mm cannons, it had 23-mm cannons extending from small fairings on the leading edge of the wing (like on the 1/72nd scale Tamiya Il-2 arrow). The 37-mm cannons were carried by wooden winged straight-winged two-seaters. The moulding, size, and shape of this kit are quite good, however, but you might need to dress up the cockpit a bit. It is an "easy assembly" kit after all. Regards, Jason Edited February 14, 2015 by Learstang 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenCJ Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Learstang she is undercoated, I haven't done much with the cockpit. The rear gunner doesn't even get a seat. It is an easy assembly kit but you get some practice filling in gaps and re doing panel lines. So what do the guns look like, I know nothing about Russian aircraft. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Then you've asked the correct person, Stephen; I know a little. A great site to find out about all things VVS (Red Air Force), is http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/il-2/il2-camo/il-2m3/il2m3-camo.htm. This page has plenty of photographs and paint schemes for the Il-2 arrow. If you give me your e-mail by PM, I can also send you close-up photographs of the cannon installation. Best Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenCJ Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 (edited) Finally some progress. I had forgotten how much fun modelling is. I was going to rebuild the guns as Learstang suggested but I didn't think the effort would be worth it. This is the rear gunner's gun as supplied by Hobby Boss. I have no idea as to what sort of weapon it is supposed to represent. Possibly a weapon from the new Star Wars movie or some secret Soviet star wars weapon pre Ronald Reagun. I can visualize a horrid death awaiting some poor German pilot that gets too close. A bit like the Dalek's weapon. I have removed the top 2 barrels. On to painting. Painted the model and in my opinion the best paint job I have ever done. Painted the camouflage freehand, I think it looks great. Here is the bottom with a coat of clear (long life floor polish). On inspection you will notice the wonderful paint cracking camouflage the Russians invented that I have faithfully reproduced in 1/72 scale. Beautiful isn't it. The top of the model has a coat of Tamiya clear from a rattle can. No special paint cracking camouflage here. What went wrong? Why do we put floor polish on our models, what purpose does this activity serve??? A close up of the cracking. I have gone off floor polish, I can't see any benefit. Guess I might need educating. Thanks for looking. Stephen Edited May 1, 2015 by StephenCJ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Sorry about the paint-cracking, Stephen. Although the top colours look good, you're still missing the dark grey that was used on the wartime arrows. If you click on the web site I posted in an earlier post, you can get some good (and accurate) Il-2 paint schemes. Regarding the Dalek weapon, it's actually not a bad representation of a late war Berezin UBT 50-calibre machine gun. Although removing the top barrel is fine (it was an automatic recharging device that was absent from most GPW UBT machine guns), it should still have two barrels (well, obviously it needs at least the lower, or it's not much of a machine gun!). At any rate, it's looking good, even with those dodgy 37-mm cannons. As luck would have it, I just had a look at my Hobby Boss kit today. Someday I'll get back to it; in the meantime I'll enjoy it vicariously through your build. Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenCJ Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 (edited) I quite like the look of this plane and I'm thinking of building another, not the Hobby Boss version. Can you recommend a good 1/72 scale kit? I looked at the reference photos and couldn't find a pic of that machine gun. Stephen Edited May 1, 2015 by StephenCJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 I have both versions of the Academy Il-2 and though I haven't yet built either, they both look good to me. https://youtu.be/kzZvrHDOcis http://www.hyperscale.com/2009/features/il272cj_1.htm http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234937116-il-2-shturmovik-in-172nd-scale-by-academy/ http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/aca/kit_aca_12417.shtml Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 (edited) Chris is correct about the Academy kits - they are both very nice (I have built them both). If you wish to do another arrow, I would highly recommend the Tamiya kit. It's basically their excellent 1/48th scale kit shrunk down. I've built that also. You say you don't have any pictures of the Berezin UBT machine gun - look no further than the links below (notice that none of them have the extra barrel above the bottom two). Regards, Jason http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/33%20-%20New_zpsw2otvltq.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/15_zpswqbmbsgx.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/11_zpsqals7ycv.jpg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/168_zpsd6yey0pp.jpeg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/169_zpsez6dzqb9.jpeg http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx323/Learstang/166_zps5ixwdqnd.jpg Edited May 1, 2015 by Learstang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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