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ZTS - 1/72 IL-2m3 Winter 1944 "Finished ! "


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Apologies for the late arrival.

Having spectacularly failed to get close to finishing in any of the recent GB's, I thought rather than try to build something with parts missing etc. I would start with one sealed in the bag !

According to the quality control department, this kit dates from 1986, and was complete when it went in the bag / box so without wanting to tempt fate, things are off to a good start.

I've never built a ZTS kit before, the colour of plastic is "different" to put it mildly. The decals don't look to clever but fingers crossed will be ok.

I'm going to build the Winter 1944 version, the white painted one with the large script painted on the side.

Good luck to everyone on this GB, and I hope to finally get something in the gallery !

Cheers Pat

 

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Hi Pat. I actually really like this kit: it was one of the first ones I built on my first return to modelling 13 years or so ago. I love the old faded instructions and many decal schemes. I did one of the Polish options.

IIRC the main things to look out for are:

The canopy didn't fit very well. I tried to fair it in. I gave up. Then found that Falcon have a lovely vac one in their Russian set. If you would like one let me know as I still have one in a set and I don't need it. Gratis as I love these kits :)

The wing roots took a bit of filling.

The undercarriage legs are quite fragile; it's a big heavy 'Beast' when built and although the undercarriage parts are quite nice and fine, mine broke and wouldn't repair neatly :(

The prop can be delicate but it's nice.

The decals will, I'm pretty sure, work, but they silver a lot, I couldn't get round it but it might be worth scanning the script for the side etc and printing on decal paper (unless it's white).

You'll have great fun with this and so will we watching this venerable kit being made :)

:popcorn:

Best regards

Tony

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Thanks very much for the encouragement everyone.

Hi Tony

I really appreciate the advice, especially with regards to the potential land mines contained to catch out the unwary !

I am confident that I will find / make my own problems as I go along, in addition to you ones you have pointed out.

I will try the canopy and if it's not playing ball I will happily take you up on the offer, but if it's coming from "down-under" you must let me know what the postage is.

Likewise I have a spare canopy for the IL-2 version which I won't need, if anyone can make use of it let me know.

Cheers Pat

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit more progress this evening

 

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Getting the 2 fuselage halves to come together was a bit of a struggle, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Canopy fit is as predicted.......... Challenging !

Painting instructions say light blue underneath, anyone got a clue what humbrol number I should use ?

More tomorrow

Cheers Pat

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Wings on and lots of gaps, so out with the white putty filler.

 

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Filler has sanded down well, but.....

 

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The engine cover is so undersized it falls inside the fuselage, the picture took a lot of practice to stop it falling in !

 

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Not sure the best way to fix this, glue as best as can be achieved then fill, or try some filler underneath to set the panel in then fill around it, thoughts ?

Regards Pat

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Hi Pat! Looking good so far; these old Eastern Bloc kits do have their surprises and rewards (another one of those "Ask me how I know" statements...). I don't want to come across all expert-like, but I thought I'd jump in before you go further - that part is not an engine cover, it's actually a large air intake scoop. It might be upside down - flip it over and try it the other way. Here's a walkaround which may be useful:

http://walkarounds.scalemodels.ru/v/walkarounds/avia/before_1950/Il-2/

In particular, the fourth photo shows what I mean:

http://walkarounds.scalemodels.ru/v/walkarounds/avia/before_1950/Il-2/01-048.jpg.html

John

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Hi Pat, don't worry about postage if the canopy will improve things, my reward is watching this build! :) Send me a PM if you'd like it. To the UK is usually around 3-5 working days through the aluminium curtain.

I'm erring with John on this, I remember that part and it does fit as a scoop. It looks pretty cool once it's in. This looks tricky and my solution is probably clumsy but: how about using tweezers and glueing in some supports for the scoop to the inside of the fuselage? Say two small plastic card tabs each side? Let them set really well, then glue the scoop on top. Then maybe mask/tape around it and use something like Perfect Plastic Putty (or any good old filler) to fill the gaps.

Filler is sadly a, erm, interest area of mine :D

Keep up the good work, you have to love a model kit in that shade of plastic!

Best regards

Tony

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Hi John

Thanks very much for the link, err talk about a schoolboy error, fancy trying to fit a part inside out !

( I'm writing this standing in the naughty corner facing the wall )

Hi Tony

Good idea regarding the inside out part / air scoop. I will let you know re the canopy, there's something about trying to get the original parts to fit which is both really frustrating but also, comes with a great sense of achievement, eventually !

Cheers Pat

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Nice work on this old kit! I have one (or two or three) of these lurking in my stash, but not yet summoned up the courage to do one. Then again, it's not like I don't have a dozen or so Shturmoviks of various makes already built. I'm glad you got that scoop part straightened out, although it would have been interesting to see the Il-2 with a streamlined upper cowling!

Regards,

Jason

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Evening Gents

Bit more work tonight, as you can see the canopy fit was done by Stevie Wonder

 

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I filed down the bulkhead between the pilot and gunner position, this allows the gap to close, just a bit more filler required, have I said that before somewhere !

I fitted the air scoop the right way round, by not fitting the prop, I could use a small screwdriver under the scoop to support it and allow the glue to set, and

 

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Then, yes you guessed it more filling, I hope the undercarriage can take the weight..

 

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Talking of which, undercarriage now fitted, given its reputation for fragility I will call it a night and let the glue set properly.

 

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Cheers Pat

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Well done - looking very much like an honest-to-goodness Shturmovik! It's interesting to see that the canopy appears quite well molded and fairly thin for a kit from that era. I mention it because I was similarly surprised by the quality of the canopy on my ZTS Yak-1b, to the extent that I'm considering giving it a good polishing to remove a few blemishes and using it instead of the Pavla Yak-9 vacformed canopy which I had set aside.

Keep up the good work, Pat!

John

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Great progress! It really looks good now. Very fast work. Looking forward to seeing some paint. This has inspired me to drag one of these out of the stash. I can remember, regardless of filler, it as a fun build.

Great stuff :thumbsup2:

Tony

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Thanks very much Tony & John

I have been working away from home this weekend, so rather than run up a bar bill in the evening, I have been sitting in the hotel room wrestling with Polish plastic.

Canopy is going to get dipped in Klear, before fitting but I might buy a mask set for it as the instructions are not very clear on which bits are painted and which aren't !

I thought I had the right blue for underneath, but I have either left it at home or don't have it, so will know which it is by the middle of this week.

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone, I wouldn't have got this far without you.

Cheers Pat

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Evening all

For those of you with a fondness for nice neat airbrushed models........ Look away now.

This is going to be a traditional hairy stick paint job.

 

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Having treated myself to a fresh tin of H89 today, the underside is done, just needs to dry.

Canopy has been submerged in Klear, which has the disadvantage of showing how pants the interior looks ! No doubt when I make a complete cock of painting the canopy, things will return to normal

 

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Finally for this evening some assistance please.

The instructions show cannon / machine guns protruding from the wings and what I assume is the pitot tube. However they are not included, anyone with a better kit ( I'm not setting the bar very high ! ) able to tell me roughly what size these are ie how long, thick.

I was going to make mine out of copper wiring ie 2.5mm for the cannon, 1 or 1.5mm for the pitot tube.

 

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Cheers Pat

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Pat, I think your best bet is to look on the internet for photographs of the actual Il-2, then geusstimate from that what the thicknesses and lengths should be. In real life, the cannons for a late Il-2 would have been 23-mm cannons, if that helps any.

Regards,

Jason

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Sarge, that link also had a link on the left to the page on the VYa-23. I should have included that in my previous post.

Regards,

Jason

Edited by Learstang
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