IL-18 VEB Plasticart -Restoring an old kit

[Supercuber]

Just started restoring an old VEB Plasticart IL-18 model , for a friend, with idea to bring it to the AEROFLOT livery from 1964 , depicting a plane which sadly crashed near Belgrade , hitting the ground 600 feet below the peak of the Mount Avala ,  due the missed approach procedures in foggy weather.

Passengers were Soviet WW II veterans traveling to Yugoslavia,  to commemorate  the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade , including high ranked marshals and generals , like Marshal Sergey S. Biryuzov and General Vladimir I. Zhdanov

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19641019-0

http://serbianna.com/analysis/archives/3570

 

Aeroflot livery,IL-18V  CCCP-75668 ,  from postcard

 

Decals were prepared by Lift Here  ( https://lifthereserbia.wordpress.com/ ) and printed on clear decal sheet, on  home laser printer , sealed with clear cote.

 

Originally , kit contents looks like this,

 

And this model was in bits, ready to be restored,

 

Windows were blanked with styrene sheets from inside,

 

Fuselage halves glued and left to dry

 

and filled with super glue and microbaloons & talcum powder,

 

More to follow,

Happy New modelling  year

 

[Trencher]

Interesting to see an old GDR model kit. On the western side of the curtain, we had similiar smaller prop-driven airliners of that scale, such as the Convair 440 and the Viscount 814 (which I had as a little boy), done by Faller.

Those old VEB Plasticart IL-18s fetch steep prices in unbuilt conditions on e(vil)bay.

Will watch this with interest.

 

 

[Supercuber]

Well,  Trencher, in seventies & eighties in my part of the world, both eastern and western kits are common on the toy stores shelves, VEB Plasticart, KP and even Frog-Novo from the east and Airfix , Revell and especially ESCI , 'cause ESCI boxes were printed in former Yugoslavia.

But VEB Plasticart was first choice for beginners , and i enjoy this restoring work on IL-18 .

 

All the main parts glued, filled and sanded,

 

 

 

Coat of filler sprayed, and now, few days for the drying, before another fine sanding pass, and paintwork on the list.

 

 

[Trencher]

Looks like it's coming along nicely.

From what I've heard, those vintage VEB kits were made of a quite thick and hard plastic. Almost bullet-proof.

After all, I'm going to give them a try one day, since now there is a successor to the former VEB Plastikart, called "Reifra". They seem to have the old VEB moulds and re-issue the old kits at a decent price. However, so far neither the IL-18 nor the TU-134 had been issued... 

[Supercuber]

VEB Plasticart kits plastic is brittle and hard to engrave , also, very prone to orange peel effect , if used cellulose or acrylate thinners .

Ask me how i learn this :-)

Even Mr Surfacer 500/1000 thinner cause some damages on the plastic, and i leave it to dry thoroughly for a few days and completely wet sanded all the surfaces, and primed again  with gray  enamel paint.

After this, vertical tail and upper fuselage was painted in Revell Gloss white. After drying and masking, rest will be sprayed with Aluminium/silver enamel.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Supercuber

[Supercuber]

With some trouble related to plastic-paint/clear cote reaction and some re-sanding and repainting, after the upper part of the fuselage was masked, coat of silver paint was sprayed, in two tone/shades, lighter for the airframe, bit darker to control surfaces and engine nacelles .

and dayglo orange wing and horizontal stab tips painted,

Now, few days of drying and ready for decalling .

 

 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Supercuber
typo

[Sabrejet]

Good work! I made the Comet kit many years ago and liked it - better than the Airfix kit, which I think was the only other deal in town at that time. Plasticart kits come in for criticism but they were good for their day and as you've shown, they can still make up into a nice model. 

[Supercuber]

Being impatient , and since paint and decal clear base ( Future  a.k.a. PRONTO in my part of the world) are dry, i started and finished decalling this evening,

 

 

And complete ILYUSHA ,

 

Ready for inspection, here :