1:72 ICM SB 2M-100 - Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik

[Bangseat]

Looking over the stash for the next project, I came across the ICM Tupolev SB. This was a definite temporary pash I experienced earlier this year, and went as far as buying the ICM kit and assembling some picture references.

 

 

 

The SB belonged to that period of the war where things were particularly desperate on the Russian side. I have a fondness for underdogs, and the SB certainly fits into this category. Neither modern or effective by 1941 standards, it composed 94% of the VVS bomber force at the start of the conflict, so it had to do. The operational history of the SB with the VVS took in a huge degree of destruction in the air and particularly on the ground as the Germans advanced, and the aeroplane is bound up with a great deal of bitter human experience. But this is no fault of the SB - it was a plucky performer, and the fastest bomber in the sky in its day.

 

Of course, it was quickly superceded by more modern and effective types such as the Pe-2 and Tu-2 as the war progressed. By 1945, records show there were a mere 5 operational SBs still on the VVS' books. It seems these were flown to Moscow in August 1945, to take part in a military flypast. In the end, it was cancelled due to foul weather - but I think this signifies a nod of respect to the venerable old SB, which was the thin end of the wedge at a desperate time.

 

Embarking on this, I knew I wanted to build a GPW Russian example with flat fronted engines (the ones with tunnel inlets look dangerously modern). I like the idea of looking back wistfully on the SB a few years on. And whilst I would love to model one of the 'last SBs' described above, it would be pure fantasy as I don't have any pictures.

 

So for my subject I am going to build a rare late war SB based on photos of a machine apparently used for weather reconnaissance by the Lyetno Issledovatelskiy Institut (Flight Research Institute) based at Rameskoye (now Zhukovsky). It seems this was a base for Pe-8s and Il-4s, with the SB supporting operations.  The 2 photos and accompanying detail, courtesy of the excellent "Tupolev SB - Soviet High Speed Bomber" by Mikhail Maslov, aren't great, but show a flat engined example in uncharacteristic (for an SB) two tone camouflage, and most tellingly, late war white-outlined stars. Hardly a complex paint job - but it hints at a story.

 

 

 

 

 

The photo is captioned as an SB 2M-100, rather than an 2M-100A, and I'd love to know what gives the author that kind of confidence. The only real distinguishing feature of the M-100A as far as I am aware is the cartridge chute at the base of the nose, and frankly it’s impossible to tell on these pictures. Still, I'm going build it as an 2M-100, making it a particularly poignant survivor as an early production SB still flying in 1944. I may even give it the 2-bladed propellers to drive the message home!

 

Harry

[neil5208]

Will follow, intresting subject

[Bangseat]

Kit contents:

 

 

 

All in all, a nice looking kit with finely moulded details, and very fine engraved rivets – hopefully not too fine to get swamped by paint.

 

The fuselage is broken down into 2 parts with work beginning on the centre section, which features a detailed wing spar which also forms part of the bomb bay – although this will be shut up on my model.

 

 

 

The cockpit is in 3 parts – floor and 2 walls - which allows you to detail the sidewalls. These were quite busy on the real thing:

 

 

 

I’ve put in a bit of stretched sprue detail, given it a coat of AK extreme metal, a spot of aqua gloss to seal and on oil wash (I find enamel thinners straight onto AK never ends well). Also done an instrument panel with some spare aftermarket decals.

 

 

 

Hopefully will get a bit more done tomorrow!

 

Harry

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

6 hours ago, neil5208 said:

Will follow, intresting subject

Ditto I've always liked the sleek lines of these. 

[72modeler]

Me three! I have always wanted to do one of the SB's captured by the Finns! Will be watching and taking notes, as I have both the ICM and the old Frog kit!

Mike

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

11 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

I have always wanted to do one of the SB's captured by the Finns

Im kind of the other way, always wanted a winter camo version or a SCW version. 

[neil5208]

3 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Me three! I have always wanted to do one of the SB's captured by the Finns! Will be watching and taking notes, as I have both the ICM and the old Frog kit!

Mike

 

3 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Im kind of the other way, always wanted a winter camo version or a SCW version. 

Chinese Nationalist Air Force for me

[Bangseat]

Thanks all for your interest! 

 

I think if I was going for pure funkiness, I would do a spanish nationalist scheme:

I think they even came with red and yellow roundels later...

 

I went to the Madrid Air Museum earlier this year and it is sad that they don't have one, but I don't think there's a single survivor apart from the restored example at Monino.

 

[Bangseat]

Morning all,

A contented day’s modelling yesterday, interspersed with the odd bacon sandwich and dog walk.

 

The engineering on this kit, I’m finding, is well intentioned, but the fit is not great. The fuselage is in 3 parts, which seems excessive for 17.5cm. I suppose they may limited by their moulding technology. The nose join seemed a bit crooked at first:

 

 

 

 

So I put in shims to correct:

 

 

 

 

The rear fuselage, which blends in a curve into the wing trailing edge fillets, was also a bugger. It seemed to match up ok on the bottom side:

 

 

 

..but the top side revealed a fairly severe gap:

 

 

 

It’s worse than it looks in the picture too, particularly the wing fillets which are proud on the front side. I’m loathe to go too medieval on it though, for fear of destroying the detail. I filled it with perfect plastic putty. I recently, belatedly, discovered that you don’t have to sand the stuff at all, but can wipe most of the dried excess away with a damp cotton bud. Bit of a “D'ohhh!” moment..

 

 

 

I managed to resist trying to work it after 10 minutes and left it overnight to cure. After I return from the orifice I will moisten my q-tip and have a crack...

 

On the plus side, the cockpit scrubbed up well (in a “1:72 aargh my eyes hurt" sort of a way)

 

 

 

Have a good un,
Harry 
 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Bangseat

[Dric]

Wow it seem you will have hard work on that one. Good luck Harry 

[Brandy]

You shouldn't have a problem with PPP after 30 mins or so at most. It dries pretty quickly. Leave it a little longer if you're going to sand it though!

I'd not heard of this type before so I'll definitely be following along.

 

Ian

[Bangseat]

Morning folks,

 

Cracking on nicely. Also filling many cracks...

 

The rear fuselage gap sealed up well, but there was a definite step to deal with in the wing fillet. Whist I could just chalk it up to Soviet quality control, that would be a bit harsh...

 

 

I find disguising a step like this much harder than filling a gap between two level surfaces. But for what it's worth, my next port of call is miliput..

 

 

..which I then soften and smooth out with a brush and IPA..

 

 

It'll get some PPP tomorrow as well, which should smooth it out further, but I want to sand as little as possible. 

In other news, the engine nacelles are in several bits which makes fit tricky, bit I'm going make the call that engine panels were constantly removed and therefore would have been a bit bent and sticky- out in real life...😉

 

 

And..I managed to get the wings on. What a whopper!  No wonder it was good for 40 thousand feet.

 

 

I do enjoy this bit, when the model takes shape, and you see the proportions of the plane in a way that you wouldn't looking at a picture, or even the real thing.

 

Ttfn,

 

Harry

 

 

 

[Bangseat]

Good morning,

 

Well, yesterday morphed into an unexpected day off! Which was good news for the modelling bench...

 

I made a start by dry fitting the engines. Whilst I could probably have been more careful constructing them, they're not a great fit:

 

 

Reprofiling the corners, and more putty, is the solution. The exhaust covers on top of the engine will be fixed in place with blu tac for painting and glued later once I've added the detailed exhausts:

 

 

Next up, just to check, I tried dry fitting the cockpit and rear gunner glazing. Oh dear!

 

 

You'd have to get pretty medieval with that canopy to make it look right, and the gunners hatch is the same. 

 

So, I make the decision to leave both open. The gunner's hatch is so big it serves in the slid-back role. For the pilot's canopy, I decided to resurrect the art of plunge moulding:

 

 

Lucky it is such a simple shape. I've had results from this technique that I'm not really satisfied with in the past, but this I won't lose sleep over. The key was making a male mould, rather than moulding over the old part. (I had to undersized it from the original). 

 

What else...well, one of the horizontal stabs had what looked like a cow pat in the moulding. So sanding, mr surfacer 500, sanding and rescribing was the order of the day. My rivets are wonky 😔 But it's underneath so meh...

 

 

It was all going so well that I couldn't resist plowing on and putting some paint on. Now, my quest for the perfect Russian A11 blue is a work in progress. I know greater minds than mine have been driven to drink by VVS colours, but I've always been more convinced by a properly 'blue' blue, rather than a greeny blue like humbrol 65. So I mix this shade from some Daler Rowney acrylic inks. It's a bit more vibrant than I intended 😎..but it does tone down after a bit of weathering..

 

All best,

Harry

[Bangseat]

Slow progress on the SB, as have been laid up with lurgy since last week. 

 

But...I did manage to get a bit more paint on in the last couple of days. After pouring over my reference photo and much sucking of pencil, I've decided that the front of the engine cowlings were sone sort of special colour:

 

 

They look a bit lighter than the black of the camouflage behind. Could be anything I suppose, but I'm going to go for red. 

 

So the model has had camo in Mr Hobby 340 and Tamiya Tyre Black, and the engines with Mr Hobby 327 which is a classier dark red. 

 

 

Next up, some stars, and a whole heap of weathering. The weekend beckons!

 

Harry out

 

[Brandy]

Nice bit of plunge moulding, definitely a big improvement over the kit lumps! Are those radial engines? The front edge could be collector rings a la Bristol Blenheim, Gladiator, Swordfish, etc in which case thay'd be slightly burnt metal. Or it could be painted as you have it.....

 

Ian

Edited October 5, 2019 by limeypilot

[Bangseat]

2 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Nice bit of plunge moulding, definitely a big improvement over the kit lumps! Are those radial engines? The front edge could be collector rings a la Bristol Blenheim, Gladiator, Swordfish, etc in which case thay'd be slightly burnt metal. Or it could be painted as you have it.....

 

Ian

Hi Ian,

 

Thanks for commenting. The engines are inline Klimov M100 V12s, so the big flat bit is a slab fronted radiator alla ww1 styley/SE5 etc. One of the appealing retro features of the SB in my opinion! How to paint the radiator slats at the front is an issue I need to ponder next...🤔

 

Harry

[occa]

Nice build and the kit is rarely seen finished, tho if you compare the engine front ring with the stars I hardly think the rings were red in that foto.

 

What you see as appearing lighter is only the sheen from the reflection of the sun.

[AaCee26]

On 9/21/2019 at 8:43 PM, Bangseat said:

 

 

The photo is captioned as an SB 2M-100, rather than an 2M-100A, and I'd love to know what gives the author that kind of confidence. The only real distinguishing feature of the M-100A as far as I am aware is the cartridge chute at the base of the nose, and frankly it’s impossible to tell on these pictures. Still, I'm going build it as an 2M-100, making it a particularly poignant survivor as an early production SB still flying in 1944. I may even give it the 2-bladed propellers to drive the message home!

 

Harry

Hi Harry,

 

About the props: Looking this image it looks like a three-blader for me. Also I don't think 2-bladers had spinners?

 

A very nice build indeed!

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee 

Edited October 10, 2019 by AaCee26
Typo

[Bangseat]

2 hours ago, occa said:

Nice build and the kit is rarely seen finished, tho if you compare the engine front ring with the stars I hardly think the rings were red in that foto.

 

What you see as appearing lighter is only the sheen from the reflection of the sun.

Hi occa,

 

I'm inclined to agree, and you've preempted my next post, the other day I repainted them blue. I'm a sucker for a bit of colour though, and my rationale is this was a second line aircraft from a big base where there would have hopefully been a few tins of paint lying around! 

 

 

 

[Bangseat]

2 hours ago, AaCee26 said:

Hi Harry,

 

About the props: Looking this image it looks like a three-blader for me. Also I donät think 2-bladers had spinners?

 

A very nice build indeed!

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee 

Thanks AaCee - a good call. I've had a look through my references and ne'er a spinner to be found on any 2 blade props (which also seem to have gone out of fashion by 1940). 

 

Always amazes me how even a rather simple aircraft can generate a good bit of chin-stroking...

 

Harry 

[Tweener]

I must say, you've done a great job on this one! I've always thought the SB was a great looking plane but I've never had the courage for the ICM kit even if the SCW SB's look a treat. I'll have to store away this build log just in case you inspire me to find the courage.

[Bangseat]

Evening all,

 

Just a quick update, although I actually got quite a bit done at the weekend I am still getting the hang of snapping my progress regularly, it's a bit of a discipline I find!

 

I had got my camouflage down, so spent about half my time on the sticky out extra bits, and the other half on weathering..

 

 

I do love the Flory wash (see above sludged all over) as it is totally risk free. I applied over Alclad aqua gloss and rubbed off with a mostly dry cloth as I just wanted it in panel lines and rivet holes though - I'm not convinced of its performance over matt, at least in 72nd. As Paul Budzic says, there comes a point where an over enthusiastically applied wash "starts to look like a serious oil leak".

 

I then started on oils:

 

 

Here I am less experienced, so gently gently went I. I dabbled thin colour over the surface, and let the thinner flash off...

 

 

..and then I blended with a dry brush. The effect actually looks better on the pic than in real life, as it just gives light and shade with hardly any colour modulation. The fault may lie with my cheap nasty oil paints from The Works! 

 

As I wasnt completely convinced by the oils, I did some pastels as well, these i do enjoy using, although they tend to dull the contrasts and give the plane a generally "dusty look"..

 

 

(Undocumented in this apparently stress free narrative was the moment I managed to dribble alclad matt on the left wing, necessitating a paint strip and respray. I was too busy swearing to take documentary photographs...)

 

As for the sticky out bits, I got it on its feet. Kit critique moment - it's seriously spindly, the model wobbles if I sneeze!

In other news, I am using my first ever mask set. This is a boon for the SB as it is a bit of greenhouse..

However, poor planning strikes. Early on I noticed that SBs tended to have their glass framing unpainted, even in green camo'd planes..

 

 

Intruguing, I thought, a "thing" I can run with. However, the more I stare at my grainy reference pics, the more I realise I have been kidding myself:

 

 

At least some of it is painted. And yes, I masked all my glass, sprayed it with AK extreme metal, and unmasked like a giggling schoolgirl..

 

So it's back to the cocktail stick and scalpel for me..🤯

 

Ttfn, Harry

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by Bangseat

[Learstang]

I don't know how I missed this one. Brilliant work on your SB! I have this very kit, and your build makes it look about like what I expected - nicely-detailed, but over-engineered and a bit hit-or-miss with the fit. Still, yours is looking splendid! I'm glad to see you're doing it in the black/green Great Patriotic War scheme and not the aluminium or light grey overall finish. I think the camouflaged examples certainly look more 'warlike'.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[AaCee26]

On 10/6/2019 at 12:14 AM, Bangseat said:

Thanks AaCee - a good call. I've had a look through my references and ne'er a spinner to be found on any 2 blade props (which also seem to have gone out of fashion by 1940). 

 

Always amazes me how even a rather simple aircraft can generate a good bit of chin-stroking...

 

Harry 

Hi Harry

 

In German photos taken their early phases of Operation Barbarossa a few SBs with two-bladers can be seen in VVS aircraft. Ex-Czech B-71s and possible Spanish ones had them later.

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

[Learstang]

This one was looking brilliant - what happened with the build?

 

Regards,

 

Jason