HPH 1/48 Ilyushin IL-28
By Terry D. Moore
One of my favorite Russian aircraft is the IL-28 (NATO code name: Beagle) and when I saw this new 1/48th scale kit available for sale at the IPMS Nationals in Loveland, CO this past August I just had to have one. Until now the only available kits were the ancient Airfix kit and the more recent Italeri/Bilek kit, both in 1/72nd scale. I built the Airfix kit over 40 years ago and as I recall it was quite clunky. I've not seen the other 1/72nd scale kit, so I can't comment on it.
This is an all resin kit and certainly more work will be involved in assembly. The model came in a segmented box, with all related parts collected in plastic bags and plenty of bubble wrap to protect the parts. The parts are all molded in a grey/green resin and the canopy parts are molded in clear resin. And there are a LOT of resin parts, along with 2 photo-etch frets, nose weights, and decals for Russian and Chinese aircraft. The instructions are provided on a compact disc. One of the best features of this kit is the metal spars embedded into the wings. The panel line/rivet detail is very fine throughout, as is the padding on the interior fuselage walls. My example is very cleanly cast and I have not found any air bubbles or short castings. The fuselage halves and engine nacelle halves will require only minor cleanup before assembly.
The challenge for this kit will be the removal of all the small cast parts from their pour gates and their subsequent cleanup. I expect it to be a rather time consuming effort.
Some of the finer cast parts may have to rebuilt with plastic or metal replacements if they prove too difficult to remove from their pour gates; at least I fully expect my ham-handedness will require some parts being rebuilt!
The HPH IL-28 is certainly not a shake & bake kit, but for 1/48th scale builders it's the only game in town. It is somewhat pricey as are all resin kits, but I think it is worth the cost just due to it's uniqueness. There are certainly a lot of markings options as well because it saw service with many countries. I'm considering doing mine in Nigerian AF colors, just because it's so different.
Kit provided by my (now somewhat thinner) wallet.