The Kit
Please see my First Look from earlier this month.
Construction and Painting
As previously mention, the Academy kit provides instructions for a ski equipped Il-2. However, parts are included for a wheel-based aircraft and require no real instructions for the builder to figure this out. Included are two sets of wheel halves that need to be glued together and a tail-wheel assembly that is one-piece. All that is required is to glue the strut assemblies as shown on the instruction sheet and then simply cut the spacer at the bottom of the struts that would normally attach to the skis. There are two sets of folding bay doors too that are different for the wheel attached aircraft but again this is quite easily figured out when looking at the sprues.
The cockpit was painted a blend of Gunze C060 (RLM02) and C115 (RLM65). Instructions depict the color to be C060 for the cockpit but reference photos indicate a bluish hue to the color actually used. Likewise, while the instructions indicate the instrument panel is to be this same color, there have been references that the panel was actually unpainted. To achieve this, I opted for Alclad Duraluminum after first protecting each of the dial faces with a small droplet of Humbrol Maskol. As a side-note, I recently began using this masking agent only about a year ago and have found it to be far superior to any other masking medium currently on the market. The dials were then hand painted gloss black and then lightly dry-brushed with Model Master Chrome to bring out the relief.
General construction of the kit is well laid out and quite simple. I'd read the reviews of the earlier Accurate Miniatures Il-2 many years ago and braced myself for some fit issues that frankly never surfaced in the least. Every bit of the construction went extremely well and posed no problems in the least and the only putty used was a small about at the wing joints.
Once finished with the overall construction of this kit I applied one light coat of Alclad Gray Primer/Microfiller (great stuff) before commencing with the actual paint. Again, Gunze C115 (RLM65) was used for the undersides with a small drop of Model Master Insignia Blue to achieve the desired hue. The topside was first painted Model Master Dark Earth (2054) followed by Russian Topside Green (2122) and finally Gunze RLM 66 (C116) for the dark gray/black patches. All were painted freehand with little trouble, as most of this is going to disappear once the faded white distemper is applied over the top.
Achieving this type of worn winter finish is actually quite easy, as since enamels were used for the main camouflage the easiest way to achieve this look is to switch to acrylic. For this I used Gunze Flat White (H011) which is the aqueous brand hard to find here in the States. The key in using water-based acrylics for his finish is simple readiness, in which the paint is airbrushed lightly and uniformly over the entire upper surfaces and then removed before it has time to set fully. I used a highly diluted mixture of H011 and 91% isopropyl alcohol and airbrushed at approximately 15psi from a distance of 4-6". This gives the entire uppers a fine and very uniform mist that can dry rather quickly. However, nearly as soon as the entire uppers have been painted I use 6000 to 8000 grit micromesh wetted with tepid tap water. I concentrated on some of the upper wings to nearly remove the entire flat white while other areas, like the tail and rudder where only swiped with a few passes to leave most of the white intact.
One has to only see reference photographs to realize that usually the leading edges were almost devoid of this temporary white paint while other areas, as previously mentioned, would still retain much of it. Also, keep in mind that fabric surfaces that were usually doped first would wear differently than wood or metal surfaces. Likewise, the temporary paint over the canopy frame would be scuffed and marred at entry points so remember not to leave this area pristinely clean either. And, as you are dealing with freshly applied acrylic over enamel, if you removed more in one area than you may have wanted then it is simply a matter of reapplying a bit more flat white and blending it down to the desired effect.
Once finished with the worn white distemper surface I simply applied Future over the entire airframe and applied the sparse but well done decals from Cartograph. These were laid in place after a quick dip in warm water, and then dabbed with a clean cotton cloth to snug them down over the glossy surface before applying Solvaset. Only two light applications were required to settle the decals down against the surface for a painted on look. However, I then noticed that these appeared too clean and new against the worn paint. I applied a very fine mist of flat white acrylic once again over the top of these decals and again used micromesh cloth, opting for 12,000grit to lightly scuff each decal. The result was much better at this point by having the decals slightly worn and faded to match the worn paint scheme. A few light coats of clear flat were airbrushed over the entire airframe to seal this work.
Conclusion
This was truly a fun kit to build and one that offered no real fit problems in the least. While I am sure the Tamiya Il-2m3 might be even engineered a bit better, the minimal amount of putty used and very straight-forward instructions give the builder what we always long for...a truly enjoyable kit to build. Little more needs to be added to achieve show quality results other than perhaps some photo-etched seatbelts and replacing the wing mounted 20mm cannons with hypodermic needles as I did for this build.
