1/48 Accurate Miniatures Il2
Ilyushin Il-2 is well known ground attack plane from WWII. Some would say that it’s role for victory over the Germans on the Eastern Front was very important. Similar to Ju 87 in its roll it wreck havoc against enemy tanks. Il2 was produced between 1941. and 1945. in 4 factories in the Soviet Union. But after German attack on Russia it remained to be build in State Aviation Factory 18 at Voronezh and Factory 381 at Leningrad. In total were some 36.183 built in few variants. I would like to mention two main variants, single seater and variant with tailgunner. Also, it is interesting to see Il2 with skiis.
I was thinking about building Il2 model for some time. I was looking for Tamiya’s model, but always some other models came to my hands. Finally I got this model from my friend who had 2 variants, one wellknow with wheels and the other with skiis. Both models are manufactured by Accurate Miniatures. I’ll be honest, I was very careful with this model because I hadn’t my eyes and hands on any model manufactured by AM. The I realized that Revell, Hasegawa… are using AM Il2 to pack them in their boxes.
I was in the very good mood about this kit. But I was bored by it, because I saw so many Il2s made by fellow modelrs. They are all in three camo schemes, armed to the teeth with boms, rockets, canons and tailgun… So I decided to do something different. I found many Il2 pictures, I even saw it many times in Belgrade in the Air Museum. But, I was able to find some factory blueprints. Then, my attention went to the plane which is freshly taken off the production line.
That plane was in the bare metal, wood, glass and canvas… It was the plane before any paintjob, without any markings… That was it. I had to made that Il2.
I was able to see where were metal parts, where was wood, alluminium, steel plates, how exhausts looked like before using…
Main problem with kit, for me, are shallow panels and lack of rivets. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not rivetcounter, but I like to see some details. I rescrubbed whole plane, riveted in. I did this with parts steel on the frames.
Whole assembly is very good, almost excellent. Why almost, because plastic is very soft and prone to damage. Everything goes very good but You have to think before glueing, because every part can be attached to other on the only one real way. If You make a little mistake it can be problem. Just careful assembly and You are ready to go.
I used almost none putty. I must say that the clear parts are problematic because they are attached to the frame on the unnatural position, so You have to separate them very carefully and sand them.
I decided to do it freshly made and taken off the production line, but with the closed canopy.
I primed the model with Black Microfiller because I wanted to wait it for cure so I can easily sand and make any of the repairs if needed. I didn’s use canons and pitot tube from the kit, simply, they are not good enough. I used medicine needles for this purpose. They are cheap and hollowed so they look like a real deal.
After primer it took me some few days to mask the model, paint it with Alclad, then to mask it again and paint I with Vallejo 71.077 Wood. After that I gloss coated whole model and took the brush.
Some wood panels were painted with Vallejo 70.310 and Vallejo 70.311. I did this with handbrush. With this I could break the monotony of the simple wood color. The came yet another coat of gloss varnish. Then I put some wood wash by Ak in all wooden panels.
I did the wood effect for the very first time in my modeling practice. I used trustworthy Abteilung 502 Oils. I think about myself as a resurrected modeler after finding out omnipotence of the oils some years back. I used Raw Umber, Burnt Umber and Ochre. I did lot of little dots of these tones then I blend them in the manner of giving the woodgrain effect on the panels. I was trying to make it as more as possible in different ways to show that during the mounting of the wooden panels they were attached in the different ways. In this was essential to make the woodgraings in the right directions, some real wood panels were used as a references.
Metal parts received Tamiya’s Black Panel liner and Ak True metal vax.
For antenna I used fishing nylon and I made attachment rods out of the cotton swabs heated, then cut to the size.
Whole model was left in gloss to show the freshly manufactured plane.
So, this is finished Il2 by Accurate Miniatures. Feel free to comment and suggest. I’ve changed black background for photos with white so the details can stand put better, thank You all for this suggestion, cheers and stay safe!
Djordje, this definitely stands apart from all other Il-2s that I've seen. What a finish, both the metal and wood... I thought at first that you might've used wood decals, but reading that those details were oil painted is phenomenal. Well done!
Thank You 🙂
I haven't tried before to do wood effect, that's why I didn't do any of the WWI planes, I was afraid of the outcome 🙂
You won't have to be scared of WW1 airplanes anymore after this!
Thank you for encouragement 🙂 I will try some, my next step is to learn how to better do rigging 🙂
A cool model! Always interesting to a “naked” plane, especially those built around different components such as the Il-2.
Thank You 🙂
I thought that it would be monotone to do it in a standard way, so I did this 🙂
A wonderful Sturmovic, Djordje!
Fantastic painting effects!
Thank You Spiros, I used this model as a practice for some stuff with oils, and to do something different (I sound to myself as a Monty Python)
That's incredible! The wood work especially stands out - I think you have that mastered. A beautiful, and unique, IL-2
Thank You Greg, I tried to imitate ood as close as possible.
Absolutely stunning Djordje
Thank You George 🙂
EXCEPTIONAL.
Thank You Sir 🙂
Well done, a very fetching IL-2!
Thank You for such a kind words 🙂
Echoing all the above compliments, Djordje @sheol
Especially the metal and wood looks are amazing.
It is one of those aircrafs still on my 'to be build' list as well.
Thank You, John.
I could do better with metallic, I had few problems but it turned acceptable after weathering 🙂
A nice looking scheme off the beaten path.
Thank You 🙂
Superb finishing work. The metal looks truly metallic and the wood looks like you carved it.
Thank You, Tom 🙂 I did the wood by brush with oils 🙂 I ran into some troubles with metalics, but nothing too serious 🙂
very impressive work!
Thank You for kind words 🙂
Beautiful work, the metal, wood and fabric came out great!
Thank You 🙂
Oils are main reason for outcome of this model 🙂
But, I think that the metals could be better.
Very beautiful! Thank you for the bare wood and metal paint job. This will help me a lot when I build mine, knowing what is metal and what is wood so my weathering and chipping will be much more "authentic". Once again, WELL DONE!
Thank you very much 🙂
This particular Il2 is made out of wood and metal, be aware that there are some Il2s made just from metals. You can find many blueprints on the web to be sure.
I'm deeply touched and very happy because my model can be of use for Your modelling 🙂 !
Wow! Djordje, that is most impressive modeling work! You've achieved a spectacular result with this beauty. ?
Thank You very much, I did this model as a experiment, I'm happy to see that Yopu like it 🙂