Thanks for the great idea, John (@johnb). Attaching the gear pods this way should minimize problems.

It was now time to deal with the nose. The instructions would have you glue the nose on, then reach inside the prop ring to place the exhausts on each side. This seemed like a real easy way to lose a strip of exhausts in the fuselage. I decided to place the exhausts before I glued the nose on, while I still could reach the exhausts from the inside and outside, front and back of the nose. It seems like this is a one step forward, two steps back sort of kit. You go to take care of the next step in the kit, and realize that there are 3 other things you still need to do before you start the next step.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Looking great so far, my friend @gblair!

Thanks guys! Hey ho, here we go! Modelling fluid ready, desk cleaned up and Tamiya's Il-2 kit ready to go!

Looking forward to it, Sebastijan @inflames.
What kind of drink is that on your desk, the imprint looks interesting.

@inflames, sounds like a nice beer, Sebastijan
Would love to try one. Well, not while modelling, fitting might suffer from it 🙂

@johnb I'd send a couple over but I guess the shipping cost could be prohibitive.

@gblair haha It won't stay like that for long 😀

So I started the build. My first ever Tamiya kit in almost 40 years of model making, can you believe it? And guess what? I got my mojo killed immediately. I was wondering what a strange shaped piece no.9 should be and to my horror I realized I have a short shot sprue. Another casualty is the cockpit fuel? tank but since it's deformed at the bottom, it won't be visible. But I am not sure what to do with the gunners back wall. I guess I'll have to sleep it over.

Indeed, this is some misfortune, my friend @inflames! Never seen something like that in a Tamiya kit. Fabricating a bulkhead and repairing the tank might be an option...

It occurred to me that it might be more helpful if I could find a photo of the Tamiya part from your kit, Sebastijan (@inflames). This photo should be the part from your kit that is malformed. You might be able to Frankenstein a replacement using some styrene. Maybe cut away the bad stuff, splice in some plastic, then shape it. Good luck.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.