Tamiya's 1/48 scale
Il-2m3 Sturmovic

by Brian Bourdon

This is Tamiya’s1/48 scale Il-2m3Sturmovik.  I built it more or less OOB, with only a few minor improvements.

              
The cockpit, as supplied, was complete with the exception of a decent harness for the pilot and the small first aid kit sometimes found on the starboard side.  I added both.  I punched out the instruments from the decal sheet and installed them to the IP one at a time.  I think the result justified the effort. 

Beyond that, I installed a fuel line – I don’t know why – and dressed up the armor plate that sits between the pilot and gunner with a placard.  The area seemed a bit bare.  As best I could tell, Russian interiors were painted ‘blueish grey’ which seems to be a lot of things to a lot of people.  I eventually settled on Tamiya XF54 considerably lightened with white.  To this I added a few drops of blue.  The wash consisted of straight XF54.

After consulting a number of sources, I chose to stray a little from Tamiya’s recommended camouflage colours.  As such, VVS Brown consisted of Aeromaster US Tan, VVS Green, Aeromaster RLM82, and VVS Black was a 2:1 mix of Tamiya XF24 and XF69.

In summary, this kit was a joy to build and I look forward to building the single seat version if and when Tamiya decides to release one.

Model and Text Copyright © 2021 by Brian Bourdon
Page Created 5 April, 2021
Last Updated 5 April, 2021

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