Global Scale Modeller

Thought it was about time i joined a group build.
So hear we go
Right then down to business.
Kit: Tamiya 1/72 Ilyushin IL-2. And like a silly bugger I bought the Big Sin box from Eduard.

So started as you do with the cockpit. Parts off the sprue and cleaned up




Then the first paint. Going to try and use Tamiya call outs but we will see what happens.

Right time for the first bits of photo etch , this looks like fun and my first time too



This is a bad sign the very first bit of photo etch I cut,from the very first photo etch fret pings off into oblivion



Ok calm down its not the end of the world we can try our hand at scratch building


Ok now this is starting to get to me, Another bit lost to the great unknown scratch building again.

Ok after finding out that Tamiya photo-etch scissors don`t work on very small parts started to use a nr18 scalpel to cut the parts from the
fret and found that this, for me, works better.so more added to the side walls and cockpit.







Most of the components for the cock pit have there photo etch and a light pin wash so lets se how it looks.










Now for me the photo etch has been nothing but a pain in the a... and am convinced that 1/72 photo etch was invented by the devil but then again it could (and more than likely) just be me and my first time, hmmmm first time...... yep ok I get it
like everthing in life practice makes perfect i suppose.

More work done on getting the cockpit together,










It went together well, but some of the photo etch on the side walls had to be taken off and moved before the cock pit could be inserted,
and with a small amount of force and a lot of trepidation it went in









And even thou the photo etch in 1/72 is a pain in the a... the results are worth it imho. I have learnt that not all the photo etch is worth it and you don`t need all of the bits on the fret to make it work.

Well it`s been a nearly 3 weeks since I last posted, the reason being I made a epic mistake in the build and have had to think about what to do . As you will see in the pics to follow I FORGOT to cut the wing sections for the photo etch flaps before gluing them together
and attaching them to the fuselage . And I will freely admit I could not bring myself to start cutting it the model with very little detail on the underside to go by. Soooooooooo........ the rest of the build will be with out the remaining photo etch in the big sin set. (Looks like i will be adding a new tamiya IL-2 to the stash....)any way her are some more progress pic`s








I think this is the point when I realized what I had done

Well a new update on the IL-2. Got some paint on it and looks ok still have some touch ups to do on it. Hopefully will be getting a bit done as I started my easte holiday yesterday 10 day's no work and hopefully a lot of modeling done,
Her are more pics










More to come

Looking very nice !!!

Looking very nice !!!

Time for a new update. After life got in the way of modeling again. I got round to finishing the build. And with a raging c.... up, AGAIN . Well lets get started. The build progressed a pace so it was on to a clear coat and some weathering, I used a compo of panel line wash and sludge wash on the hole aircraft. And added some chipping detail.











Every thing was sealed with a new gloss coat, and decals were applied. This is where the cock up came. when i applied the large side decal and hade used my set and sol on it, I think i may have picked up the model when the sol was still working, because a pice of the decal came away on my finger.




I decided to press on and hope that a new decal could be sourced. As I was going to buy a new kit so i could use the rest of the photoetch anyway when the new kit arrived I would just use the decal from that. Anyway I am hoping the kit will arrive in time. If not well thats life. I con tinued with the decals and added some more weathering to the kit and hey ho its done.



My first(proper) ISM group build thanks all