AM 1:48 IL-2M3 STORMOVIK

Reviewer: John Welding  (rec.models.scale)

Produced in massive numbers, more than 36000 for all Il-2 versions, the Stormovik is one of the most significant combat aircraft of the war as it was substantially responsible for defeating the German armour divisions on the Eastern Front and ensuring the invasion of the USSR would fail.  The full name of this superb ground attacker was Bronirovanni Shturmovik for "armoured attacker".  Although successful against German armour the Il-2 was also vulnerable to enemy fighters and the two seat layout (with rear defensive firing gun) was reverted to with the Il-2M entering production.  The Il-2M3 version was equipped with a more powerful AM-38A engine, specialist anti tank armament and new wings with sweepback on the outer panels.  Some historians will argue that this version was the definitive model (I won't, I like other versions).

Accurate Miniatures (AM) announced a number of years ago that a venture would be undertaken to provide us modelmakers with 1/48 Stormovik kits.  Having heard similar rumours about other aircraft that eventually sometime later came, or didn't come at all, I for one wasn't holding my breath.  The wait was eventual but they did arrive almost out of the blue with little hype and fanfare (that I was aware of).

The price was rather high - to be expected - but knowing the quality of previous AM kits that didn't deter me at all.  On opening the box I was pleased to find the sprues all brimming with clean and crisp detail.  Surface scribing is excellent and realistic, although this kit does depict the later wooden fuselage model with all-metal wings, earlier Il-2M3's had wooden wings.  This shouldn't disappoint you too much if you prefer the earlier model as I am aware of an aftermarket company who produces resin wooden wing sets (name escapes me, since I am doing the later model and the source was noticed briefly at the model shop).  The breakdown of the kit is unorthodox and thus shows that the same parts are used for other Il-2 versions.  

Instructions are quite good and easy to follow.  There is an abundance of commentary which explains some of the construction and being AM it is best to follow the instructions to the letter - er... drawing!  The sheet also takes you through the construction of the real aircraft and points out what was wooden, aluminium and armour plated. Nice touch!

Construction begins in the cockpit (where else?) and this is rather basic to put it mildly. But it should be pointed out that the Il-2 had a very basic cockpit layout and according to my reference library AM have reproduced it very well.  The Instrument panel is simply a decal fitted to the back of clear plastic - very fiddly but when done right looks quite realistic.  There was some problem in getting the instrument panel to sit snuggly inside and was trimmed for optimum fit.  Decals are also supplied for seat belt and while I wasn't intending to use them initially, I did, and once the canopy was closed they did the job well.

For most of the part construction of the major components is relatively straight forward.  But you do need to have your wits about you because the slight wrongful positioning of one bit will cause problems later on.  It is therefore highly recommended to dry fit test all components before proceeding and to do a bit of planning in advance.  Smaller parts in the cockpit, for instance, will make it hard to adjoin the wings properly if they are not precisely placed according to the instructions.  Using a common coined phrase about AM kits that "the engineering is so good, the modeler has to be experienced to match it". 

Perhaps the only gripe about AM kits I have is that they are always sparse on markings.  In this case you are given the decals for just one aircraft from the 566 SHAP, Leningrad, 1944.  This aircraft is depicted as being finished in the late-war three-colour upper surface camouflage scheme.  This aircraft also carries a unique unit marking of a red arrow looping over what appears to be the Leningrad skyline, plus an individual motto in white for the specific aircraft. Decals are in excellent register, very nicely produced and conform to the surface very well.  In addition to the markings the sheet also includes a complete array of stencilling.

Accuracy wise I can't really fault AM in their reproduction of this kit, any closer and it would indeed be perfect (I live with the knowledge that no kit has ever been perfect).  It really is a gem of a kit, but as pointed out above, you really need to know what you're doing because the engineering is so good it is easy to stuff things up big time.  AM have credited the Kbely Museum (where an Il-2 resides) and the Ilyuhsin design bureau in reference to their research so that being said, sums up their feats up.  A project that needs the efforts of patience and the requirement of following the instructions carefully to get the most out of this exceptional replication.

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Accurate Miniatures publicity shot of the completed model