Ilyushin Il2 -m82 , cut’n’shut ( simon T tribute gb)

[yak face]

Heres my contribution to the GB in memory of simon . Not quite a tank but nicknamed ‘the flying tank‘ its the Il2 stormovik-m82 prototype . In Simon T fashion this will involve chopping , scratching and general hacking of the two donor kits.
The aircraft in question was a one off experiment during the production run of the Il2 to see if it was feasible to fit the Shvetsov m82 radial engine, as the factories making the Il2s inline engine were in danger of being overrun by the Germans . Only one aircraft was completed and found to be underpowered and in any case the engine factories stayed in russian hands so there was no need for an alternative. The prototype was based on a standard Il2 single seater with the straight wing , but was adapted to fit a second crewman , manning a rear gun .
So onto the kits , the Il2 m ( mark 2 if you like ) with the two man cockpit but straight wing ( as opposed to the arrow shaped wing of the usual kit subject , the Il2 m3 ) is not well represented by the makers , only Zvezda as far as I know making one. I aquired this and for the m82 radial I have an old build of the Polikarpov i-185 fighter which will be butchered . Heres the two victims and a few shots of the differences .

[adt70hk]

Interesting!

[Tim Marlow]

Looks very interesting. It will be intriguing to see how you accomplish this.....

[papa 695]

One to watch, good luck with it Tony.

[Allen Dewire]

Whaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!

Sorry Tony, but I had to read the intro 4 times to figure out what you were doing. That has to be the fugliest airplane I have ever seen with a radial engine..

I can't wait to see how you are going to do this. Sitting up front with a cold one in hand....Let the magic begin!!!

Prost
Allen

[Jim R]

Hi Tony
That's a novel idea. It will be interesting to see how you sort it.
Jim

[yak face]

Heres the sprues for the il2 . A nice looking kit , reasonably detailed cockpit, engraved panel lines and rivetting , even hollowed exhausts - pity theyll be going straight in the spares box !. I’ll be starting with the cockpit which has to be shortened a little as the m82 prototype was also the first Il2 to be tried with a gunners cockpit added , which differed from the production two seater , mainly being a little smaller and having a different rear canopy .

[yak face]

Finally got started on this . The cockpit is quite basic so I got some of those new 3d decals to jazz it up a bit . Not much will be seen anyway as theres no open canopy option . One thing I did was to hollow out the seat pan as it was flat . The 3d decals are exactly what it says on the tin , waterslide decals that have been 3d printed in colour . They went on ok , i put a drop of Klear on before applying just to make double sure they will stay stuck . The set is supposed to be for the Tamiya Il2 but they work fine here. Once ive got the pit done I can get the fuselage together and start the chopping ! Cheers tony

[Tim Marlow]

Looking good Tony. Cockpit looks the business with those decals in place. I’ve never seen them used before. They look great, especially the seat belts, which are much better than etch.

[yak face]

Looking good Tony. Cockpit looks the business with those decals in place. I’ve never seen them used before. They look great, especially the seat belts, which are much better than etch.

Cheers tim , they werent too expensive either - £6.30 and free postage off ebay

[yak face]

Cockpit is done ready to go into the fuselage . I didnt go overboard with the detailing or finish as its not really going to be that visible under the closed canopy. I moved the rear gunners back wall section forward about 6mm as the canopy on the m82 was a makeshift job and shorter than the production two seaters represented in the kit. This will leave me a hole to sort out behind but a bit of plastic card and filler will sort this. The canopy on the other hand will be a bit trickier.

[Tim Marlow]

Looks like you’ll be zipping up the fuselage soon Tony.....

[scottie3158]

Tony,
Looks like an interesting conversion.

[Jim R]

Hi Tony
Those 3D decals have really made a difference to the cockpit. I've never seen them before. Real value for money too. As Tim says you'll be putting the fuselage halves together soon. Hope the fit is good.
Jim

[yak face]

Fuselage together and not a bad fit , although this being one of Zvezdas earlier kits theres a total lack of guide pins so you have to be a bit careful with alignment and until the glue has gone off. I filled the area behind the shorter gunners cockpit with plastic card and will sand and fill this later. The butchery begins now with the i-185 being the first victim , it sacrificed itself for a worthy cause . The Il2 has also had its nose chopped off and the area adjoining the new engine sanded to a more sloping profile. The m82 conversion also had a prominent air intake above the engine which I can fashion out of the unused intake scoop from the standard nose .