Sovietwarplanes

According to ScaleModels.Ru Xuntong will produce a 1/48 Il-4 this summer.  I have not seen any official confirmation of this from Xuntong so far.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A//scalemodels.ru/&langpair=ru%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

Let's hope for it. :o :D

Now isn't that something!  I don't normally buy 1/48th scale, etc., but I may have to buy this one.  Pathetic though that there isn't a really top-notch kit of this very important warplane in 1/72nd scale.

Regards,

Jason

Wow! I got to have that one in my VVS bomber collection  :D! Truly awesome if Xuntong makes this one in 1/48th scale. The biggest 1/48 bomber was till recently the MPM or HiPM Petlyakov Pe-2/3bis. I have 3 kits of MPM (the special hobby Pe-3 with gneiss radar kit is actually a Pe-3 MPM kit reboxed, so...). According to reviews of these kits, these are not easy to build  :( Its nice to see some quality kitmakers have the nerve to make a IL-4 in 1/48.

To bad the Tamigawa kitmakers are lacking severely on this area. From these firms, only a new Messerschmitt, spitfire, mustangs or a german plane that never leaved the drawingboard are what we get from these firms... >:(

Xuntong will release from June an Ilyushin DB-3T, Ilyushin Il-4 and an Ilyushin Il-4T.
For me a DB-3T. :D

er, no, the biggest so far in 1/48 is the Xutong Tu-2. 

But another new  one is encouraging...now, when are they going to do Yermolayev 2 in 1/48?

I'm guessing the target market for these kits is in Russia, so the above may not be as fanciful as it first appears ;)

cheers
T

Hi,
DB-3T? It is very different from Il-4. Couldn't it be a DB-3F, that was the early Il-4?
Regards
Massimo

I don't know because I've discovered this from a reliable source.
Like you said it could be the F version considering that Xuntong have to make little adjustments.
But let's hope it will be the T version instead. :D

Hi,
here is a link to Xuntong page (english version) http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/a/English/ (http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/a/English/)

This is what I found particularly interesting on that page:

It looks like they are open to discussion/proposals about how to make their kits and camouflages more accurate.

     66misos

Interesting.  Maybe we could get a 1/48th scale I-153 out of them!

Regards,

Jason

Interesting. I could suggest them to have a look to the profiles of Tapani, this could give interesting ideas on painting schemes for the earlier versions in particular.
Regards
Massimo

Hi Massimo,
it was also my first thought. But as those profiles are not mine I rather waited for you.
 
     66misos

@Massimo
I think that's a great idea. I've mailed Xuntong several months ago and there very open to new suggestions.

http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/a/gongsigonggao/2013/0503/71.html

Well, it certainly looks impressive, as a CAD image!  Let's hope it looks as nice in the plastic.

Regards,

Jason

Nice now how to convince Xuntong to shrink this kit and their Tu-2 series to the one true scale (1/72)?

BTW on the CAD drawind aren't those engine cowlings indicative for DB-3F?

I couldn't agree more, TISO!  As I said in an earlier post on this thread, we need an accurate Il-4 in 1/72nd scale.  Now that Hobby Boss are coming out with an Easy Assembly Tu-2, we at least have an easy-to-build Tu-2 in 1/72nd scale, but I'll settle for a hard to build Il-4 in 1/72nd scale, as long as it's accurate.

Regards,

Jason

I thought that existing kit is not that bad but to be honest I never checked its accuracy.

Piotr, there are two kits of the Il-4 in 1/72nd scale that I'm aware of, one from Zvezda, and one now released by Revell (old Plasticart, perhaps?).  Both have their problems.  The Zvezda kit's main problem is the cowlings, which are cylindrical, instead of being rounded, and best replaced by the cowlings from the Revell kit (I got a hold of an old out of production Goffy replacement set).  In addition, both kits have some rather tricky construction; the nacelles on the Zvezda kit are separate from the wings, so the wings have to be attached on both sides, and the Revell kit, although it has more interior detail than the Zvezda kit, has the fuselage in four parts, top, sides, and bottom!  In short, there exists no modern, accurate kit of the Il-4.  Now if Zvezda were to release a new Il-4 to the quality of their Pe-8 kit, then that would settle it.

Regards,

Jason

You forgot the mother of Zvezda kit the Maquette kit of DB-3 and Il-4

Hi,
I have the Revell kit, and I can add that the turret is too small, the prop blades have an hardly continue curvature, the upper fuselage cross section is too squared, the rudder/stabilizer is too low and with a bad squared base, and the surface panels are raised and too heavy. 
Perhaps I'll build it all the same, but I would be happy to leave it for a radically new kit.
Don't forget the DB-3, that is more different from DB-3F /Il-4 than for the flat nose and low turret, even if those are the most visible differences. 
Unfortunately the model of Maquette looks very poor, particularly if you take into account that the most of them were painted silver, and this would reveal witout any pity all the defects of the panelling.
Regards
Massimo

(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f170/KosachevSergey/1389162317_DSC01286a.jpg)


http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1389170710/1-48+Xuntong+Il-4+test+build (http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1389170710/1-48+Xuntong+Il-4+test+build)

That does look nice!  If only they'd downscale it to 1/72nd scale.  Still, If I do buy the Tu-2, this would look good alongside it and my Tamiya Il-2 (whenever I finish it).  Still, it's always nice to see new-mould VVS kits, in whatever scale.

Regards,

Jason

Maybe KL can take a look at it. :D

Hi,
well, the choice of the 3-shades camouflage and post-1943 markings is uncoherent with the early version (DB-3F of 1940-41) that can be deducted by the bulged cowlings and the window behind the canopy.
Besides, yellow tips of the prop blades, very light brown... not convincing painting, at a first look. The modeller made a mix of 2 or 3 versions.
The choice to use black instead of dark grey is very possible for this type.
Anyway it looks a marvellous kit. It should be available in 3 variants. I hope in an 1/72 reduction very much.
Regards
Massimo

Note for Hyperscale threads, if you change 'message' to 'thread' in the link, you get the whole thread on one page.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1389170710/1-48+Xuntong+Il-4+test+build

In the last post [as of posting this] Sergey Kosachev mentions the build should have AMT-12.

There's also a link and posting of the kit schemes http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/2013/news_1122/15.html

so....when's the 1/48 Yer-2 and Pe-8 due  ;)

cheers
T

Interesting 2 cowling types and range of ordnance provided. I just might get me one even tough it is in "wrong" scale.

Hi,

The templates of 1943 describe the darker color as black for Il-4 and Pe-8, and dark grey for other types.


http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1943-45-bombers/1943-45bombers.html (http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/1943-45-bombers/1943-45bombers.html)

Of course, it is possible that some planes were painted in grey.

Regards
Massimo

The model now appears on Xuntong's website. One more step forward toward my ever growing stash building... ;D
DB-3F (http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/html/pshow/DB-3F/)
Il-4 (http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/html/pshow/IL-4/)
Il-4T (http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/html/pshow/IL-4T/)
The choice of camouflage could have been more varied, but that's just me nitpicking.

I'd also love someone to come out with an "old school" vacform conversion for the early pug-nosed DB-3's, but three versions will suffice for now.
Massimo, if you note some unusually obsessed traffic on the site these days, that will be me oohing and aahing over Tapani's profiles...

Hi Bonehammer,
I hope that those drawings will be more useful now.
Personally I like very much the planes with nonstandard camo of 1940-41, so called DB-3F.  I think that the kit of Xuntong has the ball turret, but some early planes could have had a lower version of the MV-3 turret that, I suppose, is not included into the kit. This could limit the choice.
To obtain an old DB-3 from a DB-3F... it is possible, but it's a lot of work; changing the nose won't be enough.
Regards
Massimo

Thanks for the head-up: I realized that after a look at the drawings.
Oh well, who'd ever say I'd see a plastic 1/48 Bob in my life? Or Su-2?
I still have a couple AMT A-20s and a Monogram Mitchell in my stash because they were the only way to make a "twin-engined Soviet bomber" until not so long ago...

Just saw that this kit is on pre-order at Hobbyeasy.com. Going for $37.16USD which seems like a pretty fair price for a twin-engine bomber in 1:48 scale.

I will be passing on this one as I don't find the aircraft aesthetically pleasing but will be interested to see the SB-2s when they are released. SBs are also pretty ugly but they have a nice 30's vibe about them that is to me, quite appealing.

Cheers,
Robert

Pictures of the plastic sprues, instructions and decals are at:

http://www.xtmodel.com.cn/html/pshow/Suite-Preview/