Most accurate Il-2 plans?

[warhawk]

Hello,

I'd like to check my Il-2 from Tamiya against a set of plans, but I came across some mismatches comparing plans from various publications to one another.
Could anyone help me with this conundrum?
What are (currently) the most accurate ones?

Regards,
Aleksandar

[Massimo Tessitori]

Interesting question. I noticed discrepancies between plans of different authors. It could even be that the model is more  accurate than some of them.
One could point the discrepancies by overposing different drawings by a graphic program, then try to compare with photos or other sources to choose or correct the best one.
It would be a lot of difficult work.
Regards
Massimo

[Troy Smith]

Hello,

I'd like to check my Il-2 from Tamiya against a set of plans, but I came across some mismatches comparing plans from various publications to one another.
Could anyone help me with this conundrum?
What are (currently) the most accurate ones?

Regards,
Aleksandar

I'm guessing the ones from the MMP book by Viktor Povinsky.   He's recently been posting on Britmodeller as 'airacutter' in the thread on the new Zvezda Il-2,  you might want to ask him?
HTH

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi, it could be, they seem well made. Just, there is not too much point in asking to an author if his drawings are the best existing ones. Maybe you could ask his opinion anyway. I havent found the thread on the new kit of Zvezda, when was it updated for the latest time?
Regards
Massimo

[warhawk]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm guessing the ones from the MMP book by Viktor Povinsky.

His book is on my wishlist for quite some time, regardless of plans, but I will contact him.
Meanwhile, I posted the same question on Scalemodels.ru forum, and got a very interesting reply.
First of all, I was advised to avoid any plans drawn by the Czech or Polish publications (which is a bit weird, given that both the Czech and the Polish have IL-2s in local museums, i.e. access to measure them).

The most accurate plans so far (reprinted and updated over time) are apparently ones drawn by I.I. Rodionov in the 1982 issue of Modelist-Konstruktor.
They were kind enough even to share a scan, so I compared those to this excellent photo below
https://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/205457/2-private-ilyushin-il-2-sturmovik/

Then I laid the Tamiya 1/72 Il-2 onto them, and everything fits perfectly to one another!

Regards,
Aleksandar

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi Aleksandar,

I admire how the photographer was able to obtain a so accurate profile view. The image has to be shot by very far.
I think to have a scan in my HD, it was described as accurate.
About the drawings of other publications, I see that the most noticeable difference is the wing dihedral, if it changed or not from the inner wing plan to the outer consoles.
Regards
Massimo

[dogsbodyMk.1]

I have this material that I bought from Viktor some years ago.







Chris

[xan]

Waow what is there inside? only profiles ? can we buy it nowadays ?
Xan

[Psy06]

About IL-2 drawings, all drawings in all books, this is tracing paper with modifications of varying degrees of fantasy, as already mentioned, from Ivan Rodionov's drawings published in the Soviet magazine Modelist Konstruktor 1982 №5.

Here they are:







Rodionov made drawings using factory documentation.

Tamiya's 1/48 model was made according to the 3D reconstruction carried out by Aviarestavratsiya specialists, on the basis of the factory drawings of the plant №30. The same materials were used to restore two real flying IL-2. The materials which Tamiya got included the fuselage, wings and empennage but did not include the canopy, so the canopy in Tamia model is incorrect. There are no public drawings for this reconstruction.

As you might guess, the reconstruction of the Aviarestavratsiya surpasses Rodionov's drawings in accuracy from old MK, because they are computer-based, and Rodionov worked in the traditional way, in pencil on paper.

I talked with Rodionov and he told me that the documentation of the №30 plant for some reason does not coincide with the archival photographs, therefore, the two real Il-2 reconstructed in Aviarestavratsiya and the Tamiya model are not entirely accurate, by this criterion.

The Zvezda 1/48 model was made with the direct participation of Ivan Rodionov, and is declared as the most accurate replica of the object. Ivan made adjustments that made the development of the Zvezda more consistent with archival materials. There are no public drawings for this reconstruction too.

As a result, there are two developments on the market, the accuracy of which is higher than the existing public drawings. It is possible that Zvezda's engineers will subsequently publish blueprints from their IL-2 model, just as they did with the Pe-2.

[John Thompson]

Excellent! Thank you very much, Psy!

John

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi Psy,
for what I see all the details of these drawings are right, but some are put together in questionable way.
Zavod 30 produced Il-2s starting from 1942, with wooden wings and rear fuselage.
The singleseater with metallic wings and rear fuselage can represent a plane produced in Factory 18 in the first half of 1941, but the configuration of the guns and the lack of the light on the right wing is wrong for this timeframe.
For a plane of mid 1941 the guns have to be modified in this way:




For planes of late 1941 or 1942, the conformation of the wing is as that of the kit, apart for the ailerons. The rear fuselage was always wooden after the summer of 1941 (apart for some postwar Il-2M3).





It can be that metallic ailerons as those of the kit, but without balance weight, were still in production for some time in late 1941 or early 1942.  Fabric covered ailerons would have been more representative for 1942 planes.



Regards
Massimo

[Psy06]

Massimo, Rodionov define more then 120 serial modifications. Until he publishes the book, no one can figure out this crap. On a britmodeller, someone irritated him a lot, so he will have an extra incentive to finish writing a book.

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi Psy,
so Rodionov is writing a book on Il-2. Interesting. But in the meanwhile he could answer on that forum, isn't it?

[Psy06]

Hi Psy,
so Rodionov is writing a book on Il-2. Interesting. But in the meanwhile he could answer on that forum, isn't it?

No, just only reads sometimes.
I have known about the book for 15 years, but he has been working on it for 40 years. He is an elderly man, maybe he will finish it, or maybe not.

[Massimo Tessitori]

I hope he'll do it of course. Does he exactly know when the metallic ailerons (type without counterweights) were replaced with fabric-skinned ones on production line of Zavod 18?