Reading build articles online the Dacoplast kits get glowing reviews and are considered to be the best of the “old” Stormovic kits. I couldn’t disagree more. Here is the wing to fuselage joint with some of the worst gaps and steps that I have dealt with in recent memory. This occurred on all five Dakoplast kits I built and required plastic shims in the gaps as well as liberal use of superglue as a filler to eliminate the steps. The one really neat feature of these kits is some finely engraved details on the metal parts but this advantage is obliterated correcting the poor fit.The Zvezda kit has some oversized locating holes for the external stores, plus the rocket rails are clunky and need replaced. I decided to fill the holes with stretched sprue, I use a little MEK to soften the plastic around the hole and then push the sprue in firmly. This is a handy trick to correct a drill hole if the bit wanders and you don’t like the location, in that case use superglue with an accelerator so you can re-drill right away.The one bone I have to pick with the Academy IL-2 is the horizontal stabilizers are molded with “lapped” panels like you would see with vinyl siding on a house. Easy enough to fix with the handy UMM scriber so it’s not a big deal. Use the lap joints as a guide for the scriber then sand them off.The fuselage seam goes right through the thin plastic of the inlet scoop on top of the fuselage, on the Dakoplast kits the plastic is prone to chipping here. This is in a prominent position and easily seen on the finished build.Fortunately, there is an easy fix for the chipped inlet. A thin card is inserted under the area, then the chip is filled with superglue. The plastic on the inside can be thinned with an Xacto knife and the surface sanded back to shape, leaving the chipped area smooth again.The SMER kit has the option for skis or wheeled undercarriage, I chose the skis for my build. The fairings are molded in halves which leaves seams on the interior surfaces which are difficult if not impossible to remove. I covered the seams with plastic strip “reinforcing structures” which will at least look plausible on the finished build. Better than seams in any case!This is the underside of the Zvezda kit after some filling and sanding. The mounting holes seen earlier have been sanded smooth and there is card visible inside the wheel wells to blank of the wing interiors. One thing which is not easily fixed is the fuselage should be slightly rounded on the underside between the wings and Zvezda’s is completely flat. I’m not going to try to correct this, sometimes with older kits you have to pick your battles.This is one of the Dakoplast kits after filling the wing / fuselage joint with plastic card, superglue, and several costs of Mr. Surfacer 500. These joints took several passes to get smooth and really slowed down the build. I prefer to fill and sand subassemblies when possible because it’s easier to get to everything that way. The rocket rails molded into the wings are too thick so I have filed them off, and I also drilled out the shell ejector openings. The wings are butt joints and the fit there is not great either.The Hobby Boss kit has a scribed panel where the landing light should be, I cut this out and filled it with a section of clear sprue and superglue. This will be filed to shape and polished smooth again, my biggest problem with this process is I sometimes forget to mask off the lens! Note the lack of wing armament, HB left both wing guns off for the 37mm gun pod armament option which is not accurate for the swept-wing Arrow version in any case.Here’s a shot of the Zvezda cockpit showing some late additions in white plastic. I found it easier to add several of these bits and bobs after the general assembly was complete and will go back and paint them before the canopies are glued in place. Not my normal construction sequence for sure but it made sense on these builds. Semper Gumby!Looking down into a Dakoplast cockpit with some of the additional bits painted. At this point I have addressed the fit issues with the outer wing panels. Other details are the gunner’s grab handle made from wire, the wing guns from Albion tube, and I have drilled out the openings for the gear-down indicators in the wings.This is the Dakoplast IL-2 straight-wing single seat version prepped for primer with the cockpit masked off. The amount of filling and sanding is evident, and I’m sure priming will reveal the need for more. The clear parts didn’t fit any better than the rest of the kit, a big disappointment as clear parts are a challenge to correct. On this version the armor behind the pilot’s seat was too high and prevented the rear canopy part from fitting at all, on the later versions this was not a problem.The Hobby Boss kit represents the other end of the assembly spectrum, the kit is engineered for easy assembly so the parts count is low and the seams are few. Fit was excellent throughout, even the canopy fit like a glove. The kit was a pleasure to build, if you haven’t tried one don’t be put off by the “easy build” description, especially if you’re willing to add some detail to the cockpits.
WHENEVER ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE OF THESE ENDS (LIFE,LIBERTY,AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS) IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR ABOLISH IT, AND TO INSTITUTE A NEW GOVERNMENT― Thomas Jefferson
Inch High Guy 