I have been looking for some 1/144th scale Soviet twin engined bombers for ages. I have a couple of 1/200th scale SB-2s, but they were already obsolete in 1941 and vanished fairly early on. I thought about getting some B-25 Mitchells as several hundred were sent via Lend Lease but really I wanted either Pe-2s or IL-4 and apparently no-one makes models of these apart from in larger scales. I was seriously considering getting a Bf-110 and converting into a Pe-2.
So imagine my delight when one of my regular eBay trawls turned up these two beauties. Not one, but two IL-4s in 1/144th! These are diecast models by Atlas(?) and came from two different shops.
This first one was just packed in a box and had obviously been on display although the undercarriage hadn't been fitted and was just loose. This one was from the french market as it is using the french spelling of Illushin on the base, and is also using the supplementary DB-3 designation.
It is in this rather jazzy three colour camo scheme with nice big red stars. There is a bit of damage to a couple of the sticking out bits but otherwise it is in good condition.
Its friend was in a proper plastic case and is in this green/green scheme and includes Guards badges on the fuselage sides, so clearly an elite VVS unit. This one is in better condition but annoyingly the turret MG hasn't been put in correctly and now it is jammed solid so I can't easily correct it. It was also missing its undercart.
All I did on both planes was attach the tail wheel, which wasn't retractable on these. I left the front undercart off as it would just get broken anyway. I'm going to keep these on their heavy duty stands as they are quite substantial models and would overwhelm my wire flight stands.
I'm very pleased indeed to have got those and I've already got a game planned which can use them. I shall continue my search for a 1/144 Pe-2. Tim said True North make one, but the True North range seems to have been sold to Old Glory UK who have no mention of them at all on their website, just boring Sturmoviks and I-16s.
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