Hobby Boss 1/72 Il-2m3 Shturmovik Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Here is another of HobbyBoss' Easy Assembly Kits, the two-seat Il-2m3 with the swept wings. This kit got lost on the way to get its sprue shots taken and instead found itself on my bench before I realized my mistake. So here is a quick-build look at the kit instead.

This kit has the lower fuselage and wings molded as an integral part with the upper fuselage half being added once the cockpit is assembled and installed. This project is definitely a quick build and goes together as nicely as others in this series. The kit is molded in light gray styrene and presented on two parts trees plus the lower fuselage/wing, upper fuselage, and one small clear tree with the canopy.

Markings are provided for two examples:

• Il-2m3, White 100
• Il-2m3, White 1, as flown by Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Pavlov

The color profiles provide clear painting instructions and paint recommendations.

As you can see in the images to the right, I only used liquid cement for assembly and no fillers or paint to hide any flaws. The kit goes together very nicely with only a touch of filler required at the wing roots and in the rear fuselage.

This is yet another nice addition to the scale flightline for the beginner or for the more experienced modeler looking for some instant gratification. Either way, this is really developing into a nice series of kits from HobbyBoss.

My sincere thanks to Squadron Mail Order for this review sample!