The Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik is perhaps one of the most famous aircraft of World War II, especially since more IL-2’s were produced, 36,163, than any other military combat aircraft of this era. Appearing in numerous versions, including single and two seaters, the IL-2 was probably the best close support and anti-tank aircraft used during the war. Any serious modeler should be aware of this plane’s history, so I won’t repeat it here. The model presents a rather unusual variant, the one with 37 mm. NS-37 cannons mounted in streamlined fairings underneath each wing. Flying characteristics suffered, caused by the CG shift rearward because of the cannon installations, but the aircraft was available in adequate numbers for the Kursk Battles, resulting in the destruction of many German tanks and other vehicles. Shortages of cannons kept production numbers small, and previous variants with the Way-23 mm. wing mounted cannons were by far the most common types.

A sincere “THANK YOU” goes to our friends at MMD for providing this most excellent combination for IPMS to review… This was the build of the year for me.

This was a truly pleasurable effort on many levels. First, the size is agreeable… I’m getting older and if a kit is larger it’s easier to work with. The only drawback is where to put it! (The office wins again; most of my IPMS builds are given to the folks there… Most are VERY appreciative, as they can’t do it themselves). Second, I have not built a 1/32 kit like this in quite a while. I never worried about breaking the basic kit because of my ham-fists… Engineering is first rate!

The kit has over 400 parts; if the number excites you like a jigsaw puzzle, buy the kit, because you’ll be busy. If you want a 1/32 spider, buy the kit! Judging by the “out of stock” level, many have… Let us go over the highlights…

As a bit of background, and from Wikipedia, the Maschinen Krieger universe is a science fiction universe created by Japanese artist and sculptor Kow Yokoyama in the 1980s. The franchise originally began as the science fiction series SF3D which ran as monthly installments in the Japanese hobby magazine Hobby Japan from 1982 to 1985. To develop the storyline, Kow Yokoyama collaborated with Hiroshi Ichimura as story editor and Kunitaka Imai as graphic designer.

The Product

The kit arrived in Dragon’s standard smaller box common for a kit of this size. All the parts were well protected in the typical Dragon poly bags. Also included was the standard instruction sheet, a photo-etch fret and a small decal sheet. The kit features 2 crew figures, newly tooled condenser w/modified engine grille, Vickers K machine guns, jerrycans w/photo-etch details and photo-etch sand channels.

In less than two months, France lost 290,000 men killed or wounded and 1,900,000 taken prisoner in its massive defeat that heavily relied upon a strategy based on solid defensive fortifications. Germany’s leaders were not going to fight the First World War again, in spite of all appearances. After their successful Blitzkrieg through Poland in September 1939, they seemed to have run out of steam, settling down to wage a “Sitzkrieg” or “Phoney War” (dôle de guerre). While the world waited through that first bitter, particularly severe winter of World War II, France began calling up reservists. Confident that their investment in the Maginot Line stopped the Germans in their tracks, and in their superior quantity and quality of French armor, French generals became overconfident while morale in their conscript army wore thin as time ticked by.