Rarely is the tail section of a model the point of interest, but I really like the uniqueness of this aircraft. The kit is from Eduard and it was rather fun to build. The build was quite complex but everything seemed to fit very well. I really liked how the radiator ducting went together to make a very realistic engine cowling.
The wings were nicely done, but I think that I put them together out of sequence and had to work a little harder to get them to fit right. The cockpit is also nicely done, and I really liked the tailgunner's compartment.
I chose this option from the kit because of it's unique scheme (apparently the Soviet Navy had a liking for dramatic paint schemes). Eduard's explanation for the differnt tail section was multiple repairs on the forward fuselage and wing areas. This may be true but my theory is that this aircraft suffered significant damage to the tail section and was replaced with a good tail section from another damaged aircraft, afterwhich, the crew added some personal markings of "For the Honor of the Guard" on the port side and "For the Motherland" on the starboard. This makes sense to me because the majority of the aircraft is painted in the earlier AII Green and Black scheme, where the fuselage tail has the later Raw Sienna color added. Also, photo evidence shows that the starboard aileron has been replaced and appears to be painted Raw Sienna.
Anyway, this kit came out beautiful and I really like it, eventhough the Il-2 has got to be one of the ugliest aircraft to come out of WWII victorious.
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