Steve B., Have made adjustment to the #09 template. I have 9 images but are spaced differently, and two are right-aligned (have made an editorial note to you where that happens). The rest is pretty basic. -Mark M. ******************************************** Gallery Template #09 (MODIFIED) "1/72 Italeri Petlyakov Pe-2" by "Mark Miller" -------------------- Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here Many people know about the Pe-2. It was probably the best bomber the Soviets had during World War 2. It was a marvel of its time, built completely out of metal when the call was put out to use as much wood as possible (to save the scarce resources) and being a modern marvel with the inclusion of electronics. Originally conceived as a high-altitude interceptor, the role it was designed for never became a priority. Later, the Pe-2 did become the Pe-3, a fighter variant. For me this was one of those models you just set your sights on and have to get. A pal from the ARC forums donated a photo etch set for me to use (also my first use of PE ever). I was originally thinking of going with Zvezda, but had heard from many people that the decals on the Italeri kit were much better. However, I've also heard that the Zvezda kit had two beam guns for the windows on each side of the radio room. The Italeri kit did not, which is strange, since the entire kit is molded onto one sprue (yes, you heard that right!). On to the kit! One word: Sweet! 1/72 never looked so good! This is a marvel of a kit. That's probably why it is still around. It has raised panel lines in places (where most panel lines would be) and recessed in others (mostly flaps and control surfaces). The caveat is that the raised panel lines are as small as strands of hair, and you'd be insane to sand them off and scribe panels in their place. It would be like painting a smiley face over the Mona Lisa. The pieces are very finely molded, and you will notice it. The kit-supplied turret machine gun is molded in plastic, but looks delicate enough to be made from metal. The dive brakes (which I left off, because many were modified to remove them) are also finely crafted. The kit supplies wheel doors that are in the closed position, and you must cut them in half to open them. I make a habit of doing gear down, so I learned that the wheel wells are pretty sad. But, better than nothing, I suppose. Fit wise, for the most part, this kit is pretty standard. You've got a bit of work here and there, but all in all fairly easy. The problem I found was with the clear parts. They didn't fit very well. The upper turret is too small for the frame, but the cockpit piece is just a bit too large for the frame. The bomb-aimer windows were really hard to fit into place properly, and the dorsal and ventral radio room windows didn't want to fit well either. The windows and the fuselage are beveled, so when you put then in on the inside they sit instead of falling through. The problem is the bevel is off, and the windows are set inside the surface of the outer skin. You'll note my beam windows (each side of the radio room) are painted over. I learned that the beam guns were ditched in the field, often, and the windows painted over. When in Rome, as they say. Click on images below to see larger images Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 02.jpg here. Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 02.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here. Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg I had a few minor problems with parts of the kit. It has 2-3 large sinkholes in the outer surface of each fuselage half. These definitely need to be filled. The oil cooler intakes didn't line up perfectly to each other, and you have to do a little bit of carving. There was for the most part very little flash on the sprue, but that little amount was spread onto many pieces (so a lot of pieces had a little flash). Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg right aligned with the following paragraph (alongside it) Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg right aligned with the following paragraph (alongside it and below 04.jpg -- in the same table) Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg [ed. note: Those two images will be stacked, both right aligned with the paragraph around it, as has been done on other ARC gallery entries] I followed the painting instructions as-is, for the most part. It presents a very trim model. The cockpit wanted to have two decals on the split instrument console. Luckily my photo=etch had two covers instead. Not highly detailed, but better than decals! The kit has lots of room for super-detailing, such as drilling out the intakes on the side of the engine nacelles, a radio room just begging to be scratch built, a lower gun position that's closed and nonexistent can be opened up, and more. The photo-etch kit supplies the basic external fixes: You get rid of the horrid oil cooler vents on the top of the wings and replace them with PE grills; you replace the criss-cross bomb fins with PE box-like ones; instrument panels were added, as were rudder pedals; new tail doors were added, although I'm not sure why, as the original plastic doors would have done nicely. I made some mistakes here and there and I was forced to brush paint this kit. It's done entirely with free-hand brush painting. Don't put the propellers onto the spinner hubs until you're ready (rookie mistake, I know!). For the paint, I chose the scheme of the better decal set. I liked the multi-color star (What, I think it's called the Moscow Star, or something?). I was also able to find some *ahem*... reference photos... of the aircraft as well! Amazing, no, how my model looks so much like it, eh? (see below) I don't think the colors are accurate, but I tried to match as best as I could. It's fairly close, and looks the part. I'm happy with it. I used MM acrylic Lichtblau for the underside. I felt it was close enough to the "light blue" the instructions called for. Note: also the interior color (as called for in instructions). When I was done I remembered seeing a reference where there were heavy stains coming out of the oil cooler vents (foggy white-ish) and thin stains trailing from the exhausts (dark and smokey) -- I think I got this from the IL-2 demo -- so I decided to weather it a bit. I'm not the best weather person there is (or anywhere near it) so I tried some acrylics, and thinned them with acrylic thinner. I'm not sure if the result is realistic or not, and to me looks a tad over-done, but it was a learning experience. I think I'd like to do this model again some time. I've got a wicked set of winter camo references which are just begging for experimentation. Click on images below to see larger images Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here. Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here. Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg Oh, and one major, horrible, completely disastrous problem: The mast isn't strong enough (by far) to hold even the slightest tension of a rigged wire. I had a wire too! I was going to give it a shot! Alas, this piece is so delicate it broke off no less than half a dozen times (the last time being snapped in half as well). I did my best to hide the scars, but it'll never hold up to a radio wire. Next time I'll try something else. Here are those two reference photos I promised you, as well! The first illustrates a fly-by of the aircraft on take-off. During the same sortie, the flight was recalled, and the bombers came back with a full load. This particular craft hit an air pocket on approach and nosed down slightly. It was able to recover and landed safely. Yeah.. That's what happened. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) Click on images below to see larger images Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here. Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here. Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg Photos and text © 2003 by Mark Miller