HobbyBoss’ newly tooled Il-2 is molded in medium gray, slightly soft plastic. The kit’s 11 sprues are individually bagged with the exception of the weapon trees, which are both in the same bag. A separate box inside contains the clear parts, some photoetched metal, and vinyl ammunition belts for guns. The kit’s surface detail includes finely engraved panel lines and rivets.
Engine cowls are molded in clear plastic to show off the highly detailed Mikulin AM-38 engine. All the control surfaces are molded separately and can be posed if you cut off the mounting tabs. The clear parts are really nice – quite clear and thin, though HobbyBoss did miss the rather prominent sighting lines that form a diamond shape on the windscreen.
The kit offers few building options: The canopy can be open or closed, and the small bomb bays in the wing center section can be open or closed. There are decals included for two different aircraft, one set for a whitewash over the usual dark green/light blue scheme.
I started on the nicely detailed cockpit. I found the 14-step, two-sheet instructions hard to read; having to switch back and forth between the two sheets, I wasn’t sure why HobbyBoss chose to print them that way.
The instrument panel decal fit perfectly and settled into the surface detail with only a little Mr. Mark Softer decal solution. The photoetched-metal seat belts looked just right when glued to the seat, and overall the cockpit looked good with the right amount of detail.
After completing the cockpit, I turned to the engine. Though it’s very detailed, there is no way to display the engine other than using the clear cowl pieces and not painting them. I did not want my Sturmovik to have a see-through nose, so I just assembled enough of the engine to hold the propeller and two-piece hollow exhaust manifolds.
HobbyBoss would also have you install two racks in the rear fuselage that had radio gear on them, but I left them out because they would be invisible after joining the fuselage halves. The fuselage and cowl pieces fit almost perfectly.
In the wing assembly, HobbyBoss included highly detailed machine guns and cannons complete with ammo storage boxes and ammunition feed belts – but no way for you to display it all without major surgery to open up the wing panels. The photoetched-metal bomb-bay side walls fit perfectly and were a nice touch. Outer wing panels matched the wing’s center section with no fit issues; I glued the completed wing assembly to the fuselage with only a tiny bit of filler on the seam where the leading edge of the wing joins the underside of the nose.
On to the landing gear: skis. These also had great detail, and all the parts fit flawlessly.
I painted my Sturmovik with Model Master Russian dark green and Russian underside blue. After painting, I attached the individual exhaust manifolds to the engine block. These were a bit fiddly and hard to align and glue.
Finally, I attached the landing gear and applied the decals. Since the aircraft had minimal markings, I just used a cotton cloth to buff decal locations to a semigloss that would be more receptive. The decals settled nicely with just a bit of Mr. Mark Softer to conform perfectly.
Overall, building the HobbyBoss Sturmovik was a pleasurable experience with its near-perfect fit and appropriate level of detail. I only spent about 15 hours on mine, way less than I usually spend on a 1/32 scale aircraft. Judging from the unused parts and fuselage mold lines, there may well be a two-seater sometime in the future.