Milo's IL-86

[Milo Black]

My second (although paralell) build will be an Ilyushin IL-86, from the 1/144 Zvezda kit with the ExtraTech PE pack. It'll be Aeroflot of course (what else!). I've not made a Zvezda kit before, but I've heard good things about them, so I'm looking forward to this. This is a first adventure into PE detailing as well, so should be a fun build.

[Milo Black]

Box and sprues

I don't have the PE yet, but should be here by the start of the GB.

[Milo Black]

PE goodies in da house - excellent service as always from Vince at modelsforsale.co.uk.

[Prenton]

That looks like a nice 'un.

Best of luck. True about Vince - always great service.

Prenton

Edited July 2, 2010 by Prenton

[Milo Black]

So, started this one now - pics later when there's something to show.

Background - This was the USSR's first widebody airliner, and a triumph of political will and sheer bloody-mindedness over common sense. Ilyushin began work on the design in 1969, which was green-lighted by the politburo in 1973. The plane was intended to be in-service for the Moscow Olympics in summer 1980 - but did not complete certification until December. The long timescale was due to a number of factors, notably:

configuration - the under-mounted engine configuration was initially considered to be "Western" and therefore (of course) inferior

powerplant - the Russians basically did not have an engine that was up to the job - an attempt to copy the RR RB-211 failed, development of a new engine failed, and the noisy and thirsty Kuznetsov engines finally used were a 1960s design

avionics - technology was imported (which took ages), rather than importing finished items (which would have been expensive).

In fact, a deal was underway to buy the Lockheed Tristar (with a few planes imported whole, and a license granted for domestic production), which was only blocked in 1974 when Jimmy Carter imposed human rights considerations on foreign exports.

However, it did finally fly, and 106 were made, used almost exclusively by Aeroflot and the Soviet military (export attempts died a death as the plane was, by then, about 20 years behind the offerings of western manufacturers). As of March 2010, 16 still remain in service - 12 civil airliners with Russian airlines and four of the IL-86VKP military variant with the Russian air force.

History lesson over.... On to the kit........

Point one - I'm dead impressed with this Zvezda kit. Lots of finely-moulded detail, sprue gates in unobtrusive places where possible, no ejector pin issues so far and little touches like making locator pins on tailplanes asymmetric, so you can't mount them the wrong way around. Someone has really given this some thought. Only (very minor) gripe so far is that they shrink-wrap the outside of the box, rather than using an inner bag for the sprues - as a result, the sprues get shaken about during transit and handling, which causes scuff marks and (on my kit) minor damage to pointy bits which needs to be repaired - shame, when the parts are so nice, not to package them more kindly.

Anyhoo - first decision is windows. Possibilities....

a) Use the kit transparencies - and enter masking hell

Fill and use an aftermarket decal - but I like the old Aeroflot livery supplied, and I don't really want to shell out for a different livery that I'm not fussed about.

c) Leave them open and then use Clearfix once the exterior is painted - I did them that way on my 1/72 Concorde, but 114 windows (I counted) at 1/144... shudder....

Decision made - option a). Since the windows are covered by a decal cheat-stripe anyway, the paintwork around the window edges doesn't have to be first-class - so I'm painting along the window-line BEFORE putting the windows in (one coat of matt white to prime, one coat of white gloss), clean up the holes and then fit the transparencies. Once the fuse is zipped, I can mask the whole strip of windows for safety, and then paint the rest without worrying too much. Once the decal goes on, it will hide any join-line between the main paintjob and the pre-painting. At least, that's the theory.....

Second decision (and a bit of a no-brainer) - not to fit the nose-wheel before zipping up the fuselage. It's BOUND to get broken during handling, and probably several times. It's a tight squeeze, but I'm fairly sure I can fiddle and faff it into place at a later stage.

Current status - primer drying, wing and tailplane halves glued and clamped. More later.

[stever219]

Hi Milo,

I hope I'm not being a wet blanket here, but check the windows' fit to the fuselage. Loking at your sprue shots this is the same kit as the Revell Il-86 and on my (Revell) boxing the windows stand proud of the fuselage skin when installed. I spent a whole evening filing and sanding them flush. Also, for some reason, the transparencies appear to be made of a soft plastic that's a nightmare to file and sand.

Hope this helps,

All the best,

Steve

[Milo Black]

Hi Milo,

I hope I'm not being a wet blanket here, but check the windows' fit to the fuselage. Loking at your sprue shots this is the same kit as the Revell Il-86 and on my (Revell) boxing the windows stand proud of the fuselage skin when installed. I spent a whole evening filing and sanding them flush. Also, for some reason, the transparencies appear to be made of a soft plastic that's a nightmare to file and sand.

Hope this helps,

All the best,

Steve

Thanks, Steve - I'd already checked the fit, and it *seems* to be OK - but thanks for the warning. If they are trying to stand proud, I'll shim them on the inside to get the outside surface flush.

Bit more progress today:

Dry fit of main parts - wing and tail halves are glued, but push-fitted to the fuselage halves.

I also built one of the engines to check how the PE fitted - this is the replacement front fan:

Spinner is a bit wonky - but the other three will now be better.

[Milo Black]

Presing on with this - half the windows are now in (and sitting nicely flush), but cleaning the excess paint out of the holes out is a bit of a tedious job, so needed a break.....

Pre-shading is a technique that I've "seen done" rather than used on anything - but this looks like a good excuse.

Spirit marker, I've heard, causes problems when you paint over it - but since I prime white-work with (water-based) acrylic, I figured I'd be OK.... and so it proved.

... and after a single coat of H34 acrylic....

With two (or more) further coats over the top of that, I'm hoping this will look fairly cool.

Edited July 4, 2010 by Milo Black

[Mike]

Beware Milo, marker pen has a nasty habit of bleeding through even acrylic paint... it's a bit more of a PITA than it's worth, generally

[Milo Black]

Beware Milo, marker pen has a nasty habit of bleeding through even acrylic paint... it's a bit more of a PITA than it's worth, generally

Thanks for the warning, Mike - I'll keep an eye on it, and if it starts playing up, I can always sand it back to the virgin plastic. We'll see - as I said, this is a first attempt for me, so I'm sure I'll learn something from doing it (usually "Don't do that again, slughead" ).

More from today.......

All windows are in (except the main screen, which will get left until last), and I put a bulkhead behind the cockpit.....

... then painted the interior matt black, to avoid "telescope syndrome" (Mummy, I can see right through the middle of this!), and added a strategically-placed piece of sprue...

... to prevent the same problem at the tail vent (or "cloaca" if you prefer...).

That done, the fuselage was closed up, taped to within and inch of its life and the tail-pan cemented in place.

I did also add some paint to my engine - I'm making one to completion to check that everything turns out nice before doing the other three, since I'd rather correct any mistakes on one engine than on four

Edited July 4, 2010 by Milo Black

[Milo Black]

Moving along on this - at the "sand and fill" stage on the fuselage.

I'd painted the underside of one wing to check on colour - the destructions recommend Modelmaster Flat Gull Grey, for which H129 US Gull Grey is supposed to be close.... but this was coming out much too yellow for my liking, almost verging on beige... so I've sanded that off and I'm repainting in H166 Light Aircraft Grey, which is (to my eye) a lot closer to the references I'm using.

I've also discovered that the paint scheme suggested doesn't match the decals - the decals are post-Soviet Aeroflot (Russian flag on the tail) - which means the fin needs to be mainly grey, with white only on the leading edge.

Mike - the preshading didn't bleed ... although I was finding it a bit too distinct, so I've gently sanded it in all other locations to make it more subtle.

The gear arrangement on this beast makes it a bit more interesting than normal - aside from the nose gear, there is a central gear and two wing-mounted gears... which means that getting the wings right is more crucial than with a more common tricycle arrangement if I want all 14 wheels to touch the ground together - if the wing angle is slightly out, I'll wind up with one of other set of under-wing wheels floating in mid-air. I'm planning to display on the stand, but even so.....

... so, I won't try to attach the wings until I have all the landing gear assembled - I can then dry-fit the wheels, and use them to hold the wings at the right angle while the cement is curing.

... so, for once, I'm having to build the undercarriage before attaching the wings! Ah well, adapt and improvise

More photos when I have something to show.

[stever219]

Milo,

Good progress there. Why didn't I think too shim the windows on mine?

I've been thinking about the undercarriage: is there any mileage in getting te nose and outer maain legs on and then adding the centre-line mmain bogie once the others are set? Provided the wings are on correctly (dihedral) you should be OK?

All the best,

Steve

[Antony Robertson]

Excellent progress Milo, looking forward to more updates on this bird

Antony

[Milo Black]

I've been thinking about the undercarriage: is there any mileage in getting te nose and outer main legs on and then adding the centre-line main bogie once the others are set? Provided the wings are on correctly (dihedral) you should be OK?

I did think about that, Steve - but it comes down to getting the wings on the correct dihedral (something that I would not be 100% confident about) and then being able to adjust the height of centre gear. The gear is quite complex and fragile - not realy conducive to cut'n'shut operations. Doing it with everything in-place seemed to make more sense.... I'll probably wind up with a wing-root gap top or bottom, but that can be dealt with using "orthodox techniques" (plastic card & filler ).

[Milo Black]

Now starting to look like a plane....

Using the undercarriage to get the wing angles worked like a charm. The upper port wing root join will need a dab of filler...

... which I will mask to keep it away from as much of the moulded detail as possible - but the other joins will be fine with just a light sand.

Building engines and working on the gear.....

I'm using various Metalcotes on the gear, wheels and engines, which will then be dry-brushed to (hopefully) bring the detail out.

Once the wing-roots are dealt with and re-primed, I'll do the white upper surfaces (two coats of H22), then mask for the grey H166 (which is turning out a lot better than the H129 I tried previously). This is all brush-painting as you may have gathered - my weapons of choice for large areas are ProArte nylon flat brushes (good, but not stupidly expensive), in various sizes from 1/4" up to 3/4". The 3/4" is too big for a "standard" 14ml Humbrol or Revell pot, but works well with 120ml tin of gloss white that I keep for jobs like this Using a larger brush means you can work faster, and get the finish even before the paint starts to drag. Yes, it would be easier with cans or an airbrush - but I don't have anywhere that I can realistically use for spraying, so..... you go with what you've got

[richellis]

Looking good.

[CliffB]

Looking good.

Oh yes!

How far through the PE sheet are you Milo? I was trying to work out what all the parts were for, but failed miserably

Cliff

[Milo Black]

How far through the PE sheet are you Milo? I was trying to work out what all the parts were for, but failed miserably

Yeah, it'a a bit boggling, and with some VERY tiny bits, some of which need to be folded before use .... even with tweezers and my extra-welly "modelling glasses", I'm finding some of it a bit like trying to ride a motorbike in the living-room.

In short, there are:

Front engine fans (replacements) - these are done, and look MUCH better than the standard parts.

Wheel trims - done.

Gear doors (replacements) and additional details - in the process. You'll see below that the gear doors are a mini-build in themselves.

Exterior details - will be the very last thing in the build, I think.

[richellis]

I have some of those PE kits,and some of the parts are VERY small! Ive a couple of sets for 737s and they even have cockpit window wipers!

I do like this, and milo you are putting this kit on my to-buy list!

[Milo Black]

I have some of those PE kits,and some of the parts are VERY small! Ive a couple of sets for 737s and they even have cockpit window wipers!

Yup - this one has those, and I have a 737-800 set too for a future build

I do like this, and milo you are putting this kit on my to-buy list!

It's a really nice kit - well-impressed with it, and I'm now looking forward to doing the 787 that I have from the same guys.

[richellis]

Im doing one, its in the build review section. Will have custom decals, and the metal UC that I reviewed on it!

[Milo Black]

Im doing one, its in the build review section. Will have custom decals, and the metal UC that I reviewed on it!

Thanks, Rich - just had a look at this. Good stuff!

[Milo Black]

Main painting - white and grey - is done, bar the retouching.....

The white took three coats, the grey gave better coverage so I got away with two. Now when this is bone dry, need to mask and paint the silver leading edges and the red wing-flashes, then re-touch where the masking is less than perfect, where I've been especially cack-handed and where I've not got the curves quite right (as can be seen in the photo - bit of a "point" where the grey starts to curve downwards - there's a few places where it's not quite as smooth as I would like). Once that's done, the masking tape over the windows can come off, and the whole thing will get a couple of coats of Klear to blend it all together before decalling.

BTW - the Zvezda stand is rather flimsy for a bird of this size, and I'm not convinced that it won't foul the centre gear. OK, to be fair, they do say to build it wheels-up if you use the stand, so I'm probably expecting too much. Anyway, having opened up the stand slot, I can see this getting filled in again, the stand going in the spares box and this baby being displayed on its wheels.

Meanwhile, the engines are done, and I'm picking away getting the undercarriage ready - many very tiny PE bits, much CA on fingers, significant swearing....

So the to-do list is:

Finish main paint.

Klear.

Decals.

Add engines and undercarriage, re-rouch paint.

More Klear to seal decals.

Weathering wash.

External detailing from PE set.

Another two weeks should do it.

Edited July 17, 2010 by Milo Black

[CliffB]

Nice to see it really starting to come together now Milo

Cliff

[Milo Black]

Silver leading-edges done last night, and a few touch-ups - but no progress now until Sunday. Busy week!