Zvezda 1/144 Aircraft - IL-2 Sturmovik

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've posted anything worthwhile...  life has been plenty busy.  A couple of weeks ago, I celebrated the day of my birth and picked up a couple of new toys as a little gift to myself:  Zvezda 1/144 Aircraft and Plastic Soldier Company Panzers.

I want to take a few minutes and share some photos of the Zvezda IL-2 Sturmovik and some photos.  To sum it up, I think they are a good buy and worthwhile...  although not perfect.

Each box comes with an aircraft sprue and a cheap little stand.  The aircraft parts fit together fine and are actually quite easy to assemble.  They are solid and should hold up fine to the rigors of miniature wargaming.  I have only two complaints:

1.  The propellers are flimsy and I opted for clipping them off
2.  Mould lines run right down the top of the fuselage and are dang near impossible to remove cleanly.  I'm going to do my best to integrate them into the paint scheme rather than remove them.

The aircraft stand is useless in my opinion except for maybe a temporary stand.  I plan to replace them with a "Flames of War approved" type flight stand (if anyone knows a good source for these stands please let me know).  The best part about these aircraft is I got them for $3.49 each (nice!).

The aircraft seem to hold paint just fine as you can see.  The photo shows a "Work in Progress" model so please don't snicker at the glossy finish :)  It will be weathered and matte finished soon.  The box does come with decals but I used some from I-94 as the included decal quality was just average.

Here's the underbelly...  you can see the mould line running lengthwise down the fuselage if you look closely.  I also picked up some Ju-87's at the same time and they are of similar quality (pictures to come).  In summary, I think these are a good option for Flames of War Aircraft, especially at $3.49 a-piece.  The quality is so-so but personally I would choose these over Battlefront made aircraft.

Finished photos to come...