Last weekend I have finished my - so far - only 2017 campaign and today I had time to take photos of my "Soviet Phoenix". Here is the latest addition to my aviation museum, the Petlyakov Pe-2 from Zvezda in 1/48 ....
.... the Pe-2 was the most numerous soviet twin-engined bomber of WW2. Vladimir Petlyakov designed it as a high altitude fighter under the designation VI-100 when he was imprisoned from 1937 on. The first prototype flew in December 1939. Just as mass production was ready to begin, the VVS ordered a re-design of the aircraft to a tactical bomber. Within 45 days Petlyakov redesigned the aircraft and the result was so good that Stalin ordered to set Petlyakov free again. From that time the aircraft was called Pe-2. Though the flying characteristics were great once the Pe-2 was in the air, the aircraft demanded high flying skills of the pilot during take off and especially during landing because of the high landing speed. The bomber could also not fly on one engine without loosing altitude. Nevertheless more than 10.500 (some sources say 11.500) Pe-2 had been built when production ended in August 1945. The "Peshka", as it was called by its crews, was used as a medium bomber, dive bomer, for ground attack and reconnaissance. It equipped more than 80 bomber regiments. The aircraft with a crew of 3 had a maximum speed of 580 km/h, a range of about 1200 kilometers and a service ceiling of 8800 meters. It was powered by 2 liquid cooled Klimov M-105 engines with 1210 hp each. The armament consited of 2 in the nose fixed ShKAS machine guns and 3 rearward firing machine guns caliber 7,62 mm. It could carry up to 1600 kg of bombs. During the war Finland used 7 captured Pe-2. Post war users were Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia. There are a few "Peshkas" left in museums around Europe ....
... I have built "White 24" of the 125. GvBAP (Gvardveyskiy Bombardirovochniy Aviapolk = Guards Bomber Air Regiment) at the Balbasovo air field, summer 1944. The CO was Major Valentin Markov. All posts of his subordinates and air crews were women. One of these aviators was Leitenant (Lieutenant) Irina Osadze (center), here with her navigator Lyudmila Popova (left) and radio operator Taisiya Panferova. She took part in the Operation "Bagration". Although the "Peshka" was not easy to fly, she was known as a courageously and good pilot. She was shot down and had to crash land her aircraft a few times but could always avoid captivity. During one crash she was wounded in the face by broken canopy glass. Luck stayed with her and she survived the war. After the war she left the VVS but stayed with her passion and flew civil aircraft for a few more years. My picture source is Ospey Publishing ....
.... this kit took me quite some time (7 weeks) to build. It's very detailed and consists of 435 parts. 50 parts alone for the left engine, which I have also build but not installed because I like the look of the Pe-2 better this way. And it was easier to paint
The over all fitting is very good, Zvezda did a great job here. I had only some problems on the underside behind the bomb bay where I had to use some filler. Also the fitting of the big underside window is not perfect, but that might be more my mistake than Zvezda's fault. Everything else goes together easily. The constuction of this kit is well thought out, so sturdy braces hold the wings perfectly so there is no sanding or filler necessary. Painting this bird took me a few days but it was not difficult. For the underside I have used Russian Light Blue R31 from Agama, the upside camouflage is sprayed free hand as usual and I used Russian Green 71281, Russian Tan 71283 and Dark Grey 71054 (all Vallejo paints) for it. The interior was painted with Grey 374 (cockpit and fuselage) and Dark Grey 378 (wheel wells) from Revell. The use of Eduard's mask EX488 is recommended because of all the small clear parts, especially the fuselage turret ....
.... Zvezda offers 3 different decal versions for this kit of the 12., 40. and 34. GvBAP, but after reading the story of the 125. I knew what I wanted to build. There are not many decals on the sheet, I have used only 10 on this bird. The white stripes (identification for Operation "Bagration") were easily painted, the only decal which didn't come from the sheet is the "White 24" which was sponsored by a left over of my Il-2 Sturmovik. This kit is really nice to build, it just takes a bit more time because of the big amount of parts. Though many of them vanish in the fuselage and are never seen again. I can recommend this kit without any doubt. Over here I paid only 29 Euros at my LHS for it.
So I say "спасибо" for walking around this beautiful aircraft with me and hope you have enjoyed it.
Happy modelling!
Torsten
) My current model will be more modern than the Peshka and will have "Tre Kronor" as national insignia. So you should visit my jet collection then. Will be finished in April.
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