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Reviewer: John Mancini (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted:  28 January 2008

The Kit:

A fairly flimsy end opening box contains over 100 multimedia parts made up of about 75 limited run plastic, 30 etched and acetate and four clear parts which are cloudy to say the least.  All the mainstream parts are housed in a plastic bag together and given the limited run nature of the kit there is a bit of flash on the smaller components such as landing gear and struts, propellers etc.  The etched and acetate are bagged separately.

Instructions:

These are printed in the form of an A3 sized sheet folded to make an A4 booklet containing the usual history information in Russian and English (as translated), decaling and paint information on one side.  On the reverse side is a dozen assembly steps and sprue diagram. 

Construction:

In spite of what the instructions set out, I commenced construction in the cockpit and used much of the etched and acetate parts here.  The wings and engine nacelle are the first steps in the instructions.  There is a choice of using either etched or plastic parts for the cockpit and I chose to use some of both, with the etched and acetate films used to enhance the interior.  You are provided with seat, control column, rudder pedals, main console areas and rear gunners position.  

The interior was painted light grey in line with what was written in the instructions as I did not have other reference material.  The cockpit was a little problematic and needed several dry fit runs but with a bit of work fits well into the fuselage half.  Perhaps just using the etched set would have made fitting easier.  All the details were picked out with a black wash.  The rear gunner’s station is also well catered for receiving a seat and gun position and it is possible to have the rear hatch open or closed.  The small turret rings need extreme care when removing from the sprue and subsequent attachment.  They are best combined with the etched rings to give it a bit more strength.  Unfortunately and contrary to the instruction sheet, I could find no way to assemble this part and allow the turret to be moveable.

Moving on the fuselage halves were affixed together but required the trapping of the rear tail gun and wheel within.  As with the interior, this needs a few dry fit runs to work out the best way to get the fuselage halves closed and it was very easy to ill-fit the tailwheel, so this is best attached, butt-joined by super glue nearer the end of construction.  The thickness of both fuselage halves was also slightly different, adding to the challenge of securing a decent attachment.  Rubber bands, clamps and pegs were all needed to hold the fuselage halves in place and then later a rub down along the joins to blend the airframe smooth.  Unfortunately some of the surface rivet detail will be lost during this process.

The next task was then to tackle the wings and engine nacelles.  The wings have a choice of etched or plastic radiator inserts which are a bit shallow, and I went with the grill of the etched set because it looked better and more realistic.  The upper and lower wing halves need to be carefully aligned together as there are no locating pins to assist.  This again is where some dry fit runs need to occur to make sure follow up attachment of the engine nacelles and wheel wells will fit okay.

The instructions say to assemble one part of the nacelle to the wing, and then attach the rest to it afterward.  The first stage of this process includes the bulkheads and undercarriage.  The instructions require you to organise a small piece of stretched sprue for one of the support struts of the undercarriage and it is best to glue these parts with superglue for added strength.  The second stage of fitting the remaining nacelle part is an exercise in frustration and patience, needing a lot of dry fit runs, trimming and gentle coercion in the right places before the worthwhile fit is finally achieved.

There is a small landing light to add into the underwing surface which can be left off til later if desired, but needs a lot of work to get it to fit.  Adding the flaps to the wings were easier than first envisaged given some of the work required for the fit in other areas, but still needed dry fit runs and a bit of work to fit nicely.  The instructions provide advice in setting the flaps in the downward position at a 45 degree angle.  You will need to add in the hinges and actuating rods with stretched sprue.  It is advisable again to consider a dob of superglue to help strengthen the bond and leave overnight to properly cure.  

The tailplane section with fins was added to the model late in the construction and butt joined.  I found it easier to put the tailplanes onto the fuselage, leave them to dry and then add the twin fins afterward so that they were correctly displayed at the vertical angle required.  Then the canopy parts were carefully fitted and masked ready for painting.  Again, this was not the best fit but can be overcome in a straightforward matter by simply preparing the area through dry fit runs, trimming and sanding to suit.

Options:

The kit allows a few optional components including wheels up/down, flaps up/down and canopy hatch open/closed.  The instructions do seem to suggest quite evidently that the turret should be moveable as well but I was not able to achieve this during construction as noted above.

Colour Schemes:

Three versions are provided by the kit which provide a nice choice although it is advisable to plan which version you are going to do as I think it helps during the construction process.  First up is a Pe-3bis from 22^nd Aviation Plant, 1941 in Dark Green upper over light blue undersides; second is “Yellow 4” of Levenyevsky Pilot School, Rustavi, 1942 in a dark green and grass green upper camouflage over light blue undersides; and the third version is “White 27” of 118 Aviation Regiment, Northern Fleet, 1944 in upper Grass Green over light blue undersides.

Decals:

A fairly large sheet is provided which is quite glossy looking but also quite sharp in register.  Interestingly the sheet has markings for Czech, Russian, Finnish and Polish air forces, however, one soon learns that this decal sheet also doubles up for the Pe-2 kit made by Zlinek.  There is no stencilling, only the stars and numbers will be used.  In spite of the nice looking sheet the decals are too thin and therefore the green behind it can be seen, making the red stars a very dull and darker colour so either a touch up with paint, or using the left over decals have to be used to brighten up the markings.  They also curled over within moments of hitting the water.

Accuracy:

My reference material is fairly sparse on the Pe-3 so I have had to rely on the Pe-2 for guidance, since as I understand it the Pe-3 is the same airframe, just with the ventral and front areas removed and altered to change the bomber Pe-2 into the fighter Pe-3.  On this basis the overall look of the model looks okay, but is slightly undersized by a mm or two and the fuselage section, particularly the rear area seems narrower than it should be.

Overall Recommendation:

Overall it was a hard going construction process but it was actually rather enjoyable.  There were some challenging situations but nothing too much that someone who is adept at putting together these limited run kits with etched parts etc couldn’t deal with.  I am pretty pleased with result and it is certainly a nice looking aircraft.  I would reservedly recommend this kit for those with some modelling skills to tackle limited run kits and who can delve into spares etc to replace the kit decals and so forth.

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