Trumpeter 1/144 Il-76MD
by [b]Anand Sharma[/b]
The Il 76 Candid, better known in the IAF as Gajraj (King Elephant) is one of the mainstays of IAF's formidable transport fleet. Well tested in action over Lanka and the Maldives, this rugged giant is a graceful aircraft in flight, and my perennial obsession. I have often breathlessly rushed to places to catch a glimpse of a Gajraj in flight. My home being on the flight path of the Republic day fly past gives me a great opportunity to Gajraj-spot on a sunny Delhi January.
Desperate to model the Il 76, I tried my hand at scratch building, only to discover that the glazing at the nose was quite impossible to replicate. Years later, in England I discovered that a Trumpeter plastic kit actually existed. A trip to the local model store solved the problem. Yes, we can arrange the Trumpeter kit, yes it is available, and can you please leave your phone number with us please? A week later I was opening the box of the huge kit (by 1:144 standards, my Dakota looks Lilliputian!). The parts were all intact, the instructions clear and in English. Building the main structures was a bit of a bother because of the not so good fit of the fuselage, needing a lot of sanding and filling. The nose and cockpit windows form part of two transparent plastic parts, needing masking. Giving the number of windows involved, it did not seem too much of trouble at all (!).
I opted for the earlier IAF white/grey colour scheme, especially since I had a fuselage band decal that I wanted to use, and because I liked challenges. I got more than I bargained for.
After assembly I gave the model a thin base coat of White Plastikote. So far so good. Next on the menu was masking the bottom half and airbrushing Tamiya acrylic white. Errr, too thick at the tail, so I sanded off bits and sprayed another coat. Seemed to work fine. Little did I know my troubles were about to begin.
It started with the first coat of Tamiya Acrylic Light grey on the underside. The first coat sprayed fine. But when I picked the model up to eyeball it a few hours later I found the paint had erupted in blotches, as if my Gajraj had chicken pox. After waiting for it it dry, I decided to lightly sand off the problem areas, and discovered I had sanded down to the base coat of white....since I had sprayed only a thin coat of grey. A second thin coat of grey, and uglier blotches, plus the plastikote was still showing through where I had sanded earlier.
At this point I almost gave up in frustration. I brought up the subject with the local model club. I figured it might be oil drops from my compressor, but Stuart Clark, who has had far more experiences with airbrushes figured (rightly, I think) that my acrylic thinner was probably reacting with the base coat. So, returning to the IL 76 with a resolve, I sanded away all paint from the underside. Sprayed a thin base coat, and holding my breath, started spraying the grey, one area at a time, with less thinner. It did work! Although I was left with an aircraft without much panel details on the underside, and a Grey which turned out to be much darker than I had reckoned. Resisting the impulse to restart with a still lighter grey, I decided to grin and bear it.
The Kit comes (unsurprisingly) with decals for Russian IL 76s. So, employing the ancient Indian wisdom of "Jugaad", I ordered a set of Inkjet decal paper. Scanned the IL 76 MD K3000 markings, with IAF fin flashes, roundels and logos from the Bharat Rakshak website, and re sizing them, printed them off. A good set of tips, printer settings and the like are available on the Model railroad website. Not too bad, for a first attempt. Though the decals had a nasty habit of wearing off with the white spirit I used for the wash (surprised?). The whole look, specially the IAF logos did turn out quite well.
Two coats of Acrylic varnish, and then the weathering. Since IAF seems to keep it's planes spick and span (it seems, from pictures), I decided to stick with a wash, to bring out whatever panel lines/rivet details were left. Amidst the confusion of homemade decals peeling off at the last moment, and the wash running in wrong places, I finally managed to create the replica of a well worn workhorse.
Conclusion: pretty accurate kit, I must grudgingly admit. Though they forget to mention the need for a weighed nose (other wise the Gajraj tips on it's hind feet). And the rear loading bays are duplicated in a most complicated way, pretty uselessly. But the whole thing has been a vast learning experience, and has taught me to treat my airbrush with respect and fear. The Grey underside still looks darker than I wanted it to be. And the glazed nose could have come off better, though the masks held well, I can't complain much, after all the sanding and re spraying around the area.
Trumpeter also does the Il 78 tanker version as well. Hmmmm, food for thought for my next enterprise. Though with an all grey colour scheme, I think I have less margin for error!
© 2005 Anand Sharma
Date: 08/25/2006
Owner: Webmaster
Size: 5 items
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