Zvezda

1/72 Petlyakov PE-8

Kit Number: 7264

Reviewed by  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $39.95 Zvezda website: zvezda.org.ru Kit supplied by Dragon Models USA: www.dragonmodelsusa.com History The Petlyakov PE-8 prototype first appeared in December, 1936, although production models only went into service in 1940. Powered by four Mikulin AM-35A liquid cooled V-12 engines rated at 1,350 hp. each, the production PE-8 (known to Americans as TB-7) was 77 ft. 5 in. long and had a wing span of 128 ft. 3 in, considerably larger than the contemporary Boeing B-17. Armed with three powered turrets and two precariously mounted gun positions aft of the inboard engine nacelles (No. 2 and 3 engines), it was an advanced design at the time of its introduction. Featuring a maximum speed of 276 mph., the PE-8 was intended as a long range bomber, carrying 8,800 lbs. of bombs, although some could carry an 11,000 lb. "blockbuster". Although a promising design, the PE-8 was not produced in large numbers, the VVS high command apparently thinking that emphasis should be given to the development of tactical rather than strategic types. Between 1936 and 1944, between 93 to 96 examples were completed. Although the major variants were powered by Mikulin liquid cooled engines, some examples were equipped with 1,850 hp. Shvetsov radials or Charomski M-30B or M-40 diesel engines. Neither of these variants was successful, and in general, the type was not developed to its potential. Although it was used for nuisance raids on Berlin starting in 1941, and for tactical operations against the German Army at Stalingrad and Kursk, its main claim to fame appears to be its epic May, 1942 flight from Russia through German controlled territory to London and Washington, D.C., carrying Foreign Minister Molotov for his highly publicized talks with British and American government officials concerning the opening up of a Second Front against the Germans. The Kit Consisting of seven sprues of light grey plastic parts and one sprue to clear parts, one intrepid reviewer counted 270 parts, and I'll take his word, since I could assemble another in the time it would take to count them. This kit is a very high quality item, with almost no flash and only a very few almost unnoticeable sink marks in places easy to repair. The kit features finely engraved panel lines, realistic fabric detail, and clear transparent parts. There are a few parts that will not be used, as they will probably produce a radial engine version before long. Something I haven't seen in years is the provision of little crew figures. I left them out. Apparently, this airplane has been kitted before in 1/72 scale, with a vacuform offering a few years back, and an A-Model injection molded kit of the Shvetsov-powered radial engine version selling for $128.00 USD. From the in-box review of the A-Model kit, my impression is that the Zvezda kit is definitely superior, and certainly more reasonably priced. Although I don't have a 1/72 scale drawing of the airplane, the kit appears to be accurate in outline, and looks like the airplane I've seen in the photos. You can't ask for much more than that. The instructions are very detailed, consisting of a short history, lawyer-induced warnings, basic assembly instructions, a sprue diagram, 8 pages of 54 assembly steps, all of which are very well illustrated and generally very clear, and a four view color scheme drawing that is actually very useful, as it shows not only the colors but also the decal placement. Exact shades are not given (i.e., dark green, military brown, and bright blue), but I used Model Master Russian colors and was satisfied with the results. Decals are provided for one airplane, #42107, a PE-8 of No. 746 Aviation Regiment of the "Far Ranging Air Force" in February, 1943. The decals are excellent, and go on smoothly with no trimming or aftermarket products needed. Assembly With this kit, following the directions is essential if you don't want to wind up being carted off to a mental institution. However, there were a few glitches in my assembly. In the early stages, Drawings #6 and #7, parts C-5 through C-8 are misidentified, and should be switched. These are the rear portions of the engine nacelles with the little turrets for that unfortunate soul that was assigned the task of nacelle gunner. I certainly wouldn't have volunteered to ride into combat in that position, but I guess with an SOB like Stalin in control, you didn't argue. Another problem, not serious, but one that costs a little time, is the fact that a lot of the parts for one assembly operation were on different sprues, making sprue searching necessary. It is essential that you keep track of every part and every operation, only removing parts from the sprue when you need them for painting or assembly. Parts can, of course, be painted on the sprue. Other problems involved the gun turrets. Most of these need to be at least partially installed on the airframe before final assembly takes place, creating a very fragile structure that has to be avoided or something will be ruined. The turret mechanisms are very detailed, and have some fiddly parts, but I managed to get them assembled somehow. The dorsal turret was a particular problem, as the kit instructions aren't completely clear, and if you follow the kit instructions, the turret base will be slightly too far to the rear, necessitating some trimming if the ball turret is going to fit properly. In addition, the wing light covers don't fit, and these need to be trimmed to shape. In fact, the insides of the lights need to be trimmed or the wing sections won't fit together. The light itself is nice, with a small light that can be painted silver and filled with white glue to simulate the landing light bulb. Some of the interior windows, parts E-25 and E-12/13 were replaced with crystal clear solution. The cockpit is nicely done, with seats, instrument panels, control wheels, and even trim wheels. Locations of the instrument panel assemblies are not clearly shown on the instructions, and there are no places to attach them to the cockpit floor. The rear panel is a little easier, but the front panel (the pilot and co-pilot are seated in tandem) must be glued in after the whole assembly is attached to the fuselage section. The control yokes/wheels seem to sit a little high, and should be trimmed down at least a foot in scale. I'd hate to try to fly an airplane having to reach several feet up into the air to grasp the control wheel. The fuselage interior and bomb bay fit easily into place, although not much detail can be seen inside on the completed model. Note that the elevators can be assembled either way, as they seem to be identical top and bottom.

The fuselage is equipped with two very substantial "carry through" spars, which protrude outside of the fuselage on either side, and which fit into the wing root to achieve a very secure structure. These need to be doused heavily with liquid solvent and then immediately pushed into place. Once in place, a modest application of solvent along the join lines will securely attach the wings to the fuselage. A slight sanding will eliminate any glue marks on the outside surface. As far as filling was concerned, I needed a bit on some of the fuselage joints, and on the wing sections where the inboard leading edges faired into the wing surface. Also, the engine nacelles are designed to fit smoothly into the wing structure, but these required some filler. This wasn't a serious problem, but it did take time. The instructions state to install the exhaust stacks while assembling the engine nacelles, one of the first steps in the entire assembly process. In fact, the recommended assembly stages have the wings, engines, landing gear, and rear nacelle turrets completely assembled before the fuselage is started, a reversal of the usual assembly procedure for most models. I cannot see why they follow this process, and it certainly doesn't matter, but assembly of the exhaust stacks before painting makes it harder to paint them once on the engines. So I waited until after the whole model was assembled and painted, and surprise! There was no way they were going to fit. For some reason, two of the sets of stacks were different, with six individual stacks, while the other six had five stacks with the rear ones a little fatter, probably because they were taking the exhaust of the two rearmost cylinders. The units in question are parts G-17 and G-18. The overall problem is that they don't fit into the receptacles, and you can't simply trim down the stacks to get them to fit. The receptacles on the sides of the cowlings need to be gouged out so that the units will fit. This is a little tedious on a painted and assembled model, but I managed, although it took half an hour to get it right. The landing gear is almost idiot proof, but the rear inboard nacelle sections need to be attached before the rear gear braces can be installed. Everything fits nicely, and lines up perfectly, showing very good design work. The gear doors are typical, with small tabs which are used to get the doors in the proper position. The tail wheel strut is made up of two pieces, and it is supposed to be installed in its position before the fuselage halves are joined. I just trimmed the shaft a little, and installed the tail wheel after painting. I didn't care if it turned or not. The bomb bay gives you two choices, opened or closed. A single set of doors allows for closed assembly, while a pair of doors provide for an open bomb bay. Some rather interesting looking door opening struts ensure that the doors are in the proper position. Inside the bomb bay, a large bomb can be mounted. Another larger one is also provided, but it is listed as "not to be used", so I suspect that this bomb is for another version of the kit yet to be released. The props are also very interesting. The rear of the spinner is to be assembled when the nacelles are installed, although on the inboard nacelles, these are placed in between the nacelle halves. On the outboard units, the hubs are glued onto the forward portion of the nacelle. All are attached in a manner that they can be turned as long as you don't use too much glue. Three of mine made it. Then, after painting, the hubs can be brush painted black, while the props and spinners can be airbrushed the same color, as the props and spinners are all black. It is a pretty nice assembly. Painting and Finishing The instructions and drawings say to paint the model in a three color topside scheme of "military brown", "dark green", and black, with the underside "bright blue". There is a wealth of color information available on the "modeling the vvs" website, and most of the drawings I have seen of these aircraft show indistinct color separation lines, but in this scale, I opted for direct masking, which I think looks OK. The camouflage pattern looks to be a standard pattern, with no two aircraft exactly alike, as opposed to the British A and B schemes. After decal application, I dirtied the airplane up a little with brown and grey overspray's, and chipped it somewhat with silver. Light grey exhaust stains (they must have really leaned them out) were applied by airbrush, and stretched sprue low frequency radio antennas finished the job.

Conclusions and Recommendations Although this is not the first kit of this airplane to be issued, I can't imagine a better one coming out in the near future. It does have its issues, such as the exhaust stacks, but overall, it is an excellent kit, and any good 1/72 scale model collection should include at least one. Don't miss out on this one. With its relatively low price, it will provide entertainment for about 15 cents an hour, truly a bargain in these days of four dollar a gallon gas. Get one! Thanks to Zvezda, the Dragon Models USA, and IPMS/USA for the review kit.

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