Finally a bit of modelling

Now that I've graduated from Uni(!) and got a new job (!) time for some hobbies! Got a bit of modelling done. I decided to finally have a hack at this very interesting kit that my wife got me in Ukraine years ago. The SB-2, also known as the Tupolev ANT-40, was the most prolific and advanced bomber of the mid to late thirties. It saw service with the loyalist forces in Spain as well as against the Finns in Russian use. During Barbarossa, many were destroyed on the ground and in the air they struggled against the modern German fighters. Shifted East in order to survive they provided the bulk of the medium bomber support in the early Great Patriotic War years. They were however quickly replaced by the more powerful Pe-2. Interestingly, many SB-2 were sold on to the Kuomintang/ Communist forces on China.

This kit was bouncing around my garage for years!

Don't confuse these with the slightly later Ilyushin DB-3 of "Torpedonostsy" fame. (This movie is highly recommended from me!)

I went with the boring yet ubiquitous Soviet dark green paint scheme.

 The kit itself was very tough for someone like me! Brittle plastic, poorly fitted castings, some very small pieces and rubbish decals. Ugh, at least it's over now!

It really makes the red pop!

That said, it will be a nice complement to my 1/72nd scale collection that is slowly growing in my garage workshop!

Some Republic of China Air Force schemes.

I toyed with the idea of doing the KMT markings but couldn't find any on short notice. Now that I've seen how terrible the decals look I may go ahead and replace them at some point. (That picture is from a museum in Wuhan, China and taken on my crummy old phone a couple years ago. lol)