I bought a set of Akan paints to for the Aegean Ghost scheme on a Greek F-4E, but before I attempted to use the Akan, I wanted to try it out on a more low-risk (ie. more cheaply replaceable) model, so I pulled an old Airfix Pe-2 out of the stash, and bought a set of Akan paints for that (which if I like the paint, I'll also use on an IL-4).

I was thinking OOB build, but when I saw all that glass under the nose, and saw how bare the cockpit was, I decided I'd have to add some details. I also didn't like the way the dive brakes looked - they were solid instead of "ribbed." So I got out some tools and opened up the airbrakes. There were also no guns extending from the nose, so used some brass pieces I had left over from a Firefly brass gun set I had, drilled out the areas and inserted. I'll next have to build out the actual gun bodies and some bracing in the interior nose section, because again, you'll see it from the bombardier's glass section underneath. Here's how I opened up the airbrakes:

First, on the ends, I just used a razor saw to slide down between the ribs. Next, I attacked one section at a time, starting with a micro drill running down between the ribs.

Next, I used a scribing tool to thin off the area drilled. I couldn't use the scribing tool to cut all the way through because it is too thick (sorry the pic is a bit blurry).

Next, I used the corner of the razor saw to cut through and open up the gap:

Then I used a different saw blade I have from a Tamiya saw set. The teeth are a bit rough, but the height of the blade allows for it to fit between the rib runners, and I very gingerly sawed out the space:

Then I cut strips of sandpaper, attached to my third-hand tweezers, and smoothed the edges:

End result:

I did break the second one, and had to glue back together!

Here are a couple of pics of the brass gun barrels. The kit only had an indention for a single gun on the starboard side, so I drilled out the port side. In some photos it looks like the two guns were actually different calibers, so I duplicated that look. (you can see the start of some of my other detailing work begun...I'll show more of that as it progresses.)