Planet Models HESA Shahed 136/Geran-2 (PLT279) 1:48

[Mike]

HESA Shahed 136/Geran-2 (PLT279)

Planet Models by Special Hobby

 

 

The Shahed 136 autonomous drone, which translates to “witness” in English, rose to prominence after the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, when it was later rumoured that Iran was exporting these simple drones for use by the Russian aggressors, which was confirmed following the recovery of remains of several destroyed examples in Ukraine.  The drone is a simple piece of equipment that has been put-together using off-the-shelf components, many of which either originated in the West, or were designed there and manufactured overseas.  In Russian service they are designated as Geran-2, which means Geranium.  It is thought that the Russians are now manufacturing the larger components themselves, importing only the specific electronics and other parts that would be more difficult to manufacture at short notice.  They are powered by a reverse-engineered copy of a Western designed piston engine that drives a two-bladed pusher propeller, and they are noisy in operation, which makes them an easily identified target for Ukrainian snipers or anyone else with a gun and a scope to take a pot-shot in aid of their nation’s defence.

 

Although their payload is relatively small at an estimated maximum of 50kg, they are cheap to produce, and despite their vulnerability to ground-fire, are hard to hit by other types of weapons, particularly aircraft as their radar can’t lock on easily, and the speed differential is significant.  The use of a technological successor to GPS by the Russians has increased their accuracy and extended loiter time, waiting for targets of opportunity to travel into their vicinity.  They are launched from a ramp, sometimes in a rack of up to five drones on the back of a truck, using a RATO pod under the centre-line of the delta-winged drone to gain height and speed, after which it is jettisoned and the prop takes over.  There is speculation about the aircraft’s range, with a maximum of around 1,500 miles, but with a top speed of 115mph it would take many hours to reach a target deep within Ukrainian territory, with plenty of opportunities for interception by the eagle-eyed locals.

 

 

The Kit

This is a brand-new mixed media kit from Special Hobby’s resin specialist brand Planet Models, although it includes traditional and 3D printed resin, and injection styrene parts inside the small cardboard box.  There are seven grey resin parts, five 3D printed parts in orange, a sprue of grey styrene, and a decal sheet that provides the minimalist stencils applied to Russian and tail-codes for Iranian airframes.  It’s a very small model for obvious reasons, and all the parts are easy to remove from their casting and printing blocks, and we’re all very familiar with removing styrene parts from sprues.

 

 

 

Construction begins with the liberation of the parts and clean-up, then the support frame is made from three styrene parts from the sprue, plus four resin castors on circular bases.  The drone is moulded almost complete, needing just the fins and rudders to be glued to the wingtips, two pieces of wire or tube from your own stock inserted into recesses in the leading edges of the wing, and the nicely detailed piston-engine slotting into the rear.  The RATO pack installs on a bracket and slot under the fuselage, and that’s it.  You join the two assemblies together, the nose support fixing into a hole under the nose at the bottom of a retaining strap that is moulded into the drone itself.

 

 

Markings

There are three Russian and two Iranian tail-code options, and for the Russian airframes there are No Step/Don’t Push stencils for each of the horizontal control surfaces.

 

 

The aircraft is painted an off-white all over, while the engine is different metallic shades, and the RATO pod is black.  The trolley is dark grey with silver castors and rubber tyres.  If you need further information, there are plenty of pictures online.

 

 

Conclusion

A well-executed model in my favourite scale of an interesting drone from the modern era of drone-based warfare, even though it’s on the side of the aggressor.  They make quite a bang when they’re shot down, so you know when you’ve hit one, which is always good.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Mike]

I couldn't resist building this one, as I have a soft-spot for UAVs.  Here's a pic of the finished model, with the others on the RFI thread if you're interested

 

 

More pics here.