Antonov An-2 Colt

[Paul A H]

Antonov An-2 Colt

1:72 Revell

The Antonov An-2 Colt was originally designed to meet a 1947 Soviet Ministry of Forestry requirement for a new aircraft for agricultural and utility roles. The resulting aircraft, despite looking rather ungainly, was superbly rugged and possessed excellent flying characteristics including full controllability at speeds as low as 30mph and even the ability to fly backwards if pointed into a headwind. Until relatively recently the aircraft held the record for the longest production run in aviation history and over 18,000 examples have been produced. The aircraft saw military service with various Eastern Bloc air forces and is still in civil service all over the world.

Sharp-eyed modellers may have noticed that this is a re-release of a kit originally produced by Trumpeter in 1998. As such it is rather noteworthy because it is the first time that Revell have released one of the Chinese manufacturer’s kits under their own label. This is a fairly simple kit comprised of 93 parts spread across three sprues of grey plastic and one of clear. The quality of the mouldings is reasonably nice and the engraved panel lines are fairly fine although they are a little too soft in some places and here and there actually look as though they were engraved by hand.

Interior detail is confined to the cockpit, which includes parts for the rear bulkhead, floor, crew seats, control columns and instrument panel. The passenger/cargo compartment to the rear of the cockpit is completely devoid of detail, so those wishing to open up the doors and show it off will either have a nice little scratch building project ahead of them or will have to persuade the Pavla set designed for the Italeri/Bilek kit to fit.

The wings are nicely moulded and feature separate ailerons on both the upper and lower wings. Alignment of the wings will be easier than on most biplanes as the upper wing is firmly attached to the top of the fuselage and just two struts join the wings together. A basic rigging diagram is provided. The transparent parts are fairly clear (although the fuselage windows are a little thick) but care will have to be taken when assembling the cockpit glazing as it is supplied in three parts owing to the unusual shape.

Three marking options are provided:

• An-2 D-FONE “Roter Baron”, Air Albatross, Essen-Muhlheim Airport, 2010;

• An-2 469, Verbindungsfliegerkette, 1. Luftverteidigungs-Division, LSK/LV, Cottbus, 1986; and

• An-2 1G5929, Red 03, Soviet Air Force in GDR, Grossenhain, 1992.

The decals are up to the usual Revell standard – sharply printed and perfectly in register.

Conclusion

This is a nice kit of an interesting subject and with a little care and attention will build into a nice model of the Colt. As to whether Revell will follow this up with further re-issues of Trumpeter kits, only time will tell.

Review sample courtesy of

[marky sparky]

Nice review, I didn't realise this was available but it'll be in my stash soon.

I'm so glad Revell has the re-boxing rights instead of Italeri, at least the prices should stay low!!