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 both military and civil service in many countries[i
Sharp-eyed modellers may have noticed that Revell's 1/72 kit of the AN.2 is a re-release of a kit originally produced by Trumpeter / Bilek way back in 1998 - the first time Revell released one of the Chinese manufacturers 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 above average and the engraved panel lines are fairly fine although possibly a little too soft in some places for the purists? 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. At time of writing I couldn't find a resin accessory either.
Trumpeter and Italeri issue their kit(s) with floats and ski as an alternative but it remains to be seen if Revell will issue these as promised?
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 but the trailing edge attachment needs some care. A basic rigging diagram is provided and the transparent parts are fairly clear (although the fuselage windows are way too thick). Some 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.
More on the assembly experience later....