Roden 1/72 Antonov An-12BK Cub

RODEN 1:72 ANTONOV AN-12BK CUB
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)

Roden Kit # 012; Antonov 1:72 An-12BK "Cub" transport

Roden has unleashed a big ‘un as far as projects are concerned and this one would be welcome from many Russian and Transport enthusiasts alike. Over the past few years the company has released its own mouldings from the basis supplied by Toko before it went bust and also reissuing some Toko moulds, most of which have been smaller WW1 subjects. If the He-111B/C kits were a stepping stone, then this kit must be the otherside of the bank.

This is a big kit and you know that not just from the box size, but also from the number of parts and breakdown once you look inside. There are about 10 injection moulded plastic sprues and one clear (separately bagged), holding about 280 parts in total, of which around 30 are transparencies. The panel lines are recessed and are nicely done, with hardly any flash to speak of on the sprue. There are some minor mould imperfections throughout, as you would expect, but nothing like the amount that was purportedly in their He-111 early version kits. The parts are moulded in a pale grey colour and look really nice.

For the colour schemes this kit provides a very colourful decal sheet which is sharply printed although thin and of matt appearance. There are four options to choose from, two with basic fuselage codes and two with Russian style numbers on the fuselage. Three are from USSR/Russian Air Force with the red stars as insignia, CCP-11535 from the Afghanistan War, Kabul Airfield, Afghanistan 1980; CCP-11905 based at Cairo-West Airfield, Egypt, 1973; and an example wearing Blue ‘28’ from 257^th Independent Aviation Regiment, Khabarovsk-Bolshoy Airfield, 1997. The fourth example is from the Ukraine Air Force based at Ghostomel Airfield in 1992.

The breakdown of the parts provides for other Cub variants to be considered in future Roden releases. The fuselage section is split vertically in to two main sections, one incorporating the tail fin and just forward of the spine and the other covering up to and including the nose section. The main wings are split horizontally into upper/lower halves, as are the tailplanes both having some ejector pin marks which will need removal first. Locating pins and tabs are provided to aid in the fitting of the kit.

One of the impressive features of this kit is a reasonably detailed interior, the flight deck has its own tub with flight controls and seating arrangements as complete as I can make out from basic reference shots. The interior cabin is also marred with ejector pin marks that will need removal but once that is done you can fit in a floor and detail the cabin area to your heart’s content. There is some detail to add in including some seats from what I can make out in the instruction sheet. The rear cargo hold door is also a feature of the kit allowing it to be displayed open.

The engines will probably be the most fiddly sub assembly to take care of although there are plenty of other small parts in the kit. The prop blades are separate which will probably be annoying to some, including me, and a number of small fuselage windows are also needed to be added to the fuselage. There is no provision to open up any of the side doors without surgery to the fuselage halves.

In the box this looks very impressive, and the quality does look to have improved from their He-111 kits which can only be a good thing. Certainly interested in how this kit goes together but it will probably sit on the shelf gathering dust for some time before the space is set aside to store the finished product – after all you are looking at a span and length of just under and just over half a metre model space, respectively.

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