Bilek 1/72 Antonov An-2 Colt

BILEK 1:72 ANTONOV AN-2 COLT
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)
- A Built up review of the ski-equipped version of this kit exists on this site
- see the respective fully built kit review index to locate review

Until this kit was released a few years ago there was no injection molded kit of this aircraft which was a surprise considering how many thousands of these aircraft have been built and subsequently used by civil and military operators from around the globe! So when Bilek released this kit, it was a godsend for many USSR aviation enthusiasts, and they also released other versions such as the ski-equipped version. These kits have also been reissued by Italeri but are Bilek molds.

Since there is already a review done recently by Brian Manning on the Ski-equipped An-2 Colt by Bilek on SMAKR I will not go into too much double detail since both kits share the same mold.

Inside the box there are over a hundred medium grey low pressure but long-run injection molded parts with very finely engraved detail and good fabric effect on the wings. There is a little bit of flash on parts and a few ejector pin marks to clean up. The wings also include separate flaps and ailerons which means the distinctive arrangement of these can be accurately depicted. The interplane struts look like they have flash on them but be wary about sanding them off, as this is actually reproduced metal leading edges and rigging instructions are provided. The tailplanes are butt joined to the tail fin with outlines showing where they are supposed to go and the support struts are placed underneath.

The cockpit is the only interior that the kit caters for, the cabin itself is devoid of any detail whatsoever. The cockpit includes a central console with separate yoke controls and control columns along with reasonable seats. The main instrument panel includes scribed detail for instrumentation. Interestingly the instructions call for an intermediate blue cockpit, I would have guessed it to be closer to the normal Russian blue-green lacquer or possibly light grey, so some reference checking might be in order later.

The engine is pretty basic and could do with some sprucing up while the large four-blade props look reasonably well depicted. The cowling is also pretty basic, with a shallow exhaust depicted. The canopy and windows are reasonably clear but are also a bit thick and will probably present a challenge to install, especially considering the main canopy comes in a number of parts. Other than that the kit should be similar to and go together pretty much as outlined in Brian's review.

The decal sheet is a bit basic in that it only provides roundels, codes, serial numbers and a couple of things like unit badges and symbols. There is effectively no, or very little, stencilling provided. The decal sheet includes examples from the USSR, East Germany, Poland and of course Czechoslovakia where this mold originates from. They are thin, in very good print register and would probably be similar to how Brian found the decals in the kit he built.

I concur with the assessment on the likely accuracy of the kit, it looks like that it will come out a fairly convincing replica but is slightly under scale. The interplane struts on my kit will also only fit vertically but I will have to do a bit more research on their exact angles etc.

Overall it will certainly be a challenge to put it together but the result will be worth it and it is the only game in town if you are after a Colt. I certainly wouldn't hesitate recommending this kit to anyone interested in this subject and who has at least intermediate modelling skills.

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