Intech 1/72 PZL Mi-2 URP-G Hoplite

INTECH 1:72 PZL MI-2 URP-G HOPLITE

Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 15 July 2002

Aircraft:
The Mi-2 was originally designed as a Soviet machine but in January 1964 development was taken over by the Polish Government with PZL manufacturing the design. From here PZL also took over the design of new versions, so the resulting aircraft were of Polish design and origin. The URP-G variant carried anti-tank missiles and a machine gun.

The Kit:
The kit comes with very attractive boxart, and is packaged in the Intech style rectangular lid opening box with three main sprues containing all the parts in the kit including about a dozen clear parts which are a bit on the thick and distorted side so some modellers may prefer using spares or Krystal Kleer. The parts are molded in a white colour with engraved panel lines and basic but adequate surface detail. Intech also have another kit in their stocks showing the URN design, which I assume uses identical molds and some parts for that model can be found on this kit's sprues

PZL Mi-2 URN boxart

Construction:
The fuselage halves are split vertically and contain the front section for the cabin with the tail boom separate. The cabin floor forms the basis of where the cockpit details are attached to and the kit supplies an adequate array of cockpit instrumentation but not more. Thankfully the design of the nose and canopy windows means that not much will be seen afterward but some modellers will want to add their own signature to the cockpit. The kit provides a control column, seats and instrument panel – with a decal provided.

The cabin is devoid of any other detail and the interior would benefit from a roof being added from the inside as well (but you will need to look at interior photos to see the mold of the roof section). The fuselage windows are affixed from the inside and fit okay, but are a bit on the thick and distorted side. The exhaust stacks also need to be added from the inside, which the instructions don’t tell you, so don’t overlook this fact before you put the fuselage halves together! The exhausts are anyway inaccurate, sticking out of the aircraft too much and not matching the profile of the ones I've seen in photos. The kit is also a tail-sitter so a fair bit of weight needs to be crammed in under the cabin floor. The fuselage halves go together with a bit of persuasion and join lines need to be smoothed out.

The front of the engine housing is added to the roof of the Hoplite and is best done early in the construction process so that the basic profile of the fuselage is finished before adding on the gun, tail boom and undercarriage.

The undercarriage is added as the next step and this is both fairly fiddly and fragile. There are small external bits added to the outside of the fuselage including front pitot tubes, cabin entry steps and the main strut for the outward slung missiles. The missile rails are difficult and fiddly to affix, and the instructions do not really help with exact positioning and angles, so reference photos are handy.

The tail boom is added separately to the back of the fuselage and I found it best to sub assemble this completely with tail skids, boom and external add-ons. The tail rotor was left off until the model had been painted. As was the main rotor section which also goes together quite well.

Colour Options and Decals:
Only one option is provided in the kit with an attractive camouflage scheme consisting of an upper light grey, dark green and sand over Russian blue-grey undersides as shown on the boxart. The decal sheet is small and only provides Polish insignia, serial and fuselage codes.

Conclusion:
For seasoned helicopter buffs this kit goes together in a reasonably straight forward manner but it does have a few areas that need a bit of attention and persuasion for fit, and the fiddly small parts are a bit of a challenge. The kit captures the look of the Hoplite very well and includes extra detail such as the pilot boarding step that are not included on other kits. Apart from the exhausts it does also seem an accurate depiction. It looks nice in finished form and I would certainly recommend for modellers with some helicopter building experience.

Related Reviews:-

Aeroteam 1/72 Mil Mi-2 Hoplite

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