Xuntong 1/48 Tupolev Tu-2S
By Chris Cowx
As a life long aviation history buff and modeler, it is not often that I see something that surprises me, model wise. Well, today was one of those times! I have been fortunate enough to be given the new Xuntong 1/48 Tupelov Tu-2S kit, #48002. Since the plane was one that I knew little about and I had never heard of Xuntong, I got a double dose.
The first thing to do of course was to find out a bit about the plane itself. The Tu-2 was a medium bomber, second only to the Pe-2 in importance among Soviet multi-engine assault planes in the Great Patriotic War (GPW). Andrei Tupelov designed it while in captivity at one of the scientist Gulags where Stalin had thrown him in the late 30’s. The Junkers Ju88 served as inspiration and the Tu-2 fulfilled the roles of medium bomber, dive bomber, recon, interceptor and torpedo bomber. A small number of early dive bomber versions served in 1942, then it was pulled from production for a re-design, mainly of the power plants. Re-instated on the assembly lines in 1944, over 3000 were ultimately made. The Tu-2 played a key role in the final battles from fall 1944 to the War's end. It went on to serve in Korea and China post war as well as for several other Eastern Bloc air forces. It was fast, maneuverable and carried a heavy internal and external payload.
The medium bomber version depicted in this kit (48003) is the main GPW variant, though the early version did see limited combat. Xuntong has released a total of three Tu-2 kits, an early version (48001), the standard medium bomber (48003) and a late/post war torpedo version (48003). Differences between the kits are mainly in the area of payload. Early versions had rockets and dive brakes.
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My first impression upon opening the box is that it is ambitious, especially for a first kit. My second one is that they did pretty well, overall. The molding is pretty good. It is just a bit shy of the top dogs such as Eduard and the Japanese manufacturers when it comes to crispness and sharp edges, but not by much. On the other hand, Xuntong was not shy about molding some pretty tiny bits. It reminds me of the old ICM Spitfires, without the flash, short shots and sink marks! Smaller items such as bomb fin braces, levers, oleo scissors, etc. are molded in plastic whereas if another manufacturer included them at all they would likely use p/e. Well done but separating such small parts from the sprues is going to be a challenge. The cockpit in particular will provide a rich feast for the carpet monster! 99% of people will be happy with the cockpit OOB and adding few pieces of solder for the wiring and plumbing should take care of the other 1% too. My own preference would be to have the instrument dials molded more along the lines of Hasegawa than the very deep but featureless dials of the kit panel. Items such as gun mounts, cockpit panels and boxes, exhaust, etc are all molded in several parts.
This has given it a high degree of detail making a kit that I suspect will require little aftermarket enhancement. Surface detail is pretty good, with a slight eggshell texture. I suspect that the finish will still be smoother than the wartime versions were, but some may wish to give the surface a light sanding. The panel lines are just a tiny bit heavy, though not in the grand tradition of vintage Matchbox kits. I think that a coat of primer and paint will take care of most of the issues here. There is some rivet detail here and there, but it is very restrained and appropriate. The one consistent complaint that the kit gets is that the fabric control surfaces are overdone and I for one agree. The indents are probably 4-6 scale inches deep between ribs and that is not consistent with anything that will fly that I am aware of! Fortunately, Vector has already come out with replacements or those inclined could fill them with the putty of your choice. Clear parts are crisp and clear and provide both wartime and post war canopy styles. The kit is a mixed bag in the Engineering department. The kit has some pretty ambitious detailing. Many parts go to make up gun mounts, exhaust systems, cockpit, bomb racks, etc. This gives a high parts count (350+) but looks good. Fortunately, Xuntong has put some thought into this and the attachment points are well engineered with solid mating surfaces. There is a tendency to over-engineering in places that the mold quality has let down, such as the open engines. The construction is well thought out where they are concerned but the mold quality means that they are not really worth exposing in my opinion.
The cylinder fins are far too soft to look effective, for example. The crankcases and reduction gear housings are nice and with a bit of wiring will look very nice from the front. Unfortunately, the engine covers do not have any detail on the inside. The intake and exhaust piping is well done but there are no rear cylinder pushrods, wind directors, etc on the engines and they look a bit bare. In fairness, the kit instructions make no mention of exposing them anyway, but that then begs the question, why bother with all of the complication? Frankly, as will many recent eastern block/Asian kits, they are overkill for making closed up and not good enough for open engines. I have heard that the general fit of the airframe can be fiddly, but there are builds online that seem to be progressing well, so it seems nothing insurmountable. My overall impression is that the kit is complex and somewhat fiddly in places but will it reward those that take it on.
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Other smaller differences such as 3 vs 4 bladed props and glass variations are in all boxings with separate sprues for weapons. This is where brushing up on my Chinese would help, since while I suspect that the instructions are clear and detailed as to what parts go with what version, I would never know it! The differences are small and have already been outlined on the net in several relevant websites.
Accuracy wise it seems to have been reasonably well received. There is a slight inaccuracy in that the nose is a curved taper from the front of the windscreen to the nose, whereas it should be a near straight line. If you are concerned, it can be corrected with some back filling and sanding. Otherwise the kit does not seem to have any glaring errors.
Markings are provided for 8 versions. Two are from the GPW and the others are from various other conflicts and services, including Polish, Bulgarian, Chinese and Korean. A variety of options and camouflage are there, so there should be something for everyone. Decals appear good, nice and thin and only somewhat glossy. I have not tried them so far, so test a spare one before committing to a particular scheme! There is a nice paint chart that includes Gunze, Model Master and Tamiya, so paints should be readily available. I can not speak to the accuracy but if you are unsure there are numerous sites where Soviet aviation is hotly discussed!
Overall, a very nice effort, particularly for a first try. I am thrilled to see this plane produced at all in 1/48th and for all of the nit picking, it is a great kit. It will look very nice on a table done OOB and with the few corrections mentioned, should keep the hardcore VVS modeler happy too. Well done, Xuntong! I would like to thank Stevens International for providing the review sample.
