MPD's 1/72 An-2 'Colt' Decals By Chris Banyai-Riepl

For those of you that have bought the Italeri or Bilek 1/72 An-2 kit, but have been wanting something a bit different to finish it up as, this decal sheet is right up your alley. There is a total of 7 different An-2s depicted on this sheet from all over the world. Some are drab and some are very colorful, giving you plenty of choices. The decals are very well printed and are in great register. On a couple of the schemes the markings are 'photo-realistic', but this results in a very noticable line pattern on some of the decals.

Since this decal sheet is from the Czech Republic, we'll start there in the schemes. The example from the Czech Republic is the one featured above in the header graphic and is cream-colored overall with a purple cowling and trim. Flowers adorn the fuselage sides and the registration codes are all in black. Definitely one of the more colorful An-2s out there!

Slowly moving away from the Czech Republic, we come to an example flown in Croatia. This particular plane features a three-tone camouflage consisting of light gray, dark gray, and orange(!) and was used as a night bomber in December of 1991. The interesting camouflage plus the rather colorful markings applied to this plane makes it another interesting one for your An-2 kit. Be prepared for a lot of work with the airbrush, however.

Still in Eastern Europe, Poland is next up in the lineup of markings. This time there are two different An-2s from Poland. The first example is the example painted up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of D-Day and is painted overall cream with a light blue cheatline around the windows. Invasion stripes are around the rear fuselage and a long sharkmouth extends off of the cowling and onto the fuselage. Finally, a red sunburst is on the tail. This one definitely won't be overlooked on the shelves!

The other Polish example is no less interesting. This one features a horse's head on the fuselage side with red, white and black striping on a red fuselage. What makes this plane interesting is that on one side the horse is black and the other side it's white. Why this is so I don't know. There is also striping at the wingtips as well. There will be a bit of a challenge in painting this one up, as you'll have to mask around the white horse.

If pinup artwork is more your style, there's an example from Germany that features "Anastasia" both in art form and in name on the side of the fuselage. The plane is overall gloss green with light blue undersides to the wings. This plane also features an interesting mix of East and West German markings, made even more interesting by the fact that the East German markings are just the three colors, with the central emblem painted out.

Moving north, the next example is from Sweden. This one is rather simple compared to the other examples on this decal sheet. The paint scheme is overall dark olive-gray with blue-gray undersides. The rudder is also blue-gray. The only markings present is the Swedish flag on the tail and the registration codes on the fuselage and wings.

The final example is also somewhat simple, but it is also one of the more unusual ones. It hails from North Korea and is painted in overall black. Apparently it was used for night-time penetrations into South Korea airspace back in 1984. It carried North Korean markings in six positions and the only other marking is a red "44" on the tail. With some careful painting and weathering, this scheme will really look neat.

If you're wanting some interesting schemes for your An-2, definitely get this sheet.