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Valom 1/48 Antonov An-2 Colt

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

The highly successful Polikarpov Po-2 was in need of a replacement post-war, and the result was the Antonov An-2. Like the Po-2, the An-2 ended up filling a huge variety of roles, from basic transport to parachute drop aircraft to test bed. Many can be found today flying as agricultural aircraft, and the An-2 held the world record for longest production until just recently, when the Lockheed C-130 took that title (far more An-2s were produced than the C-130, though, with over 18,000 built over the years). The solid construction, simple controls, and long production period meant that the An-2 could be found all over the world, even today.

The Kit

Given the huge production numbers, widespread usage, and decades of flying, one would think that we would be inundated with kits of the An-2. Sadly, this is not the case, and it is only recently that we've seen kits in 1/72. Even more recently we have seen the subject in 1/144, and finally we have one in the larger 1/48 scale. Molded in gray plastic, this kit comes with a small fret of photoetch and a handful of resin parts. Released initially in two versions, the only difference (other than the box) is with the decal sheet. One has military options and the other has civilian options. The Valom catalog has other versions lined up that will include other additions such as skis.

Valom has put quite a bit of attention on the exterior detailing of this kit, which is nice to see, while the interior is fairly basic, at least for the cabin area. The cockpit is pretty good, though, and here you get a nice resin center console, photoetch seat belts, decent sidewall detailing, and even a pair of cooling fans, complete with photoetch blades. This whole assembly will be very visible through the large greenhouse canopy, while the simpler cabin area only has small porthole windows, so the basic bench seats, rear bulkhead, and floor will be more than adequate. The rear cargo door is molded closed, so if one wanted to add a lot more detail here, some surgery will be needed to open the doors to show it off.

The engine cowling is split into right and left halves, while the engine itself is just the front half of the cylinders on a disc. Given the tight cowl opening, coupled with the large propeller hub and blades, this will be more than sufficient, as the only way you could see more of the engine would be to remove the cowling. While on the subject of the propeller, this kit has a separate hub and individual blades. The latter are really impressive as there is not just one or two propeller types here, but four. These range from large paddles to sickle-shaped blades, with a couple types of tapered blades to round out the collection. This is great to see, and you will need to check your references to see which ones you need for the specific aircraft you're building.

The basic airframe construction is very straightforward, considering that this is a biplane. The wings are firmly attached to the fuselage, so the only strut work here is with the single large wing strut and the landing gear struts. One of the more complicated assembly points deals with the flap and aileron control horns, as there are lots of these to apply. They are nicely done, though, so as long as you take your time and make sure they are all aligned evenly, there should be no problem here. Rigging is very simple here, consisting of just crossed wires on the wings.

The decals for the military version provide markings for two aircraft, one Russian and one Polish. The Russian example is finished in a mundane camouflage of green over gray, with a large yellow 02 on the fuselage sides. The Polish example is, well, the opposite of mundane. This is the boxtop example, and the boxtop does a great job of capturing the colors of this specific An-2. It has a two-tone green upper surface and yellow lowers, with a large mouth on the nose. Definitely a striking example, and that just scratches the surface when it comes to striking color schemes on An-2s.

Conclusion

If you want an An-2 in 1/48, this is the only game in town. Luckily, it looks to be a very nice kit straight out of the box, so clear the bench and be ready for the challenge of figuring out which one An-2 scheme to do. My thanks to Valom for the review sample.