1/72 ICM Sukhoi Su-2

 by Josip Žagar

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Behold!!!  The resurrection!!!

This unfortunate model had a short and sad life.  It was bought and finished in the spring of 2007 but  soon met a sad end by the very hand that gave it life (namely my temptation to play God on my own creations which has always been a bad habit of mine).

Fortunately some digital pictures were shot and stored on the computer only to be forgotten afterwards. And when I found them again by chance I finally took pity on my unfortunate creation and decided to give it an eternal life in virtual heaven known as ARC. I know it deserves it...

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Su-2 was a humble and short lived Soviet two seat reconnaissance bomber which came into service with the VVS in early 1941 and lasted until early 1943, when it finally gave way to far more succesful Il-2 Shturmovik armoured ground attacker. It was a slow and lightly armed airplane in the same class as the similarly unsuccesful British Fairey Battle. It was designed as a reconnaissance airplane which would observe areas behind enemy lines and attack observed ground targets with bombs. I got interested in this forgotten airplane through some books describing operation "Barbarossa" and when I saw this ICM kit on the local dealer's table, I bought it mainly because I think that Soviet airplanes are unjustly forgotten and are poorly represented in our hobby. It was a just and noble cause but was ultimately let down by ICM "quality" and the unattractive shape of the airplane.

This kit is moulded in ICM's typical soft white plastic. It's main attractions are thousands of tiny rivets which grace the wing surfaces and a delicate radial engine which becomes almost invisible after completion. The rest is pretty mediocre and the fit is not commendable. The worst components are the clear bits which are way too thick and do not fit to the fuselage as they should. They consist of a canopy and a rear turret which is a strange two piece affair containing a single machine gun. There is also an optional internal bomb bay with several bomlets and a set of mediocre decals for 2 reconnaissance airplanes.

 

The building process was nothing special to report.  Mediocre fit and some filling.  Maybe I just got too accustomed to higher quality to enjoy building this humble kit with it's vague instructions.  I also managed to put some glue on the turret  :-(

Although I did my best to paint and weather it to my best knowledge the finished model simply looked bad in comparision with my other models and the thick canopy only worsened it's general unattractive look.

On a windy, stormy night in late April I got really angry over some private affairs and simply vented my rage on the poor model which was torn to bits and trashed.

Those pictures are all that's left of it.  May it rest in peace here on ARC.

Josip

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Photos and text © by Josip Žagar