Designed as a reconnaissance and ground-attack aircraft, the Sukhoi Su-2 first flew in 1937. No match for German fighters, it was withdrawn from frontline duty in 1942.
Zvezda’s newly tooled kit is molded in light gray, soft styrene with recessed panel lines and rivets (mostly on the wings, since the real aircraft had aluminum wings and a wooden fuselage). The box provides a complete engine, detailed bomb bay, landing-gear bays with structural ribbing, and posable ailerons and rudder. The elevators are molded to the horizontal stab and would have to be cut out if you wanted to pose them.
You have a choice of two instrument panels, one with raised detail and the other with a flat face meant to receive an instrument-panel decal. I used the decal on the raised panel, though, and a little decal softener made it conform. The printing of the white surrounding the instruments was a little large and looked toylike to me. If I were to do it again, I would paint and dry-brush the panel instead of using the decal.
The rest of the cockpit detail was sparse, other than a delicate control stick and rudder pedals. The side consoles were completely bare. The gunners station had more detail than the cockpit, with the turret and its petite machine gun, radio equipment, a recon camera, and miscellaneous gizmos.
Zvezda also included two outstanding figures with the kit, beautifully molded and detailed.
You can build the model with the gear up, bomb bay closed, and turtle deck in front of the rear turret lowered. (However, no stand is included.)
The clear parts were thin, with finely molded framework on the canopy. If you want to display the cockpit open, there is an open-cockpit piece to replicate the look of the pilot’s section pulled back over the rear glass. It didn’t look convincing and would have been harder to mask, too. I found the clear plastic flexible and somewhat foggy.
Assembly was trouble-free. Fit was outstanding — I used only a little bit of filler on the rear of the underwing fuselage seam.
The finishing instructions are clear and easy to follow. Paint callouts are for Humbrol enamels. The kit has markings for two aircraft, one in a black/green over blue scheme and the other a winter white. I used Tamiya spray can black green for the upper fuselage, Testors Model Master flat black and Soviet blue for the underside. In hindsight, that blue should have been much brighter. I gloss-coated my Su-2 with Gunze Sangyo Mr. Hobby Mr. Super Clear. Though hard to find and expensive in the U.S., it gives an outstanding fast-drying gloss coat in one application.
After giving the gloss coat adequate time to dry I applied the decals. They were thin and in register, but translucent. I also had some of them silver in spite of placing them on a glossy surface.
I used Testors Model Master flat lacquer to tone down the glossy finish, then added the landing gear and bomb-bay doors.
The final part I still had to place was the rear turret. I ran into a problem with it not wanting to fit, due to interference from the canopy section in front of it. After some careful bending, I was able to get it in place. But when I left the side pieces and top hatch until later, my faithful feline modeling companion dispatched one of the pieces to parts unknown. So, my kit has only a partial turret on it.
I spent about 18 hours building my Su-2, the longest of which I spent masking the multipanel canopies. It was an enjoyable build, and I was impressed with the quality of the moldings and the fit of the parts. I’m looking forward to see what Zvezda comes out with next!
Note: A version of this review appeared in the May 2014 FineScale Modeler.