Antonov An 225 Mrija

Revell, 1/144 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Eduard's 1/48 scale SE.5a ProfiPACK is available online from Squadron.com

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian SSR within the Soviet Union during the 1980s. It is powered by six turbofan engines and is the heaviest aircraft ever built, with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes (710 short tons; 630 long tons). It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. The single example built has the Ukrainian civil registration UR-82060. A second airframe with a slightly different configuration  was partially built. Its construction was halted in 1994 because of lack of funding and interest, but revived briefly in 2009, bringing it to 60–70% completion. On 30 August 2016, Antonov agreed to complete the second airframe for Aerospace Industry Corporation of China (not to be confused with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China) as a prelude to AICC commencing series production.

The Antonov An-225, initially developed for the task of transporting the Buran spaceplane, was an enlargement of the successful Antonov An-124. The first and only An-225 was completed in 1988. After successfully fulfilling its Soviet military missions, it was mothballed for eight years. It was then refurbished and re-introduced, and is in commercial operation with Antonov Airlines carrying oversized payloads.[4] The airlifter holds the absolute world records for an airlifted single-item payload of 189,980 kilograms (418,830 pounds), and an airlifted total payload of 253,820 kg (559,580 lb). It has also transported a payload of 247,000 kg (545,000 lb) on a commercial flight.*

*Historical summary adapted from Wikipedia

Revell has sent test shot sprues from their forthcomimg 1/144 scale An 225.

Don't be fooled by the scale - this is a very big model. The wing span is 612mm (greater than 2 feet) and the fuselage length is 587mm (23.11 inches).

The sprues are moulded in multi-coloured plastic. The brown and rust shades hark back to Matchbox kits from the good ol' days, but in this case paint will definitely be required! The production kit will most likely be moulded in grey or white plastic.

My test shot comprises 199 parts in coloured plastic and 13 parts in clear.

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Thumbnail panels:

Moulding quality is excellent, with crisp and fine panel lines throughout.

Separate parts are supplied for the interior floor, ceiling, sidewalls and bulkheads. Ladders and other internal details are also included. The interior sub-assembly is trapped ebtween the main fuselage halves during assembly.

The cockpit is moulded as a single part with six seats. You'd be struggling to see anything much through the small windscreen so you can probably dispense with much further detailing here.

The fourteen sets of main undercarriage legs are nicely detailed.

The wings have an interesting parts breakdown. The rear fuselage spine and the inner sections of the upper wings are moulded as a single piece. A stout spar should maintain its rigidity and provide firm location and dihedral for the outer wing sections.

Tailplanes are supplied as one part each. All control surfaces are moulded in neutral positions.

The six turbofan engines are moulded as eight parts each, including the nacelles.

The model may be built in one of four configurations:

• Wheels up

• Undercarriage down with nose closed.

• Undercarriage down with nose open

• Undercarriage down with nose open and ramp extended.

Decals are not included with this test shot but the instructions show two sets of markings depicting the single example at different times in its career. Don't expect too much variety though!

Who would have expected that we would have a 1/144 scale Antonov An 225 from a mainstream manufacturer?

Don't let the small scale fool you - this is a seriously big model.

Revell's 1/144 scale An 225 will appeal to modelllers of civil, space and military subjects. This will be an impressive and well detailed replica when finished.

Thanks to Revell for the test shot sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2018 by Brett Green
Page Created 16 November, 2018
Last updated 17 November, 2018

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