The Ilyushin Il-18 in 400 Scale |
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Updated: September 2024
The Ilyushin Il-18, originally called the 'Moskva', was developed alongside the far less successful Antonov An-10 to fulfil the need for a modern turboprop transport in the mid-1950s. The first flight was on July 4, 1957 and the type would ultimately become a successful passenger transport with a production run of over 650 massively eclipsing contemporary Western turboprop designs such as the Bristol Britannia, Vickers Vanguard and Lockheed L-188 Electra.
It was exported outside the USSR widely, not just to Eastern-Bloc Warsaw Pact nations but also to other Soviet-aligned countries such as Mali, Egypt, Vietnam and Cuba. The aircraft's operational career has been impressive, with aircraft remaining in front-line service with Eastern European airlines into the late 80s. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the IL-18 even gained something of a renaissance due to its cheap operating costs and rugged design. A small number remained operational into the 2010s with civilian operators, while the type has also seen widespread military service in a myriad of versions.
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For more information on the Il-18 the bible for the type is surely Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov's Aerofax edition:
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Ilyushin Il-18 in 400 Scale
AEROCLASSICS (2009)
The Il-18 debuted in 400 scale in 2009 via Aeroclassics. Since then it has been used 27 times spread across periods covering 2009-2014 and 2022 onwards.
The initial releases focused on classic Eastern Bloc airlines such as LOT (2), Interflug (3), CSA (2) and Aeroflot (5) with a single CAAC release and two Air Koryos in 2014. Two of these models were limited 400Scale Hangar Club releases.
The reappearance of the mould in 2022 seems to have been triggered by a release made for Yu ModeL and has led to a more diverse selection of releases including those from Africa, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia:
The two Yu ModeL releases have been mainly available in China but are both very nice. The PLAAF version has received a review at the site:
The Aeroclassics Mould
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aeroprints.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The Il-18 mould is an attractive and decent representation of the real aircraft, but isn't perfect. Overall, the shape of the fuselage is very good, at least for an early model Ilyushin Il-18. These had the long rooftop aerial forward, which stretched from the cockpit to the wing. Later versions of the type, such as the Il-18D, did not include this long aerial and had a more modern fin type aerial added in its place above the cockpit. Unfortunately, Aeroclassics has never removed the long rooftop aerial for its own releases so a good chunk of them are inaccurate, as they shouldn't have it. Far more IL-18s were built without it than with it. The only time that the long rooftop aerial was removed for a model was for the 2022 Yu ModeL version (see below) where presumably they specified it to be sanded off.
The other area that could be improved is the form of the nosegear leg. It isn't long enough and gives the mould a slight nosedown attitude, especially when fitted so that it angles backwards. There are also seams present on the engines, and where the cradle mount wing meets the fuselage, but neither are particularly prominent.
DeAgostini / Jet Hut (2020)
Outside of Aeroclassics there has only been a single other Il-18 mould in 400 scale. This was created as part of the abortive 5 issue Aeroflot Collection Magazine where issue 2 featured the big turboprop in the Aeroflot Arctic colours.
Wishlist
Back in January 2022, prior to the reappearance of the mould, I wrote a wishlist for the Il-18. Pleasingly Aeoclassics have produced nine of the options from that list. There are still a decent number of other IL-18s that can be made however and these include:
Checkout the wishlist for the full selection with photos:
- Bulgarian Air Transport
- Balkan Bulgarian (1970s)
- Balkan Bulgarian (1990s)
- Air Guinee
- Air Mali
- United Arab Airlines
Checkout the wishlist for the full selection with photos:
