Ilyushin Il-96-400 in 1:400 Scale by Phoenix Models
Modified: March 2024
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The Ilyushin Il-96 represents the last throw of the dice for the Soviet Union in creating a proper long-range widebody airliner. Handicapped by the lack of competitive civil airliner engines, as it had been for decades, the Soviets could only take the tried and tested path of shrinking the fuselage to increase the range. This led to the Il-96-300 which arrived just as the USSR collapsed. With the social and economic upheaval of the 90s and the opening of the Russian market to foreign aircraft the Il-96 stood no chance. Production trickled a small number of aircraft out and they saw use by a small number of airlines, including Aeroflot, but being completely uncompetitive even with older twinjets, like the 767-300, the type's future was bleak.
That didn't stop the Russians from looking at a stretched Westernised version using Western avionics and engines. This became the Il-96M. Only a single aircraft was built, becoming RA-96000, before the programme was killed, partly by pressure from US aircraft manufacturers. Ilyushin persisted and re-engined the Il-96M with Russian engines and avionics to become the prototype Il-96-400. The series 400 is just under 64m long, so 8.58m longer than the stubby series 300.
The series 400 shares the majority of its structure with the Il-96M aside from the rear fuselage. It was mainly conceived as a freighter (as the 400T), since it couldn't hope to compete against Western widebody types. Orders from Cubana proved optimistic and with Aeroflot showing little interest, plus the state of the Russian civil aviation scene, progress was slow. RA-96101 first flew in March 1997 but the 2nd (RA-96102) and 3rd (RA-96103) aircraft weren't completed until 2007 and 2008. A fourth frame, RA-96104, first flew in November 2011.
Usage has been with a small variety of cargo operators and the Russian military. A further updated passenger version, the IL-96-400M, was announced in 2017. The project languished for years due to disinterest with the prototype remaining unfinished. The recent Russian aggression in Ukraine has changed this though, and now cut-off from Western airliners Russia has moved forward with the project once again.
For a complete wishlist of the 10 possible liveries that can be made scroll down to the bottom of my original announcement post:
The first IL-96-400M, RA-96115, flew on November 1, 2023 after a June rollout. It is hard to see the type having much of a career, but it is distinctive and adds some excellent variety to 400 scale models in a sea of twinjets. In fact, some sources suggest there is no real intention to restart production but instead this airframe will be used as a testbed for future designs.
The Phoenix Models Il-96-300 Mould
Phoenix has had an Il-96-300 mould since 2012 and over the years it has been updated with aerials. There have been 19 releases using it, including 6 in the past two years, after a release gap of 4 years before that. The mould is of a high quality and provides an excellent base for the production of an Il-96M/400.
Below: A selection of Phoenix Il-96-300 releases.
Below: A selection of Phoenix Il-96-300 releases.
The Il-96M and Il-96-400
As stated earlier the Il-96M outwardly was basically a stretched Il-96-300 with Western engines and a modified tail. The prototype airframe gained Russian engines and was relabelled as an Il-96-400 but actually the true production Il-96-400s have a different more angular form to the underside of the rear fuselage. In the below image is the Il-96M re-engined as the series 400. Note how the rear fuselage has the same curved underside to the tailcone as on the Il-96-300:
RA-96104 below is a production Il-96-400. Note how the underside of the tailwards portion of the fuselage now has two much straighter lines. This is the form on all 5 production aircraft so far (4 Il-96-400Ts and 1 Il-96-400M).
The Phoenix Ilyushin Il-96-400 Sample
As you would expect this new mould is derived from the excellent series 300 version and reuses the wings, engines and horizontal stabilisers. This sample also represents just the single Il-96-400 converted from the Il-96M but it is my understanding that there will be a modified version for all the other Il-96-400T and 400M releases (see later image).
In Detail
Since the sample shares a lot with the original Il-96-300 it is no surprise that aspects like the forward fuselage, cockpit and nosecone all look excellent.
The wings are the same as the Il-96-300 mould's, which is largely a good thing. Certainly the wing join to fuselage is extremely nice. In general, there aren't any major issues with the engines, pylons or wings. The curve down to the nacelles on the pylons could be curvier but it is hardly noticeable.
The image below shoes the PS-90A engines of a series 300 but I don't think they look different to the series 400's PS-90A1s.
From the front the engines look good. My criticism is limited to saying that the engines are maybe slightly too circular.
If criticism is to be aimed at the wings then the winglets are probably the place to aim it. They certainly aren't bad but are maybe a little too tall, and not wide enough at the top and a little to straight at the rear margin.
REAR FUSELAGE & STABILISERS
As mentioned above this sample has the rear fuselage of the Il-96M/-400 prototype rather than the Il-96-400T/400M, however as the image below illustrates Phoenix have been working on a modified rear fuselage for the releases of the majority of the future releases.
Below: A modified Il-96-400T/400M sample with the modified rear lower fuselage.
Note that the rear upper fuselage has two bumps on it and I believe these are fit points for the various roofline humps that are fitted to the various military and FSB versions of the aircraft. I have seen images of these humps but the sample isn't fitted with one of them.
The vertical stabiliser is an area of difference between the series 300 and 400. The former has a much taller tailfin while the 400 has a much shorter fin with a wider tailtop. That is definitely evident here.
Ilyushin Il-96-400 Sample Mould - 1:400 Scale
Roundup
This looks like a fabulous addition to 400 scale of a truly unique airliner. It also provides an opportunity for Phoenix to continue to expand into new areas outside direct competition with other brands. The sample looks excellent to me. With the Il-96-400T/400M variant, with modified lower rear fuselage, on the way the only area that might be worth modifying are the width and angle of the winglets. I'm certain that this mould will find a place in my collection.