VVS Yakovlev Yak-3 from the 402nd FAR, Spring 1945

[Basilisk]

As I have a bit of a soft spot for the Yakovlev piston fighters, I wanted to build the new Special Hobby Yak-3 kit for a while. I am actually building this kit in the "From Russia with love" GB which commences on Saturday at Britmodeller, but I hope it is ok I showing my progress here as well.

 

I was undecided in what colour scheme to paint the model. I didn't like to make a Normandie-Niemen Yak-3 in this scale as I prefer to make one in 1/48 as a companion to my Yak-1 build which still needs to be completed. Fortunately Begemot decals released their new 1/32 sheet on the Yak-3 earlier this year which contained all the favored markings seen on models in the past, but one scheme was new and it looks stunning

 

 

 

 

Yes the same scheme will also be part of the new VVS boxing of the kit. But I prefer the the Normandie-Niemen boxing as it has some extra resin goodies - and as I will most likely build just one Yak-3 in the big scale, it is better to use what I have than buying another kit

 

This plane was flown by Senior Lieutenant Ermohin Valentin Grigorievich of the 402nd Fighter Regiment (265th Fighter Air Division, 3rd Fighter Aviation Corps, 16th Air Army, 1st Belorussian Front). He shot down 9 enemy aircraft between July 1944 and April 1945 and several of them on this aircraft. There is an excellent page where I got this information from

 

There are already some Work in Progress reports on this kit here which I find always very helpfull when approaching a new build. So here is the kit.

And some extra goodies.

The decals look very good indeed. It will be the first time I am using Begemot decals. Anything special about them helpful to know?

 

The kit looks great in the box, but is in stark contrast to the Cyber Hobby Bf 109 E-3 kit I am currently building. The Cyber Hobby kit is maybe a bit over engineered and the Special Hobby kit is a rather simple affair - so it will be interesting to build these two kits in parallel.

 

As I would like to add some detail to the kit, I spent a bit of time researching the type and the kit - an activity I enjoy as much as building the kit . I read lots of reviews and build reports. Specially some French forums are a treasure trough (but need registration to see the contents).

 

Reviews:

Britmodeller

Large Scale Planes

Hyperscale

Aeroscale

Brexit Modeller

Modellingmadness

Detail Scale Review

Scalemodel (French)

Scalemodels.ru (Russian)

 

Build Reports:

Large Scale Planes

Large Scale Modeller

Brexit Modeller

Scalemodel (French) - needs registration, but 16 pages of lots of detail!

Nothing on Russian forums ...

 

Walkarounds:

Vadim Zadorozhnyi Technical Museum at Arkhangelsk (Russia)

Museum of Military Equipment Battle Glory of the Urals at Verkhnyaya Pyshma (Russia)

Orenburg (Russia)

Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget (France)

Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget (France) - shown also under restauration

Aeronautical Museum at Belgrade (Serbia) - some great detail pictures

Museum of Flying at Santa Monica (US of A)

Museum of Flying at Santa Monica (US of A)

Scalemodels.ru - not a walkaround as such, but some great info. Unfortunatel most pictures are gone in the earlier posts

 

Certainly no shortage of information, but If you know any other links, please share them here.

 

In general the feedback is favorable, but it is far from the perfect kit (which kit is). Yes a great looking Yak-3 can be build straight out of the box as some of the build reports illustrate. But a lot of the detail is simplified and so much more could be shown in this scale. I am aware that people build large models for various reasons, but for me as a Mega rivet counter, it is the extra detail possible in the larger scale which makes the 1/32 scale so attractive.

 

Yes I know of the "rivet counter syndrome", trying to replicate and correct every little detail and thereby not finishing a model ever. I will try to find a compromise and accepting some of the inaccuracies and keep moving - maybe easier said than done.

 

The general outline and shape looks good, but there is scope for improvement with some details which I feel will enhance the look of the model. It looks to me that some of the detail in the kit is based on the Yak-3M reproduction build which unfortunately isn't a representation of the wartime aircraft. Also restored aircraft contain parts from other Yak types, making it difficult to draw conclusions - so I guess Special Hobby had a hard time too finding the correct information.

 

As always, any comments are much appreciated.

Cheers, Peter

[Dpgsbody55]

I got this model out of my stash a little while ago, with every intention of building it.  Then I put it right back and got out my Typhoon which is my current build.  And now I'm very glad I did put it back, what with all the links you've provided above, plus the news of alternate markings.  So I'll be following this with interest!!!  It's great to see some different planes in large scales, and my MiG3 is a bit lonely on the shelf.  Wouldn't it be great if someone did a good Macchi in this scale?

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[alaninaustria]

Get started!! Nice choice of markings!!

Cheers

Alan

[Basilisk]

I got this model out of my stash a little while ago, with every intention of building it.  Then I put it right back and got out my Typhoon which is my current build.  And now I'm very glad I did put it back, what with all the links you've provided above, plus the news of alternate markings.  So I'll be following this with interest!!!  It's great to see some different planes in large scales, and my MiG3 is a bit lonely on the shelf.  Wouldn't it be great if someone did a good Macchi in this scale?

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

The Typhoon is one of my favored plane, but 1/24 is a bit large for me at the moment. It is indeed great that some of the less common planes appear in the large scale like the Whirlwind. Yes some Italian fighters would be great too.

 

 

Get started!! Nice choice of markings!!

Cheers

Alan

Yes I really like the markings and there aren't too many Russian aircraft with a spiral on the propeller. Unfortunately I have to wait until Saturday to start the kit. But I have lots of other stuff I can work on.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Jim Barry]

Nice choice. Not very many Yaks in LSP-land so it's great to see some fresh things come to life.

[Shawn M]

excellent info in this thread!

[Basilisk]

Nice choice. Not very many Yaks in LSP-land so it's great to see some fresh things come to life.

Thanks Jim. Indeed, and it would be great to see some of the other Yak piston fighters in the larger scale

 

 

excellent info in this thread!

Thanks Shawn. I am glad its of use to some.

 

Cheers, Peter

[dennismcc]

Like others have said it's nice to see a VVS aircraft subject being featured on LSP, mind you we do need more choice so come on SH give us some more.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Basilisk]

We just have to purchase lots of the Special Hobby Yak-3 to make them aware that VVS aircraft sell

 

Now with the GB at Britmodeller in full swing, I did some work on the kit this weekend. The Yak-3 hasn't a very busy cockpit, but the kit's representation is a bit too simple for my taste.

 

Like the knobs on the side console.

The turning wheels are solid parts due to casting limitation. So I cut them off with a razor saw and glued the console tops to the relevant consoles.

Next was the IP. I purchased the Edwards PE set for the Yak. But I don't like the IP in the set at all. The banding from the digital printing looks awful and the PE just hasn't enough depth to parts.

I therefore decided to use the kit IP. But I smoothed the joins between the top and bottom part as it is one part on the original.

This picture is from the aircraft at Le Bourget.

 

Here the kit IP with the parts attached.

And the side consoles with knobs and wheels in place.

 

 

Most of the cockpit detail is now in place.

Also started butting the wheel bays together.

Not the best fit here unfortunately.

 

I am glad to be out of the starting blocks with this build.

Cheers, Peter

[Uncarina]

Peter,

 

Great work! I am taking notes here. Modifying the consoles like you did really brought it to life.

 

Cheers, Tom

[Joel_W]

Peter,

  Certainly one of the best intros to a build thread I've read in quite some time. The pros and cons are spelled right out, as well as your expectations for the build.

 

  I really like your method of cutting off the knobs and with just a slight modification gluing them back on, they do indeed look 101% better.

 

 I'm looking forward to seeing how you dealt with the IP rather then using the Eduard's color PE one. I'm sure yours will be a much better effort.

 

Joel

[quang]

The stock IP looks busy enough. Of course, there's also Yahu's 

 

 

Following this thread with utmost interest,

 

Cheers,

Quang

[alaninaustria]

Nice work! This looks to be a great kit!!

Cheers

Alan

[XOPCT]

Took the place in the first row.

[Basilisk]

Peter,

 

Great work! I am taking notes here. Modifying the consoles like you did really brought it to life.

 

Cheers, Tom

 

Peter,

  Certainly one of the best intros to a build thread I've read in quite some time. The pros and cons are spelled right out, as well as your expectations for the build.

 

  I really like your method of cutting off the knobs and with just a slight modification gluing them back on, they do indeed look 101% better.

 

 I'm looking forward to seeing how you dealt with the IP rather then using the Eduard's color PE one. I'm sure yours will be a much better effort.

 

Joel

 

Nice work! This looks to be a great kit!!

Cheers

Alan

 

Took the place in the first row.

Thank you all for the positive feedback.

 

The stock IP looks busy enough. Of course, there's also Yahu's 

 

Following this thread with utmost interest,

 

Cheers,

Quang

The Yahu panel is my back-up plan in case the panel I cobble together doesn't work out.

 

I made some progress during the week.

 

Got the cockpit frames assembled.

 

 

 

The cockpit framing is now ready to spice it up with some wires.

 

Then it was back to the wheel wells.

The fit was rather poor, specially when adding the bottom half of the wing.

 

But at the end only a tiny amount of filler was needed.

 

 

The weakest point in my view is the shape of the wing root radiator openings which unfortunately have little in common with the real thing.

 

 

The kit has a lot of the curvature wrong. I corrected some. But the shape of these openings does vary a fair bit on the real aircraft as well.

The kit has them blended into the curve of the leading edge whereby there should be a bit of a step.

 

Here the result I was happy with.

 

This re-shaping needed the metal panel step to be re-done.

 

And the openings needed some fine-tuning as well.

The shape is still not 100% correct but much closer now to the real aircraft.

 

I like to finish the wheel wells next before adding some parts to the cockpit floor. Some parts still need to be added and I also like to add some of the plumbing.

 

Thanks for watching.

Cheers, Peter