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


Basilisk

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Peter,

  I use to have a Dremel tool, but it gave up the ghost last year, and I've never gotten around to replacing it. My house drill would really be over kill. It has a variable speed motor, but getting it to the low RPMs needed so that I don't end up melting the plastic would be a challenge for sure.

 

Joel

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Peter,

  I use to have a Dremel tool, but it gave up the ghost last year, and I've never gotten around to replacing it. My house drill would really be over kill. It has a variable speed motor, but getting it to the low RPMs needed so that I don't end up melting the plastic would be a challenge for sure.

 

Joel

 

Joel, I think it may work with a house drill. Just give it a shot, can't loose much.

 

Today I learned about the new A-Resin detail sets for this kit. More pictures here.

5391041501612289jak3132otlivka.jpg

This sets always come along after finishing :doh:

 

Personally I think that this detail set isn't researched very well. Just have a look at the seat harness.

664989150161268229.jpg

The lap harness has a resemblance with a Sutton A type harness, but the shoulder harness has nothing in common with a Sutton A type harness at all!

 

As previously shown, The Yak-3 pilot manual shows how it works and the harness in this detail set can't be locked together.

Yak-3-116c.jpg

 

And what do we have here.

891157150161266021.jpg

 

The mystery pipe from this drawing discussed in some earlier posts!

7210616879.gif

 

Quang mentioned that the text for point 48 reads that this pipe is the ejection chute for spent ammunition. Now I can't see it on any pictures. The only evidence of a possible existence of this pipe can be seen on the picture below, the Le Bourget aircraft under restoration.

Yak-3-117.jpg

The aircraft contains the metal ring on the cockpit floor where the pipe goes through in the graphic.

 

Still would love to know if this pipe existed in the Yak-3 cockpit. Somehow I don't think so.

Cheers, Peter

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Looks great!  I would think that a high end resin detail set like that would get some more R & D time than that.   Shame really, as overall it looks good, but really not any better than what you did OOB.

 

Looking forward to more! 

Thanks, I should have the cockpit finally together with my next post - without (most likely) or with the mystery pipe.

 

I am with you, I too found this detail set rather disappointing and I see it as a missed opportunity. Yes there is more detail, but it all looks a bit soft. No improvement to the seat and the resin harness as part of the seat in 1/32 is maybe not the best option. Not sure about the change of the radio equipment. Maybe it was used like that after WWII.

 

In all fairness, my judgement is only based on pictures and I don't have the set.

 

Cheers, Peter

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Looks great!  I would think that a high end resin detail set like that would get some more R & D time than that.   Shame really, as overall it looks good, but really not any better than what you did OOB.

 

Looking forward to more! 

 

Gotta agree with Brian's POV. Just a shame that they took the easy way out rather then doing the needed research. I guess that they figure most modelers wouldn't know the difference one way or the other.

 

Joel

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Gotta agree with Brian's POV. Just a shame that they took the easy way out rather then doing the needed research. I guess that they figure most modelers wouldn't know the difference one way or the other.

 

Joel

I think you are right with your assumption. Unfortunately it isn't an isolated case. Sets from Eduard, Quickboost and many others are in the same boat. Modellers think they have to be better and correct which isn't always the case. :crying:

 

The good news is that I got some answers to my questions regarding the mystery pipe! KL at Sovietwarplanes had following information:

 

"The pipe shown in the cockpit drawing is clearly labeled as "gil'zootvod" which means "spent cartridges chute". In early Yaks, empty cartridges were collected in canister which was located under the canon breach. Following diagram shows how cartridges and links were collected in Yak-9:

 

yak9_70.jpg

 

Following drawing shows how cartridges and links were collected in "3-point Yak-3"

 

318.jpg

 

Canister for empty canon cartridges was now located above the canon muzzle. Cartridge route is indicated with curved arrow in the left side of the drawing. If your model is a standard Yak-3 with 2 UBS, it did not have cartridge chute in the cockpit..."

 

So it is confirmed that the pipe is the ejection chute for spent ammunition and wasn't fitted in the Yak-3 with two UBS guns!

 

There is also a discussion about the radio arrangement of the A-Resin detail set on Scalemodels.ru which contains some interesting information of which this sketch is noteworthy.

1501745226_1501692402_20170802_223208.jp

It shows all the components fitted which make up the radio system in a Yak-3. Most is not visible, but it clearly shows how the cabling was routed from the radio and as luck has it, I got it very close :)

 

Unfortunately other commitments slowed things a bit on the build, but I got a few things done. I know I said the next picture will be of the completed cockpit. Well, it isn't complete yet, but I do have the new lap harness fitted and I think this harness made of paper looks stunning.

Yak-3-118.jpg

 

Yak-3-119.jpg

But more important, it is now the correct type!

 

Also got he gun blisters glued on.

Yak-3-120.jpg

Yak-3-121.jpg

They still need a bit of work and the riveting will be re-done at the correct locations. The next post will be definitely with the completed cockpit and the fuselage on the wings. Promise.

 

Cheers, Peter

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Absolutely splendid work Peter. Your attention to detail and true to scale work is second to none.

Cheers

M.

Thank you Martin. Sometimes I wish not having an eye for details as it does slow things down...

 

As promised in my last post, the next post will have the wings on.

Yak-3-122.jpg

The fit was solala, but the bigest problem was that the wing was not sitting horizontally, creating a larger wing dihedral on the port side.

 

I corrected this as much as I could by adding a shim to push the wing down on the port side.

Yak-3-124.jpg

 

There was also a larger gap at the front of the fuselage to wing joint which I also filled with plasticard.

Yak-3-125.jpg

 

Some of the resulting stresses when forcing the wing into place made the fuselage tubing crack on both sides in front of the seat. :(

Yak-3-126.jpg

Also to make the tubing parallel to the hinge line, the cockpit insert needed to be raised by 1mm which I done with a shim when attaching the cockpit insert to the wing prior fitting the wing to the fuselage. All these little mismatch are unfortunately the hallmark of a short run kit. But I actually enjoying solving these challenges :mental:

 

The next challenge is the correct placement of the two side panels above the metal tubing as the instruction is rather vague about it.

 

This picture fortunately shows were they go.

Yak-3-130c.jpg

They are in line with the vertical tubing.

 

And that how they look in the kit.

Yak-3-127.jpg

 

Yak-3-128.jpg

 

This pictures shows unfortunately some discrepancies in the kits lay-out.

Yak-3-130b.jpg

The horizontal metal tubing is above the hing line covered by the wooden side panel construction. The kit has it below the hing line and not covered by the side panels.

 

Unfortunately there are some other issues if you like to build the kit with an open cockpit.

Yak-3-130.jpg

 

1. You can notice that the two side panels stick out a little from the cockpit. I haven't seen this in any of the other builds. But it is most likely because i raised the cockpit insert by 1mm ...

 

2. The rail for the canopy to slide it open should go all the way where you can see the red line and not just at the rear. As it is on the kit is fine for a closed canopy, but not for an opened one.

Yak-3-130c.jpg

Same picture as above which shows this clearly.

 

What it also shows is that the side panels are actually flush with these rails for the canopy! So after extending the rail, the location of the side panels will be correct, :)  Lucky me.

 

Oh, and I have to do something about the red cross box, just doesn't look right. Still a bit more work to be done around the cockpit. But first I will get the airframe cleaned up and completed which be a fair amount of work.

 

So still lots to do.

Cheers, Peter

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Great clean build and interesting research. I received my kit some days ago, and once I tackle it, I'll orient myself to threads like this.

 

Cheers

Alex

Thanks Alex, I too like to read through other peoples builds as there is always something to learn from.

 

I have to say that the side panels do bother me. Here a comparison.

Yak-3-131.jpg

The extension where the trimming wheel is mounted should be part of the tubing and not above as on the kit.

 

Extending the side panels so they cover the horizontal tube will then also hide the crack in it :thumbsup:

 

And here is how the real red cross kit does look like.

Yak-3-132.jpg

 

Looks like still some work for me to do in the cockpit. :D

 

Cheers, Peter

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