**** DONE: 1/48 Yak-3 - Allied Advance and Defense of the Reich WWII.

[Donivanp]

Username: Donivanp
Name: Don
Category: Intermediate
Scale: 1:48
Manufacturer: Zvezda
Model Type: Yak-3
Accessories: OOB

 

[Donivanp]

I know I am working on two already but the build is still young and I am nearing the B-17 and the P-51 is on the way. The Yak-3 presents another force in the war that was crushing Hitler's Reich. Having invaded Russia in June of 1942 and suffering a pair of stunning defeats at Stalingrad and Kursk, by the spring of 1945 the Russians were holding their own on the Eastern front after the the Western from was opened in June of 1944.

The subject of this build will be Yak-3 of the 150th FAR based in Austria and flown by Lt Savely Nosov, Hero of the Soviet Union.

Savely V. Nosov ( 23 October 1923-1999 ) - Soviet military pilot , Hero of the Soviet Union (1946), during the German-Soviet war commander level 150 th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (13th Guards Fighter Poltava -Oleksandriyska Order of Kutuzov Division, 3rd Guards Fighter Jassy building, 5th air army , 2nd Ukrainian front).

Biography :

Born October 23, 1923 in the village Obuhovo (now there was within this Zalesovskoho district of the Altai region ) in the family servant. He lived in the city of Khabarovsk , where he graduated 10 classes and flying club .
On December 3, 1940 in the ranks of the Red Army , graduated Birsk military aviation school pilots.
Since May 1943 , Sergeant S. Nosov in the army. In the 150 th Guards Fighter Regiment fought at Voronezh , Steppe and 2 nd Ukrainian fronts. By May 1945 Guard Lieutenant S. Vladimir Nosov made 101 combat flights, in 31 dogfight personally shot down 15 and in group 1 aircraft airplane opponent .
May 15, 1946 for courage and military prowess, manifested in battle with the enemy, was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

 

[Wurger]

An interesting subject.

 

[rochie]

Nice

 

[Donivanp]

I've never done a Zvezda kit and I know very little of Soviet aircraft, oh I know the MiG's and Sukhoi's and TU's but as far as colors and markings and where they server etc.. I know very little. That being said, if this kit is half as good as it looks, we are going to have fun.

On first inspection the molding is crisp and the panel lines are very fine and defined. It really looks nice. Three medium grey trees and a single clear nicely placed in it's own separate zip lock bag. Two of the trees are the aircraft and the third is the engine. The kit can be built with or without the engine as I read the instruction, though they don't make it extremely clear. Of course since I bought mine from a store in Moscow, ebay store, My instructions are in Russian. I don't know if there is an English version or not, but there are some English sub titles in the instructions. Kind of like looking at Hasegawa, Ortaki, or Tamiya kits meant to be sold in Japan.

There are enough decals to do three different aircraft all from the end of the war. The first is the one I have selected, the second is Yak-3 belonging to the 1st FAR Normandie-Niemen of the 303rd FAD USSR Pilot Commander of the 1st AS Lt Marcel Albert, Spring of 1945 and the third is Capt. Semion Rogovoy of the 4th 1st Aerial Sq. 64th Guardian Fighter Regiment on the Baltic Front Autumn 1944.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good one Don. Zvezda kits are quite nice.

 

[le_steph40]

Good one Don. Zvezda kits are quite nice.

I second that

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

Looks like a great choice, look forward to seeing it go together...

 

[JKim]

I hear nice things about Zvezda so looking forward to this build.

 

[fubar57]

Nice one Don, looking forward to this. I know the Luftwaffe captured a -1 but I'm looking for a -3. Build away my friend.



Geo

 

[Donivanp]

Nice one Don, looking forward to this. I know the Luftwaffe captured a -1 but I'm looking for a -3. Build away my friend.

From what I can find they were running away form the -3's by that time. I read Hans Rudel's book and the Yak-3's were a real minnus from what I understand.

 

[Donivanp]

OK Glue has begun, the fit is (so far) incredible. From what I can ascertain at this time, the cockpit should be something close to, maybe a shade lighter but barely Panzer Grey . Any words on that? I believe that the same for the wheel wells also?

 

[Wurger]

The interior colour was the A-14 Blue-Grey - FS-26293. It was used for painting the wheel bays their doors and landing gear legs as well.

 

[Donivanp]

Thanks Wojak, just what I was a looking for, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

 

[Wurger]

My pleasure.

 

[javlin]

Nice looking kit!

 

[Catch22]

Cool!

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Donivanp]

The Yak 3 was considered by many to be the premier Soviet fighter of WWII. Unlike the American air war over Germany, the war over the Eastern front was at low to middle altitude. This was where the little Yak fighter was at home, with speeds equal to or greater than the German FW 190 and BF 109F and G,s the Yak was able to turn inside of both of them.

I did not have the suggested shade of grey but did a lot of comparisons and settled on 35270, Neutral Grey. It seems to be the same as the color the kit is molded in. for my eye I had a hard time telling the difference but in some comparisons it was a tad darker. I had not intended to use any aftermarket items and had mot purchased anything but the kit. I did find that I have sets of 1/48 seatbelts and have used them to add the seat belts. This is not fully installed as yet as I was test fitting and need to pull it out and paint is and put it back. the lap belts need to be made with tape and the PE latches. I ind the 2mm or 3 mm Tamiya vinyl tape it is good for this.

The instrument panel comes as a blank or one with diels, the blank is to be used with decals. I used the diels and decals instead as the diels had no depth to them. This still has the decal sol on it.

Having read about the size of the Yak I did a little size comparison with the P-51D I am working on. The P-51 was not a large aircraft either and yet you can see how much smaller the Yak is. Designed by Jack Northrop and having no fuselage and only the wing to keep airflow smooth, only the fully open cockpit was a drawback. But the Soviets needed to build fast and get it into action were happy to save the resources.