**** DONE : GB-53 1/48 Yak-3 - Eastern Front

[Crimea_River]

Username: Crimea River
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Zvezda
Model Type: Yak-3 Kit No. 4814
Aftermarket addons: None. Scratch built additions only

The 1/48 Zvezda Yak 3 kit offers decals for three schemes and I've chosen to go with White 15 flown by Semion Ivanovich Rogovoi of the 64th giap, 4th giad in autumn 1944. For a Russian subject , this one is decently documented in the below profile and photos linked from Massimo Tessatori's website here: Yak-3, S.I. Rogovoi, 64 giap, 4 giad

Note the forward slant of the '15' in the profile which appears to be correct per the third photo above, at least for the starboard side. Positioning the decals like this defies both the kit instructions and my usual sense of alignment and symmetry but photos don't lie, and so I'll go with the evidence and set them on a cant. Though a nicely detailed engine is provided with the kit, I'm not yet certain whether, or not, I'll pose the model with the cowls off as there are no removable cowls. We'll see when we get there.

I'm not sure when I'll start this kit as I have lots on the go right now. I'd also have to pack up my unfinished Wellington yet again but hopefully I'll be able to report a kick-off fairly soon.

 

[Wurger]

 

[rochie]

nice Andy.

interestingly my Eduard kit has these markings and it gives you both white and yellow stripes for the rudder and tail !

Yak-3 1/48

Yak-3 1/48 - Scale kit of Yak-3 48th scale in Weekend edition. plastic parts Eduard No. of decal options 2 Decals Eduard PE parts no painting mask no

www.eduard.com

 

[fubar57]

Looking forward to this. I've got a few Yak books if you need anything

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Should be OK Geo, thanks. Not motivated to do anything much with this one. Karl, it seems Zvezda's 1/72 version of this kit has yellow stripes as well but mine just has the white.

A small start was made today. Assembly starts with adding wheel well bits, oil cooler intakes, and then assembling the wing halves together. Very soft plastic and the wing halves quite warped. Because of the soft plastic I was able to coerce the wing into shape with my hands and without adding heat so hopefully they will continue to behave. The cockpit tub is moulded into the upper half of the wing and just a few bits need to be added. Pics later when I'm less lazy.

 

[le_steph40]

Nice project Andy
It seems that white stripes are the good option => 64 GIAP

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Steph. I saw that site as it's where Massimo links the photos I linked above. It might be argued that the white of the star appears lighter than the stripe on the tail in this detail:

That said, the '15' in the third photo above looks lighter than the star border so.....I think I will stick with white stripes anyway.

Here are a few pics of what I accomplished yesterday. As mentioned already, the cockpit is moulded into the upper wing half and so the build starts with assembling the wing. Here's the upper view with the bottom already glued in place. The pitot tube is also moulded into the upper wing and it's on death row. As you can see, it's already been knocked off line.

T'other side:

The wing leading edge seams haven't been touched yet and will be smoothed down. As I said already, there was quite a bit of warp in the halves but some vigourous bending of the soft plastic with my hands as the glue was setting seems to have done the trick:

Here's the sprue with the engine parts, which are plentiful. I'm going to assemble the engine for fun and then decide if I want to pose the model with the engine exposed.

Thanks for looking in.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far Andy!

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice Andy.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks all. Worked on the engine to keep my options open. Plus it's a fun little model in itself. A start:

That's as far as I got before needing to get a coat of paint on. The instructions call for a "Dark Grey" equivalent to Humbrol 125 with aluminum intake plenums so I went with Tamiya XF-54 darkened a bit with black. However, I just noticed that the cylinder banks and valve covers are called out in black and I missed that. I'll check references and go back and change it if needed.

The engine looks far too clean at this point and will be grunged up later.

The cockpit was assembled for paint as well. The pilot's seat back was such a sloppy fit and wobbled back and forth so much that I had to assemble the pilot and use him as a template to set the correct angle of the rest.

And here's how it looks with a coat of straight Tamiya XF-54:

The framing and coolant header tank (I think) have been added pending a decision whether or not to pose the model with the cowls off. I'll try to get better pics next time.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

References are typically showing a lighter grey block and black cylinder heads so change will come....

 

[T Bolt]

Nice start Andy.
If you decide not to install the engine you can scratch up a rack for it and display it next to the finished model

 

[rochie]

Nice Andy

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Glenn, I as thinking the same, though the framing is nicely done too.

 

[Wayne Little]

good start.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Wayne. More work on the wonderful little Klimov. After prying the intake manifolds off (the TET was still soft) I repainted the block a lighter grey and the cylinders black. I then added the wiring harnesses, water pump, cooling tank and lines, and the engine bearer frame, all of which fit together perfectly despite having to snake some of the parts through others. Below are various photos of the current state of affairs and the next step will be to paint the newly added parts. Apparently the cooling system parts are supposed to be green so that should look interesting.

Thanks for looking. Back when more paint has been splashed on.

 

[fubar57]

Beauty. Very Wayne-like photos, something I need to strive for

 

[rochie]

very nice