Polish record breaking Yak-23 KP SP-BLK 1/72 nostalgia build.

[TonyTiger66]

Hello folks,

I had all kinds of ambitious plans for this Group Build, including wanting to build a scale model of my Grandfather in-laws record breaking motorcycle, the 'Munro Special' and/or a Macchi 72. 

 

I still may do those, but I decided to try something I feel a little more confident that I can complete (he said, tempting fate ),

 

My chosen subject is described nicely in this quote from Wikipedia:

 

"On September 21, 1957, the Polish pilot Andrzej Abłamowicz set two FAI world records in the Yak- 23 with civilian markings SP-GLK, in its weight class, climbing to 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 119 seconds (4,962.6 ft/min) and to 6,000 m (19,685 ft) in 197 seconds (5,995.4 ft/min). This plane was withdrawn in 1961."

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-23

 

Andrzej Abłamowicz can be considered a 'hero pilot' of Poland, Polish Wikipedia has a good entry here (not yet on the English site, but a translation programme will

provide help and entertainment  :

 

https://pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrzej_Abłamowicz

 

 

There are a few Yak 23 kits out there. I had considered Ardpol resin or the Special Hobby kit, but in the end decided on the old KP 1/72 kit. I built it many years ago and enjoyed it . It's  very basic with some raised rivets and panel lines, but that's fine for me at the moment.

 

I found the old kit in the 'home stash'. Here is the box, I'm sure many Eastern European Britmodellers will have (fond?) memories of it:

 

 

I love this colourful box art and style of 'old' KP . 

 

There are very few parts, just right for me!

 

 

Very fundamental painting instructions and a little of the history discussed here.

 

Unfortunately my kit is missing decals. Aftermarket is available, but postage to me from companies can be quite expensive.

 

Just on the off chance, if anyone has spare SP-GLK decals from this kit, I'd be happy to buy them and pay normal air mail postage to Australia.

 

Otherwise, I'll probably buy from Arma Hobby with something else to bundle the postage costs in a couple of weeks time.

 

I don't have any copyright free pictures of the actual aircraft I can list here. I do, however, have a profile or two; original KP:

 

 

Soviet profile No. 1:

 

 

Soviet profile No. 2:

 

 

I have seen that many people have modelled this aircraft as per Soviet profile No. 2 above, with the part yellow tail. As attractive as this is, my period photographs show SP-BLK clearly matching the NMF profiles, with a registration letter font corresponding to the plain profiles too.

 

Recent photographs of (a?, the?) restored airframe show a yellow tail and different font. I wonder if this repaint is just to make it a little more 'flashy' and not the original colour scheme?

 

 

The photos of the original I have show no wing tip tanks, no yellow tail, very different font.... .

 

 

Do we have any experts that could advise on this? I also have a photo with a strange frame attached to the front of the aircraft (taxiing) and some photographs with it with a broken starboard undercarriage; it clearly has a NMF tail/rudder and matches the first and last profiles above (or should I say, the profile matches the aircraft).

 

Here is how KP actually describe its scheme and markings (very precisely IMHO):

 

 

Finally, I remember from when I first built this kit, 15 years or so ago, that the canopy is nice and thin, but doesn't fit very well. Does anyone know if, e.g, an aftermarket vac-form Yak-9 canopy would fit? Any advice on suitable aftermarket wheels and seat in 1/72 would also be most gratefully received. Would the seat from a Yak 15 be similar? I have one in an Amodel 1/72 kit that I could use to model a copy if so.

 

Many thanks for looking by. Here's a picture of a random Yak 23 to whet the appetite (oh no, it's going to be my first real go at airbrushed NMF  ):

 

 

All best regards

TonyT

Edited March 9, 2017 by TonyTiger66
Missing text and spelling

[CliffB]

A lovely choice Tony.  The design of these early Yak jets is so evocative of the time.

 

Cliff

[trickyrich]

interesting!  why don't you fit a pilot and do a action in air model in a climbing attitude? Will save you the hassle of the undercarriage/wheels, plus a clear rod, for mounting (mounted to a nice wooden base), from the exhaust would help save detailing that area as well and look pretty awesome!

 

Anyway will follow with interest.

[TonyTiger66]

12 hours ago, CliffB said:

A lovely choice Tony.  The design of these early Yak jets is so evocative of the time.

 

Cliff

Thanks Cliff . I often think it was pretty resourceful of the Soviets how they simply took a propeller driven aircraft design and adapted it to a jet engine. I sometimes wonder if the pilots got a hot bottom ?

It's true they're very evocative. The designs changes so rapidly, for example it wasn't too long until the Sukhoi Su-7 and 9 were common - very different in appearance, more sinister to my eye (but still 'Cold War evocative).

Thanks for coming on board 
 

7 hours ago, trickyrich said:

interesting!  why don't you fit a pilot and do a action in air model in a climbing attitude? Will save you the hassle of the undercarriage/wheels, plus a clear rod, for mounting (mounted to a nice wooden base), from the exhaust would help save detailing that area as well and look pretty awesome!

 

Anyway will follow with interest.

 
Many thanks Rich . I quite like that idea! It fits in with the record attempt and the whole point of the build. 
I've never had much luck with the clear rod up the pipe approach, but I'm sure I could think of something that would look good.
A wood base with a little plaque regarding the record would be a nice touch.
Thanks for following along, and for a great idea  

All the best
TonyT

[trickyrich]

I plan to do something similar for the Mirage build later this year.

 

[AdrianMF]

Looks like a neat project. The kit looks basic but straightforward - no propellers to clean up!

 

If you don't want to do clear rod, you can always use wire from a coat hanger:

I curved it round a jam jar. Use a bigger base than I did though - it's a bit unstable!

 

If you are going for NMF, I would give a shout out for AK True Metal Wax. It comes in a tube, you simply rub it on with a tissue, buff it up when it dries, and it's pretty foolproof (see above).

 

Regards,

Adrian

[TonyTiger66]

19 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Looks like a neat project. The kit looks basic but straightforward - no propellers to clean up!

 

If you don't want to do clear rod, you can always use wire from a coat hanger:

I curved it round a jam jar. Use a bigger base than I did though - it's a bit unstable!

 

If you are going for NMF, I would give a shout out for AK True Metal Wax. It comes in a tube, you simply rub it on with a tissue, buff it up when it dries, and it's pretty foolproof (see above).

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

Thanks Adrian, I like the look of the curved cost hangar  . I like the look of clear rod too, but the couple of times I tried it I wasn't happy with the fit of the rod to the jet exhausts, it got a bit tricky to centre it. Basically it was because I'm a useless clot .

 

I think I'll combine yours and Rich's ideas; a nice wooden base and plaque, with curved coat hangar wire to support the aircraft. The plus is, no undercarriage to build - yay! The minus is - I'll have to re learn how to paint pilots . It's not a minus really; got to improve a bit with each model. Said he, having completed none since 2016.....

 

I have AK 'Xxxtreme Metal' airbrush paint, and also a selection of Alclad. I would love to try the gel, it looks superb on your model and I know @CedB liked it on one of his builds too. The little boy in me wants to buy some and have a play, but I'm saving up to hopefully pay fees for and start a course later this year (possibly back in Blighty), so I might have to use up some of the paints I have, keep the money in the piggy bank.

 

I finally have the bench/desk clear. I have a Spitfire on the go, but I should be able to do this one too, in between paint drying on the Spitfire and vice-versa.

 

This is a placeholder for now, but with a bit of luck I might fondle its plastic later this week. I'm searching my stash for a pilot with a big helmet; he's proving elusive.

 

Thanks for popping in Adrian

All the best

TonyT

[TonyTiger66]

A little update. 

I posted on BM 'wanted' for transfers/decals, but no luck. I decided that I didn't want to wait too long, so spent no less than three hours scouring the web for one of these kits or the once produced separate set of transfers by KP.

 

I wanted to get a combination of fair price and fair postage. 

 

It proved very difficult. 

 

After much perusal and worrying about my wallet, I ended up buying another kit that includes two sets of transfers and some 'extra spare parts' from an Evilbay trader in the USA I know to be reliable (MrAirfix).

 

At AUD $18 (£11.20), The kit was twice the price I could get it from a French seller , but the postage from MrAirfix at AUD $12 (£7.50) was a lot better than the AUD $32 (19.95) wanted from France !!

 

Of course, now someone will offer to sell me one for three pounds...  .

 

I also discovered that Pavla make an aftermarket canopy for it. Scalemates incorrectly list it as a 1/48 part:

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/153419-pavla-models-v72-29-jak-23

 

The best deal I could get was from the UK, again on Evilbay (Heepdrutt, again reliable for me so far) at AUD $9 (£5.60) including postage.

 

I'm now starting to think I should just have bought the Special Hobby kit, but I still wouldn't have been able to get the transfer style I wanted. It's a subtle difference in lettering.

 

I can't show it as; 1: The pictures I found are copyrighted and 2: Flickr has been timing me out for two days now.

 

Ok, I can, this way. In the second picture here one can see the KP font for the letters 'SP-BLK' :

 

http://www.model-making.eu/products/item_name-548255.html

 

Which is different to the ModelMaker ones here:

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/946616-modelmaker-d72019-yak-23-in-polish-service

 

I may be bonkers, but I feel the KP are more suited to period pictures of the all metal finish aircraft.

 

 

The Modelmaker are maybe more suited to the modern replica (or is it the original, restored?; any Polish Britmodeller's know?),  with yellow fin, yellow aerial, bright green wheel wells and so on. I'm starting to go cross eyed on these letters to be honest, I'm obsessing !

 

 

Pictures from http://odkrywca.pl/ copyright holder not stated; will remove if required.

 

I have also read that the SH kit may not be as good in basic outline as the KP, but I don't know for sure. It certainly has some nice resin and etch detail in there.

 

Now I'm just looking for a pilot with a 'big white helmet'. The one in the old tool Airfix MiG 15 is ideal, but I only have one in a built (but accident smashed, but loved) Airfix MiG 15. I featured that model on a nostalgic 'RFI' some weeks ago. I thought it was list forever, but found the broken parts. It can be rebuilt . It's even more 'ten year old me at age 40' (11 years ago) than I thought! Very poorly made, but I did my best at the time and I like it.

 

Does anyone have a spare Soviet pilot with a big white helmet (you at the back, stop tittering)?

 

As I said, the old Airfix MiG 15 pilot is perfect.

 

All the best

TonyT

[Christer A]

I was going to build the SH kit for this groupbuild but found the decals for the record breaker a bit boring compared to the flamboyant "ordinary" polish markings, so I decided to just wait for the From Russia with love GB instead.

Still , I have half of these decals that I won't use

You can have them if you want them, but I have no idea what the cost of sending them to the other side of the world will be...

 

Will follow this build with interest, since early jet aviation is deeply fascinating stuff.

[Christer A]

Hello!

No need to paint NMF om these little buggers. They were painted with an Aluminium Lacquer with a quite uniform finish, except for the Steel heatshield in the tail, above the exhaust.

[TonyTiger66]

 

On 27/05/2017 at 4:23 AM, Christer A said:

 

Hello!

No need to paint NMF om these little buggers. They were painted with an Aluminium Lacquer with a quite uniform finish, except for the Steel heatshield in the tail, above the exhaust.

 

 

Thanks Christer, all round  !

I have a lot of pictures of them (Yak 23´s) I would like to share, but unfortunately most are copyrighted. The black and white one of SP-GLK above, I think,  'should be' copyrighted, but I got it from a Polish PD site that stated it was public domain! If they want me to remove it, I will.

 

I'll send you a PM with a link to my 'bumper album of images' . These aircraft are quite addictively interesting, especially the quite varied training

models, and even a couple of target tugs!

 

I really need those decals so postage is, as they say here, no worries!

 

Your offer is very, very kind and quite a lifesaver. I've become very fond of these little aircraft, and I've made a lot more progress than us currently shown here on the thread. I can't wait to 'get on with it' again, knowing there's light at the end of the tunnel with decals .

 

Christer, you're right, it's such a boring scheme that I think the Poles tried to 'bling' it for their display aircraft! As you can see from the black and white picture above; the yellow rudder and lurid green wheel wells aren't apparent. They are *very* apparent on the current display aircraft.  Here it is:

 

 

I know the picture above doesn't show then, but trust me, it has wing tip tanks; I really don't think it's the original aircraft, as we can see from my earlier period photos, the original had none.

 

I could be wrong, maybe the broken undercarriage was fixed and tip tanks fitted later. At what time the tail was painted yellow, is a mystery to me. It's clearly metal/ Alu laquer on all the period pictures I have, not yellow.

 

In respect of the display aircraft above, do any Polish Britmodelers know which airframe it is? Also, as would seem to be the case from photographs; is it still outdoors and starting to decay/corrode? I hope not, by now I feel quite protective towards this mainly unsung (outside Poland) achievment  .

 

This is one case where I hope to be wrong, that it really is SP-GLK. If it is, I wish even more that they would take it indoors .

 

I wanted to put WIP progress pictures here, but the Flickr app is telling me that 'is not available at the moment'.

 

I'll pop back soon with some pictures and a nice update.

 

Have a nice Sunday night  

TonyT

 

PS: For those wanting to see some real progress with a Yak 23, and the Special Hobby kit (with additional 'Go Faster Stripes'!), here is Christer's build:

 

TT

Edited May 28, 2017 by TonyTiger66
Added link

[TonyTiger66]

Hello everyone 

Well, now the Group Build is over, with just the poll to go, I finally have the rest of my photographs for this WIP in a useful place.

 

Too late for the GB, but it's ok. The model isn't finished yet and I still have a way to go.

 

I'm going to update the thread little by little, explaining what I did at the bench.

 

I'm still stuck in bed due to spinal/bleeding issues. I just have to wait it out, hopefully with long overdue surgery later this year. Hopefully there will also be an operation in my left elbow, originally suggested for; November 1998 !

 

Too much moving of home, country etc. 

 

I'm going to ask to have this thread moved into the aviation WIP area.

 

A special thanks to @Christer A; he sent a set of decals for this model all the way from Sweden to Australia  !

 

I tried to buy some in a kit from the USA; it never arrived but I got a full refund. Ever the optimist; I tried Evilbay again. I wrote to a seller in Germany asking if the kit they were selling had good decals.

"yes" came the reply.

 

14 Euros and 14 days later it arrived and the truth about the decals was discovered to be:

 

"no"

 

Christer to the rescue. We have a great worldwide community here on BM for this kind of thing. 

 

Around 2 weeks after my last post here, my Pavla aftermarket vac-form canopy arrived from (good) Ebay seller 'heepdrutt' in the U.K.  :

 

 

Would it fit  ? 

We'll find out soon.

 

To just re-establish where we are, it's right at the beginning !

 

Here are the parts removed from the box:

 

 

It's interesting and quite typical of these early KP kits, to note all the detail parts are huddled around the edge of just one frame. It's quite a good idea. There are some tiny, quite well detailed pieces; arranged like this, in this strong little top opening box, they're really very well protected from damage.

 

Instrument panel and a wheel:

 

 

These are actually extremely tiny. I take back what I originally said about the wheels. I think they are quite usable  

 

In my next post, things will get cut off and glue spilt in a controlled manner.

 

I hope some people are still there and that my forthcoming experiments in 'AK Xtreme Metal' and vac-form canopy fettling may provide some entertainment.

Bye for now  

 

PS: @AdrianMF is there any chance of re-linking the photograph of the model stand made using coat hanger wire; I liked it 

T

[Christer A]

Great to see this little one back on the bench again!

One is really mesmerized by the small size of it!

Do you need the decals placement scheme too?

[AdrianMF]

Hi Tony. Sorry to hear you are still in the wars but good to know you're modelling again!

 

I will repost the picture in a couple of days when I get to my computer and some decent internet but in the meantime my SR 53 build uses pretty much the same design.

 

I bend the wire round a jam jar to get a nice smooth curve, and with the SR53 I PVA glued paper wrapping around the end of the wire so it fitted snugly into the jet (or rocket) pipe.

 

I use balsa for my bases because I have a fair amount lying around, and if they feel a bit too light and wobbly I cut a chunk out underneath and glue a couple of wood screws or bolts in for ballast.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[TonyTiger66]

4 hours ago, Christer A said:

Great to see this little one back on the bench again!

One is really mesmerized by the small size of it!

Do you need the decals placement scheme too?

 

Hi Christer thanks for popping in .

I think I can figure it out with the profiles I found and my original KP instructions, but I wouldn't say no to a quick photo of the guide, just to make sure .

 

I made this model once before, in quite a different colour scheme. It will be quite plain this time, but I hope more accurate to the appearance at the time of the actual record attempt.

 

Thanks again Christer

Tack för hjälpen 

TonyT

 

 

[TonyTiger66]

5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I bend the wire round a jam jar to get a nice smooth curve, and with the SR53 I PVA glued paper wrapping around the end of the wire so it fitted snugly into the jet (or rocket) pipe.

 

I use balsa for my bases because I have a fair amount lying around, and if they feel a bit too light and wobbly I cut a chunk out underneath and glue a couple of wood screws or bolts in for ballast.

 

Thanks Adrian that's really helpful .

 

It's the eccentric but important details like 'bend the wire round a jam jar' that matter here.

 

It's a great solution and method. I'm going to try it. The decision I'm trying to make relates to the undercarriage. I quite like the box art. It's not of the record breaker, It's of a standard Czech Air Force jet; it has just taken off and the undercarriage is still down. 

 

I woukd quite like to recreate that...and I have a pilot. I just hope it's not a naff idea; that in reality this 'undercart down, in the air' phase is too minimal to warrant a believable 'in flight' model. I make it around two to three seconds at around 1.00 in this clip:

 

 

Am I allowed the artistic licence of Ablamowicz also giving a wave to the crowd, in these meagre seconds ?

 

Best regards

TonyT

[AdrianMF]

10 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

Am I allowed the artistic licence of Ablamowicz also giving a wave to the crowd, in these meagre seconds ?

I should think so!