John Thompson

Yeaaahh - I think I like the old one better. The new one is a nicer shade of grey, though. Ha ha - just kidding - it looks very nice. I'm tempted to buy one. I have to say that it's a credit to ICM when they will retool an almost-new kit in order to correct a couple of very minor details that very few people would even notice. They did something similar 10 or so years ago when they retooled their I-15bis, so props to you guys! John

You've built more than 100 Sword Spitfires?! That's heroic! You have my fullest admiration - how did you find the time? I can hardly manage one! This is a great thread with lots of good information even if it's not about anything Yakovlev-designed. In spite of some minor criticisms, the new kit looks like it will be very good - I can see myself buying a couple of them. Maybe Airfix will consider a 1/72 Mk XIV next? John

Hmmm - well, that's pretty nice - thank you for mentioning me! The box art is beautiful, good enough to frame and hang on the wall. What about the redone La-5FN (La-5FN version 2.0, as I've called it before)? When do you expect to do test shots of the La-5 and La-5F? Thanks again; John

Now showing as "Soon" on the Clear Prop e-shop: https://clearpropmodels.com/catalog John

I might not always be right (but thank you anyway!), but I'm always enthusiastic! John

Yeah, I had the same thought - there was never a Yak-9A, the initial version was simply designated Yak-9 (no suffix), right? John

Hi Jan! Do you have any plan to reissue your Yak-1B in the late war AMT-11/-12/-7 colour scheme? Thank you in advance for your reply! Cheers; John

Good to see, although I was hoping for a new boxing of the Yak-1B in the AMT-11/-12/-7 "two greys" camouflage. (No, not these two "greys", Scully...) John

Same thing on the Zvezda 1/72 Yak-3 - oddly, the seam is very near to a panel line, so I don't understand why they didn't design the joint between the wing root and the fuselage to fall on that panel line instead of creating a situation where you need to fill the seam without damaging the panel line, if you get my drift. John

I'm sorry, but did you mean 45 degrees for the Yak-50, MiG-17 & La-176? John

That's interesting - while I actually have the Zvezda Fw 190, I haven't built it, but I have done 2 or 3 of the Zvezda 1/72 Yak-3 in the same "easy assembly" series. What I noticed with them is that the canopies are not made of typical brittle, plasticizer-free, clear styrene, but rather something more like acetate in terms of flexibility, and yet, unlike acetate, the material Zvezda used can be glued with the same adhesives or solvents you'd use for styrene. I discovered just how flexible this plastic is by accidentally stepping on one of the canopies - it flattened out quite nicely, but didn't crack. I did, but the canopy remained intact, just not usable. I'd post a photo, but I still haven't repaired or replaced my camera. Anyway, my conclusion is that this plastic compound, whatever it is, was chosen for these kits so that the canopies would be less likely than styrene to be damaged by the careless handling of a novice builder. Just not the careless stepping-on by a supposedly experienced builder. John

You hope? That suggests late March, even early April! C'mon, Dmitry - you're killin' me!!! John

"Let it go, let it go..."

Looking closely at the sprue shots in post #10 in this thread, it appears that you may be disappointed on at least a couple of those items. It seems that there are three sprues which make up the two kits. One is apparently shared parts, the other two are fuselage sprues specific to the La-9 or the La-11. Therefore, if I'm right (it happens occasionally, against large odds): Seat - shared between the two kits, therefore no armrests Tyres - shared, so no separate set for the La-11 Tailwheel - appears to be separate on one of the dedicated sprues (La-11) and present on the shared sprue (for the La-9), so apparently this detail was included correctly Wing and tail antifreeze system - was this expandable rubber leading edges? If so, it's missing, since the wings are shared between the two kits, unless there's a fourth sprue which hasn't been shown, having the booted wings for the La-11 Urinal - no sign of it anywhere - how could Ark be so careless??? A Fatal Flaw rears its ugly head, making the kit unbuildable. Some might call this a piddling error, but this lack of attention to detail just p's me off. To get relief, you'll either have to scratch-build one or pressure the aftermarket companies for it - get on it, Eduard! (In Britain, ironically, I believe this type of comment is called "Taking the p*ss".) Well, unless we go to Nuremberg to look, we'll just have to wait until May to hold the kit in our own hands! John

ModelsUA in Ukraine is one source I've used happily: https://modelsua.com/ Click on "Brands" at the top of the home page. John