John Thompson

Beat me to it! Personally I think the Yak-1b (Yak-1M in Polish service) would be an excellent choice. Just Google Yak-1b Poland and check the images for a few examples of these aircraft flown by Polish pilots, either with the VVS or the Polish AF postwar. A good-looking aircraft with no representation in 1/72 scale except for the old and crude ZTS Mikro 72 kit. John

Meh - I've got you all beat. I once tried to convert the Merlin Models Spitfire Mk XII into a Seafire Mk XV, with predictably horrid results... John

This is good news - any possibility of a new VVS GPW fighter aircraft is good news. I just hope it happens. I'm strongly tempted to list all the other aircraft in that category that I would have preferred, but I'll bite my tongue and be grateful for what Zvezda are promising (if it is in fact a promise!). John

What, no wings or tailplanes?! I hope they're not asking a whole lot of money for it! John

Well, I wouldn't say no to that idea, although the only subject I consider myself to be an expert on is rhubarb pie. Sure, Dan - if this idea is agreeable to you, please PM me on this board and I'll give you my mailing address, if you haven't already got it. John

Hello Dan - thanks for the update. Any guess as to a release/shipping date for the finished product? John

This page may be of interest: http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/index.html (Link to forum at the top of the page) Personally I'd use A-14 (Steel Grey) for the cockpit. US Neutral Gray is pretty close. John

Very interesting! I'm looking forward very eagerly to the R-6 and R-10, and maybe the MiG-9! You might keep the Yak-1b in the back of your mind for future consideration, too... John

Is this the set of drawings you're talking about?: http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/yak9-1.html If so, they were included as a loose insertion (in other words, not bound into the book) with "Yak-9 - Soldier of the Sky", by Dmitry Leipnik. It's long out of print, but you might find a copy on ebay or Amazon (make sure the drawings aren't missing!). This book might be worth tracking down for its detail photos and sketches, but there are several on-line walkarounds that could be just as helpful: http://walkarounds.scalemodels.ru/v/walkarounds/avia/before_1950/yak-9_mos/ http://walkarounds.scalemodels.ru/v/walkarounds/avia/before_1950/yak-9_zador/ https://www.scalenews.de/jak-9-walkaround-83/ The aircraft in these galleries seems to be the only surviving one available for public viewing, and is a Yak-9 (no suffix), not a Yak-9D, but except for the shape of the oil cooler air outlet, the two are mostly the same - check the drawings posted on Airwar.ru for differences if you have concerns. More available, more recent, and considered by some who are in a better position than me to judge, more accurate, are the drawings by Viktor Bogatov which accompanied a series of four detailed articles regarding the VK-105-powered versions of the Yak-9, published in the Russian-language MHobby magazine in 2015. These were: June 2015 - issue 168 - Yak-9 (first version, no suffix) July 2015 - issue 169 - Yak-9D August 2015 - issue 170 - Yak-9T September 2015 - issue 171 - Yak-9M The MHobby drawings are in 1/48 scale, so you'll have to scan and resize them to 1/72. Sooooo, what kit are you building? John

Good to see some progress! It's hard to tell a lot from one angular view, but the windscreen's centre panel is much too narrow; also, you might want to double-check the shape of the wingtips. John

If Revell doesn't provide parts to convert the Zvezda Yak-3 into a Yak-3M, anyone keen on modelling the warbird in the walkaround could try this: (1) Replace the kit's prop and spinner with parts from an Allison-powered P-51. (2) For the upper cowling, take the kit part, remove the machine gun bulges and troughs, and add the intake scoop, or else adapt a cowling part from the Amodel Yak-3/VK-107A (the Amodel kit has two of them), just because it already has a scoop in about the right place. (3) One might want to go further and replace the kit exhausts with ones having evenly-spaced round stacks, like a late Griffon Spitfire; I'm sure REXx has something in their product line, but 6-stack exhausts aren't rare if you have a good spares box. (4) Apparently the main landing gear doors are different from what's in the kit, in that there's a sort of large squarish bulge at the wheel location, quite visible in the walkaround photo you posted - a bit of styrene sheet will do for this, I think. (5) The aircraft in the walkaround bears markings in tribute to VVS pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union Anatoliy Rubakhin. If the kit doesn't include decals for this particular warbird, markings for the 1945 original are included on Begemot sheet No.72-047, "Yakovlev Yak-3 family". Hmmm - I'm starting to get interested - I might just try it myself... John

Per Scalemates: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/1147601-revell-03894-yakovlev-yak-3# And Hannants: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/RV3894 This was highlighted elsewhere by Graham Boak and "Walrus"; I thought I'd add it here, since no one else mentioned it. Apparently Revell will rebox the Zvezda 1/72 Yak-3 as a "Yak-3M" (1990's-build Yak-3 warbird with Allison V-1710 engine). It remains to be seen whether Revell will merely do a decal-sheet-only conversion, or whether they'll add parts (upper cowling, prop, spinner) to allow a more accurate depiction of the Yak-3M. John

Another thumbs-up here for Modelimex - I've always had great service from Mr Kovar and his team! John

That's really excellent, Kari! Thank you for taking the time to give Dan and his team the benefit of your expertise; I assume they can follow up with you if they require any explanation. It's good to see some of the "heavy hitters" like you and Sergey offering support for this project. John

I ran into the same unexpected thing on a recent order with a Polish online shop, so it's not just the Czech Republic - governments everywhere are greedy for your money in order to keep their Swiss bank accounts - er, I mean, their countries' social benefits programs funded... John