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Yakovlev Yak-1b 1st Fighter Regiment "City of Warsaw"


Basilisk

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Some nice topics already in this GB, but sadly nothing Russian yet :(

 

The new Arma Hobby Yak-1 fits the bill nicely as one scheme in the kit is from "Operation Berlin" 1945. I am talking about the Yakovlev Yak-1b from the 2nd Squadron, 1st Fighter Regiment "City of Warsaw" apparently flown by Sgt Patryk O'Brien!

 

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Looks like a very nice kit with some very delicate castings. So will be interesting to see how it builds.

 

There is a bit of confusing information on white 13 which was donated by Professor Wolf Messinga which is the reason for the inscription under the canopy.spacer.png

The markings for this aircraft in the Arma Hobby kit are identical to the profile above. But in Polish Wings 20 on the Yak fighters, the date for this aircraft is given as May 1944 and not 1945 and the red stars are of a different style.

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But then I came across this picture of white 13 on the web.

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Compared to the pictures published in Polish Wings, the above picture shows the complete aircraft and also shows the same red stars as in the Polish Wings profile.

 

Of interest is that Polish Wings has a picture published of white 12 and the setting, background and light conditions are identical to above picture and that picture is dated autumn 1945, so I assume above picture was taken also during autumn 1945!

 

So it looks white 13 had a relative long life and I intend to show the aircraft as seen on the picture above - that is if I manage to finish it.

Cheers, Peter

Edited by Basilisk
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Welcome to the GB Peter and thanks for bringing in a bit of balance from the Eastern Front.

 

I want to get one of these Yak's, I'm impressed by Arma's Hurricanes and also have the Wildcat on order, so I'll be interested in seeing how this goes together.

 

Good luck with the build.

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On 5/9/2020 at 12:12 AM, Wez said:

Welcome to the GB Peter and thanks for bringing in a bit of balance from the Eastern Front.

 

I want to get one of these Yak's, I'm impressed by Arma's Hurricanes and also have the Wildcat on order, so I'll be interested in seeing how this goes together.

 

Good luck with the build.

Thanks Wez. Yes the Arma Hurricane is a nice kit (I currently building one) but some of the smaller parts, specially in the cockpit are a bit over scale. The Yak on the other hand is a 100% improvement in that regard.

 

On 5/9/2020 at 11:23 AM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

    Im gaining more interest in VVS types and am planning on a number of builds. Probably for next year but maybe later this year. Mind if I take notes ? 

Of course not, that is what this is all about.

 

I had a look at the kit in more detail and I am impressed in the casting quality which is as good as the Tamiya Bf 109G I am also currently building. Unfortunately I also noticed some issue, but fortunately nothing major.

 

First, there is a lengthy discussion on Britmodeller regarding the wingtip shape compared to the Brengun Yak-1b kit. As I have both kits I took some pictures to make some comparison. Keep in mind that the Brengun kit is a typical short run kit and therefore not as crisply molded as the Arma kit. Also, the Bregnun kit represents an early Yak-1b whereby the Arma kit represents a mid or late production Yak-1b.

 

So here are the two wings. Top Arma and bottom Brengun

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And when placing them on top of each other, it looks like that.

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The Brengun wingtip is more rounded than the Arma kit.

 

Now the Arma kit matches a published drawing in the Kagero book on the Yak-1 perfectly and the Brengun kit matches the drawing on the Russian book on the Yak-1 published by Eksmo in 2009 perfectly! I myself don't like to use drawings for comparison and prefer pictures instead.

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Looks like reality is somewhere in between the two :winkgrin:

 

The fuselages of the two kits are a perfect match in outline.

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Note the missing plates above and below the exhaust opening on the Brengun kit which is correct for early Yak-1bs. To me I prefer the Arma representation of the fabric covered rear fuselage as the Brengun kit looks a bit overdone.

 

And there is some cockpit detail on the interior on both kits.

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Here the short run nature of the Brengun kit is obvious. Also note that both kits have the oxygen regulator fitted to the starboard side of the fuselage which is correct for early to mid Yak-1b production.

 

And here a comparison to some of the smaller parts. Brengun top and Arma bottom.

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The side consoles are some delicate moulding in the Arma kit and the Arma wheels look as good as resin after market wheels! The Brengun Instrument panel represents an early type whereby the Arma IP is the late type version with the oxygen regulator fitted to the IP. But this means that if you build a mid production Yak-1 you have to remove it from the IP and if you build a late production aircraft you have to remove it from the fuselage side!

 

The instructions make the impression that the oxygen regulator is a separate part which isn't the case.

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The Expert Set contains the two wheels fitted to the cockpit as PE parts, but they aren't located on the side console as shown in the instructions as the cockpit picture below shows. The flair cartridge holder is only on late production aircraft on the port side, but on the starboard side on early and mid production Yak-1bs.

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Also to note are the two control sticks used in Yak-1s.

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Brengun provides the earlier type, but Arma has only the R-1 stick. Would have been nice to have both in the kit to make a mid production aircraft.

 

But the largest discrepancy between the two kits is with the horizontal stabilizers.

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The Arma version is 1.5mm longer each which is a difference in span of 3mm! And I have no idea which is correct as both math the earlier mentioned drawings...

 

In the previously mention Britmodeller post someone mentioned:

Where BrenGun beats Arma hands down is the replication of the fabric surfaces. Everywhere.

 

Now I don't get that. Brenguns fabric surface on Ailerons and other control surfaces is slightly indented as can be seen on many other kits. But this is NOT how a fabric covered control surface looks like!

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Right the Yak-3 at Le Bourget and left from a Spitfire as this picture shows nicely how it looks - no indents at all - and Arma got it right in my opinion.

 

This became a bit longer than anticipated but may be helpful for some. I am sure both kits build into nice models of the Yak-1b but I think the Arma kit gets you to the finishing line with less effort - and I need this as I never manage to finish a model within the time frame of a GB :(

 

After I managed to locate my references on the Yak-1 to research the above information, I found out that the picture in my first post of white 13 is a FAKE !!!

 

As mentioned, there is a picture of white 12 published in Polish Wings 20.

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And by adding parts of the two pictures above (both also published in Polish Wings 20) with white 12 and some work in Photoshop - voila...

White 13!

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Looks very convincing and it fooled me! So I am building now white 12 instead.

 

Cheers, Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally I managed to get some glue to plastic - actually mainly CA that is.

 

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Some of the PE parts don't really add much extra and only the trim wheels are a nice plus - id glued to the correct location and NOT as shown in the instructions. I also added finer fences on the oil cooler exit as the kit representation is very thick.

 

The PE parts for the engine cooling radiators are a bit odd as the representation has the openings widely spaced!

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I found a generic sheet which is much more to scale.

 

And why have the mesh at the rear at all as the kit part has the radiator flaps in the closed position so you can't see it:(

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So I reworked the kit part to have the flap in the open position.

 

And got a coat of primer onto the internal parts.

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Paint is next.

Cheers, Peter

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I haven't forgotten about this build and finally finished the cockpit.

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The harness will be glued down properly after the fuselage is glued together.

 

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Rather impressive tooling considering the scale and all is as provided in the kit.

Cheers, Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the comments. I did a bit more work on the Yak. The fit was maybe not as on Tamiya kit, but wasn't too bad either.

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The only filler needed was to eliminate some sink marks.

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But I had an issue I never experienced before. I used some Tamiya masking tape to hold the wings together when gluing the two half together. And when I removed the tape the following day, a thin layer of plastic from the upper wing came off with the tape which is the reason for the large patch of filler.

 

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I opened up the underwing radiator and replaced the side fences on the chin oil cooler.

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Primer and paint next :thumbsup:

Cheers, Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit more progress. First I added a thin layer of black Mr Surfacer 1500 and corrected some visible imperfections.

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The black coat also helps in applying the grey Mr Surfacer 1000 with grey plastic.

 

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And the small parts primed as well.

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Paint next.

Cheers, Peter

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  • 1 month later...
On 02/07/2020 at 10:23, Basilisk said:

I haven't forgotten about this build and finally finished the cockpit.

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The harness will be glued down properly after the fuselage is glued together.

 

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Rather impressive tooling considering the scale and all is as provided in the kit.

Cheers, Peter

Superb work, Peter, the cockpit looks amazing!

I have a couple of Arms Hurricanes in my stash, just about started, and think they're excellent kits. The Yak looks even better, and I can definitely see a couple being ordered soon.....

Looking forward to seeing the next instalment!

Kind regards,

Mark

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  • 2 years later...

  Hi Peter!

 

  I started my Yak in April,11 but I'm still in the detail research phase to confirm some things. I really like the color you used inside yours, could you tell me what it was?
 
   I noticed the problem with the ventral radiator outlet but I'm not excited about opening it... but I'll still think about it.

 

   Another thing that didn't seem right in the Hobby Weapon kit is the representation of the crosshairs, but I'll check that later on as well.

 

   What really bothered me was that they didn't make any mention of the fuel gauges which are very apparent on top of the wings! They don't even provide dial decals to be placed in this region! I'm thinking of solving it by painting and then applying a generous layer of glossy varnish to simulate the glass, masking it with tape and following the assembly/painting until the end.

 

   Have a nice week and Happy Assembly!
   Claudio

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