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Yak-3 colour schemes


Adamski

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I have a Yak-3 painted in standard late war med grey / dark grey camo and I’ve just been given another Yak-3 kit (zvevda 1/48).  So I want to paint it in a different colour scheme, but I’m unable to find any examples of Yak-3s in anything other than the standard grey camo, I’ve not even been able to find a picture of a Yak-3 in winter camo, did they even over paint the late war camo with winter white?

Any suggestions?  I’ve seen some variations of the grey scheme on post-war Czech/polish/Yugoslav Yaks but I’m looking for something before the end of war.

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24 minutes ago, Adamski said:

I have a Yak-3 painted in standard late war med grey / dark grey camo and I’ve just been given another Yak-3 kit (zvevda 1/48).  So I want to paint it in a different colour scheme, but I’m unable to find any examples of Yak-3s in anything other than the standard grey camo, I’ve not even been able to find a picture of a Yak-3 in winter camo, did they even over paint the late war camo with winter white?

The VVS stopped winter white in winter 42/43 AFAIK.

24 minutes ago, Adamski said:

Any suggestions?  I’ve seen some variations of the grey scheme on post-war Czech/polish/Yugoslav Yaks but I’m looking for something before the end of war.

For a wartime Yak-3 AFAIK,  it's grey all the way.   I'll @John ThompsonTh

 

On this, until I can dig out the Soviet warplanes link... I hate this tablet 

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Even with the standard 'two greys' camo, there are still plenty of nicely decorated Yak-3s to choose from.  Many were painted with patriotic slogans, messages from donators/benefactors and medal/ribbon decorations - lots to choose from in that sense..

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21 minutes ago, Vlad said:

Weren't some prototypes painted overall bright red? That would turn some heads...

the pre Yak-1, I-26 this one

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/yak1/Misos/i26/i26.htm

which was pre-war, the Yak-3 was late war,  the Yak- series does not follow a numerical sequence, 1, 3, 7, 9,  more that the  wartime 1-7-9 are kinda linear, but the -3 is more of an offshoot, with a new smaller wing.   The Yak family are more complex than usually thought.  I certainly only have a passing knowledge of the differences between variants,  and that's without getting into the post war Yak-P/U all metal types.  

 

 

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Easy-peasy - work your way through these pdfs of the instruction sheets for the Begemot Yak-3 decals and take your pick; these are 1/72, but they're also available in The Godforsaken Scale*:

http://www.begemotdecals.ru/showpos.php?lang=2&id=104

http://www.begemotdecals.ru/doc/72-047 Yak-3 p1.pdf

http://www.begemotdecals.ru/doc/72-047 Yak-3 p2.pdf

 

* http://www.begemotdecals.ru/showpos.php?&lang=2&pic=1&id=105

 

John

 

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10 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

... the Yak- series does not follow a numerical sequence, 1, 3, 7, 9,  more that the  wartime 1-7-9 are kinda linear, but the -3 is more of an offshoot, with a new smaller wing.   The Yak family are more complex than usually thought. 

 

Actually the Yak single-seaters followed the numerical sequence, as there were Yak-3 (I-30) and Yak-5 (I-28) prototypes designed and built between the 1940 Yak-1 (I-26) and 1941 Yak-7 (UTI-26). However, since the aforementioned -3 and -5 never entered VVS service, the AviaProm NarKomat re-allocated the Yak-3 designation to the new 1944 variant with smaller wings, rather than naming it Yak-13. And why not -11? Because this designation was already assigned (very briefly) to the VK-107-engined all-metal Yak-9 project. Only when it was put into service in 1946 as the Yak-9P, the "released" designation Yak-11 was passed (contrary to the general principle of assigning odd numbers only to single-seat fighters) to the radial-engined trainer variant of Yak-3 (1944).

Cheers

Michael

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5 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

The Yak-9U was wartime.  However the 1-7-9 do form a continuous development line whereas the origin Yak-3 had a significantly different wing..

 

Yes, Graham, but I never claimed the Yak-9U was postwar. The Yak-11 designation was assigned briefly to the all-metal version with the VK-107 engine, which entered production in 1946 as the Yak-9P.

And the different design of the Yak-3 (I-30) wing, with a flat centre part and dihedralled outer parts, did not in any way prevent it from giving it another (after Yak-1) odd number in the 1-3-5-7-9-11 sequence :)

Cheers

Michael

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You didn't: Troy did.

 

Why should the original Yak-3 not have received its designation in chronological sequence?  After all, the MiG-5 had no connection to the 1-3-7-9-11 development line.  The later Yak-3 is an oddball because it remains the (only?) re-allocation of an earlier number after the adoption into service of later ones.  The later adopted MiG-9 did not go back to the -5 but continued after the line of adopted numbers.  It is perhaps interesting to note that the MiG-7 appears to be in a slightly anomalous position in that it was not taken up for mass production but did serve in very small numbers.  But this has drifted away from the original theme.

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Thanks for all your replies and links to my original question.  Looks like for wartime colour scheme, as I suspected, its 2 tone grey or possibly single grey only.  Variation will have to come from the wide variety of markings and there is a plenty of choice on the Begemot decals.

This is my first post on this forum and I'm amazed at all the enthusiastic and informative responses. Cheers all and happy modelling!

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On 15/05/2021 at 14:53, Adamski said:

Thanks for all your replies and links to my original question.  Looks like for wartime colour scheme, as I suspected, its 2 tone grey or possibly single grey only.  Variation will have to come from the wide variety of markings and there is a plenty of choice on the Begemot decals.

This is my first post on this forum and I'm amazed at all the enthusiastic and informative responses. Cheers all and happy modelling!

Is that okay?
IMG-4350.jpgIMG-4410.jpg

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