Yak-1b - Zvezda 1/48

[Kitchen Modeller]

Hi all - been a while since I posted here so I've got a couple of new builds - First is the Zvezda rebox of the Accurate miniatures tooled Yak-1b. The kit isn't too bad considering the cost - and has some nicely engineered components - especially like the one piece upper fuselage which negates the need to deal with the top fuselage seam. It does have fit issues however - on the wing roots and the landing gear assembly was a nightmare. Or at least I found it to be a nightmare - I'd probably do a better job next time but I found it impossible to align the structs correctly this time round. The Zvezda decal set wasn't great - the print was out of register and the colours seemed to be quite off. I'd recommend getting after market decals if you do this kit or check the decal sheet before you buy.

 

I added some Eduard photo etch landing flaps and cockpit detail - both of which were quite good. It was painted with Mr Color lacquers with oils for the weathering effects. 

 

Overall, I'm happy enough with the result - I'm not too happy about the wing root chipping which didn't really 'come off' in my opinion.  I probably would have gone with a different scheme given the choice now - I found the red nose difficult to do. I really like the Yak and there are plenty of great schemes available for it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking

 

John 

 

[Jeff G]

A war weary Yak and a good one at that. Would you recommend building this kit, after the troubles you had?

[opus999]

Wow KM, great Yak!  The weathering and wear are so realistic!  I really like the paint scheme too.  The eagle on the side is pretty neat looking.  Great job.

[Kitchen Modeller]

32 minutes ago, Jeff G said:

A war weary Yak and a good one at that. Would you recommend building this kit, after the troubles you had?

Thanks Jeff - if you're keen to do a Yak1 in 1/48 it's probably your best bet - it's not terrible but I'd look at getting some aftermarket decals and some resin wheels if you can find them - otherwise go for it

 

13 minutes ago, opus999 said:

Wow KM, great Yak!  The weathering and wear are so realistic!  I really like the paint scheme too.  The eagle on the side is pretty neat looking.  Great job.

Thanks Opus

[28ZComeback]

Wow just wow. This is truly impressive!  I love the look of the bare metal canopy frame plus the green camouflage sticks out. Love the flaps. You done Bill Bosworth proud! 

Edited October 11, 2021 by 28ZComeback

[Pete in a shed]

Really impressive Yak John. a great portrayal of a proper workhorse of an aeroplane.  Ive never used oils for weathering, how do you apply them? and do they have to be thinned with turps. I use enamals so would there be more chance of an adverse reaction? Apologies for the inquisition, the result you've achieved has me intrigued.

Pete

[Remus389]

I like the realistic look of your model. Good job

[KeithA]

That's a real beauty - lovely finish on her.

[GiampieroSilvestri]

Beautiful Yak-1b!

 

Saluti

 

Giampiero

[Bigglesof266]

Important VVS aircraft of the period, so I'm glad Zvezda reboxed the Accurate Miniatures kit. Have it, fingered over but haven't built mine yet. Thanks for the build report, and I have to say the finished result does look great as things always do to the outside observer who hasn't gone through the "Arrrgh!"moments with fit etc. 

[Spitfire31]

She looks very convinving and authentic to me.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[Holzhamer]

A very inspiring model, beautiful work overall

[Andrés S.]

Impressive !!!

 

Every time I like your jobs more.

 

Andrés S.

[Murewa]

Wing root chipping looks pretty good to me, appears to be well worn and stepped over with muddy flight boots. Awesome build ... gonna have to add that to the build list. 👍👍👏👏

[Kitchen Modeller]

15 hours ago, Pete in a shed said:

Really impressive Yak John. a great portrayal of a proper workhorse of an aeroplane.  Ive never used oils for weathering, how do you apply them? and do they have to be thinned with turps. I use enamals so would there be more chance of an adverse reaction? Apologies for the inquisition, the result you've achieved has me intrigued.

Pete

Thanks Pete - working with oils is a huge topic but I'd readily recommend giving them a go - there are truly limitless applications with them. In terms of how you use them, you can thin them with odorless thinner which is a type of turpentine that is much more gentle. I use odorless enamel thinner from Ammo for mig but there's lots out there - and you can buy it in art supply shops. But there are lots of ways to use them without thinners - straight from the tube. I also use them to make washes. I learned most of the techniques from watching youtube videos - if you type "oil paint rendering" into youtube, you'll get heaps of very good tutorial videos which should help you on your way. Things to watch out for are the surface you're putting the paint on - makes a huge difference to the effect you get. I put washes onto gloss clear coats, and do modulation and effects on semi gloss and matt coats. The brushes you use are very important too - you'll need a good blending brush. The main thing is practice - I was using oils for about 2 years before I starting getting good with them (though washes are pretty fool proof) As long as your work is protected with clear coats, you shouldn't get any adverse effects and the best thing is, if you're not happy with what you've done, you can easily wipe it all off and start again. 

7 hours ago, Andrés S. said:

Impressive !!!

 

Every time I like your jobs more.

 

Andrés S.

Thanks Andre - huge fan of your work too

 

Thanks for all the kind comments guys 

[Sky Keg]

John…….this is an excellent representation of the stress and difficulties of combat on the Eastern Front.  Your museum has another masterpiece gracing it.  

 

Mike

[BerndM]

Impressive work with a great paint job.

Looks that these kits have no more this crack running along the sliding hood.

[Vulcanicity]

Wow, a real tour de force of weathering! Just looks like it's been used for mission after mission from a muddy Eastern Front airfield...

[Fuad]

Your application skills are excellent. But, for information, I want to note that this board belonged to the squadron commander, Captain Pavel Chuvilev. The board was clean and well maintained. The technician who was responsible for the technical condition of the aircraft simply could not bring it to such a state. He could have been punished very strongly for this.
In addition, in general, Soviet aircraft had a very short life cycle in time. So, the engine running time was limited to only 50 hours!!! The planes simply did not have time to grow old due to huge losses. Therefore, my advice to you - do not try especially to age Soviet aircraft. Unfortunately, they simply did not have time to grow old.😢

http://ava.org.ru/iap/151g/yak1b_5_r.jpg

http://ava.org.ru/iap/151g/yak1b_5.jpg

Edited October 13, 2021 by Fuad

[Kitchen Modeller]

9 hours ago, Fuad said:

Your application skills are excellent. But, for information, I want to note that this board belonged to the squadron commander, Captain Pavel Chuvilev. The board was clean and well maintained. The technician who was responsible for the technical condition of the aircraft simply could not bring it to such a state. He could have been punished very strongly for this.
In addition, in general, Soviet aircraft had a very short life cycle in time. So, the engine running time was limited to only 50 hours!!! The planes simply did not have time to grow old due to huge losses. Therefore, my advice to you - do not try especially to age Soviet aircraft. Unfortunately, they simply did not have time to grow old.😢

http://ava.org.ru/iap/151g/yak1b_5_r.jpg

http://ava.org.ru/iap/151g/yak1b_5.jpg

 

Thanks Fuad for your kind words. Regarding your comments on the technical condition of my model - I agree but also disagree. You didn't mention anything specific on my model that you particularly disagree with so I'll have to make some assumptions. I'm guessing that the wing root chipping is a little egregious to you - this I agree with and as stated in my original post, I wasn't happy with how this turned out. I have a few reference photos of chipping that occurred in this area (see below) but the effect on my model isn't very convincing to my own eye - however this is the danger of hairspray chipping - it's very easy to over do. I probably should have stripped the paint and started again. 

 

I stand by the rest of the weathering however - I wanted to depict a front line machine on a mucky field. Even after one day of multiple sorties over an active war zone,  it's absolutely conceivable that the aircraft would have been covered with dust, stains and dirt. The engines as you say were only rated for 50 hours - and were also extremely inefficient - so oil leaks, fuel leaks and exhaust stains were very common - which is typical of all aircraft from the period. There were periods when up to 10 sorties a day were completed. It makes no sense that a crew would spend time cleaning the aircraft after every mission. Even for the squadron commander. They would have been far more concerned with engine checks, refueling and re-arming. Hypothetically they could have cleaned the aircraft at the end of the day but I didn't want to portray this version of  the airplane. 

 

The images you provided were used as references in this build -  but to me these are obviously propaganda photos.  So it makes sense that they would have made the special effort to clean the aircraft for the occasion. These might have have been taken on the day he was presented with the re-painted version of the aircraft. There is no way to tell. 

 

Here are some of the other references that I used - you can see plenty of examples of very dirty and chipped Yak's; 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A note about how I weather aircraft models - I love making and painting plastic model airplanes - and my favorite part of it is the weathering - I just get the most enjoyment from this part of the process. So invariably, I'll probably "over weather" most of my models. It's my artistic choice to do this along with colour choices and what kit I choose to build. Building a model airplane and not covering it with dirt and stains is not very appealing to me. This is my own taste - everyone is free to build, paint and weather their models as they see fit. I am not trying to recreate a 100% historical accurate model. For one thing, this is near impossible - you can get close to it but it will never be 100%. I'm in it to have fun - I only have to please myself. 

 

Making a historical accuracy argument about someones model can be tenuous. There are always exceptions to the rule and unless you have indisputable evidence to the contrary, there is always an argument to be made. You are however allowed to criticize the model itself - the paintwork and even the weathering if you feel it could be better or improved. I feel like alot of models cop criticism for being 'over weathered' when really the opinion is 'I don't think your weathering is convincing'. This is a valid argument but can be hard to express without seeming over critical. 

 

I hope you will accept this explanation as to why I made the choices I did on this model - it's not my intention to prove you wrong in any way but rather explain why I did what I did. I'm happy to have a discussion on this as I know alot of folks have strong opinions on this topic - ie weathering on models but I think there is room in the hobby for both camps. 

 

Regards

 

John

[Fuad]

8 hours ago, Kitchen Modeller said:

 

Спасибо Fuad за добрые слова. Что касается ваших комментариев к техническому состоянию моей модели - согласен, но также не согласен. Вы не упомянули в моей модели ничего конкретного, с чем вы особенно не согласны, поэтому мне придется сделать некоторые предположения. Я предполагаю, что выкрашивание корней крыла является для вас немного вопиющим - с этим я согласен и, как указано в моем первоначальном сообщении, меня не устраивало, как это обернулось. У меня есть несколько эталонных фотографий сколов, которые произошли в этой области (см. Ниже), но эффект на моей модели не очень убедителен для моего собственного глаза - однако это опасность сколов лака для волос - это очень легко переборщить. Наверное, надо было снять краску и начать заново. 

 

Однако я поддерживаю остальную часть погодных условий - я хотел изобразить передовую машину на грязном поле. Даже после одного дня нескольких вылетов над активной зоной боевых действий вполне возможно, что самолет был бы покрыт пылью, пятнами и грязью. Двигатели, как вы говорите, были рассчитаны всего на 50 часов - и были также крайне неэффективными - поэтому утечки масла, утечки топлива и пятна выхлопных газов были очень распространенными, что типично для всех самолетов того периода. Были периоды, когда совершалось до 10 боевых вылетов в сутки. Нет смысла тратить время на чистку самолета после каждого полета. Даже для командира эскадрильи. Они были бы гораздо больше озабочены проверкой двигателя, дозаправкой и перевооружением. Гипотетически они могли бы очистить самолет в конце дня, но я этого не сделал. 

 

Предоставленные вами изображения использовались в качестве эталонов в этой сборке, но для меня это явно пропагандистские фотографии. Так что логично, что они приложили особые усилия, чтобы очистить самолет по этому случаю. Они могли быть сделаны в тот день, когда ему подарили перекрашенную версию самолета. Нет возможности сказать. 

 

Вот некоторые из других ссылок, которые я использовал - вы можете увидеть множество примеров очень грязных и потрескавшихся Яков; 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Замечание о том, как я вычерчиваю модели самолетов - я люблю делать и красить пластмассовые модели самолетов - и моя любимая часть - это везеринг - я просто получаю наибольшее удовольствие от этой части процесса. Так что я всегда, вероятно, «перегоню» большинство своих моделей. Это мой художественный выбор, а также выбор цвета и того, какой комплект я выберу для сборки. Мне не очень нравится строить авиамоделизм и не покрывать его грязью и пятнами. Это мой собственный вкус - каждый волен строить, красить и выдерживать свои модели по своему усмотрению. Я не пытаюсь воссоздать 100% историческую модель. Во-первых, это практически невозможно - вы можете приблизиться к этому, но это никогда не будет 100%. Я здесь для того, чтобы повеселиться - мне нужно только доставить себе удовольствие. 

 

Аргумент об исторической достоверности чьей-то модели может оказаться неубедительным. Всегда есть исключения из правил, и, если у вас нет неоспоримых доказательств обратного, всегда есть аргументы, которые нужно привести. Однако вам разрешается критиковать саму модель - лакокрасочное покрытие и даже погодные условия, если вы считаете, что ее можно улучшить или улучшить. Я чувствую, что многие модели копов критикуют за то, что они «пережили чрезмерное выветривание», хотя на самом деле мнение таково: «Я не думаю, что ваше выветривание убедительно». Это веский аргумент, но его трудно выразить, не выглядя излишне критичным. 

 

Я надеюсь, что вы примете это объяснение того, почему я сделал выбор, сделанный на этой модели - я не намерен каким-либо образом доказывать вашу неправоту, а скорее объясню, почему я сделал то, что сделал. Я рад обсудить это, поскольку я знаю, что многие люди имеют твердое мнение по этой теме, например, о погодных условиях на моделях, но я думаю, что в хобби есть место для обоих лагерей. 

 

С Уважением

 

Джон

If you have seen my models, you probably noticed that I'm a big fan of weathering. This is a large part of what we generally call - Historical and Technical Stand Modeling. In the application of weathering, there is also a demonstration of the skills of the modeller. I completely agree with you. My criticism is not a criticism of a person who has the "wrong" hands))). I just wanted to note that it was Soviet aircraft that had a very short life. Especially at the beginning of the war - a maximum of 5 departures. The person who managed to fly was more called the "lucky one". The Soviet Union suffered incredible losses compared to its allies - about 27 million lives (the United States and Great Britain combined, less than 1 million).

[Bertie McBoatface]

I like that model. It may not be 'accurate' as some might say (I wouldn't know) but it looks very good to me. 

[Esvees]

What a great result on an interesting subject. You can almost smell the castor oil and feel chipping paint. It's worth noting too that while a lot of Yaks were shot down after only a few sorties, there were several aces that kept their mounts going for much longer. I could also imagine some examples looking a lot more war-weary than the ones that had their pictures taken. 

[Fuad]

10 minutes ago, Esvees said:

What a great result on an interesting subject. You can almost smell the castor oil and feel chipping paint. It's worth noting too that while a lot of Yaks were shot down after only a few sorties, there were several aces that kept their mounts going for much longer. I could also imagine some examples looking a lot more war-weary than the ones that had their pictures taken. 

The presence of aces and the short life of aircraft are not directly related. For example, the most effective ace of the Luftwaffe - Hans Ulrich Rudel was shot down 37 times! He switched his planes 37 times! Nevertheless, Rudel is considered the most productive pilot in the history of mankind - he had 3,600 flights.