Valleyforge Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) Made a start on another little aircraft today. This time thought I would have a go at a Soviet aircraft. This time Iam having a go at the 1/72 scale Yakovlev Yak 3. Thought it looked like a neat little build and something Ive never done before. The colours wont be spot on as Iam trying to use some other paints up; while Iam practicing. However, Iam not going to go stupid and do some wild colours. So here we go. Started off with the usual way with the Vallejo black primer. and I am using a little Humbrol enamel 89 thinned down with some white spirit. Just building it up in fine layers. Seems a little darker than it should be but I am more concerned about the technique rather the colour at the moment. This is after a few coats of the matt 89. Dont think its looking to bad. Seems to settle really well on the plastic with the white spirit 50/50 mix. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Yes it does look quite SPLENDID. Do you find it easier to paint parts while still attached to the sprues? You have a great start ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 1 hour ago, HOUSTON said: Yes it does look quite SPLENDID. Do you find it easier to paint parts while still attached to the sprues? You have a great start ! Hello Houston, Its a great way to blast the kit with black primer. However, Iam beginning to find that really only the small parts need to stay sprue as they are fiddly and easily lost. Iam beginning to realize my pattern is changing in the way I build kits. Now Iam painting the cockpit, and what ever goes into it. Do the propeller assembly. Putting all these small items together; in the fuselage. Glue all the bigger parts on, like wings, horizontal stabilizers etc. Paint it all up, gloss varnish, decals, weather, matt varnish and then finish off by putting the small twiggly bits on. Then last of all the canopy glass. That sucker stays in a plastic bag until its needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 9, 2022 Author Share Posted January 9, 2022 (edited) A few coats of Humbrol 89 thinned white spirit and the underneath of the wings are beginning to look the business. and the underneath of the fuselage. All of the inside of the cockpit is complete and ready to get some paint. Looks like I might need to fill that line in a little Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 (edited) Made a little progress on the Yak as well. A little bit more work with the airbrush and a test fit of the wings. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 (edited) Further work on the Yak today. The dials might not be the correct colour or position, it was more to see how steady my hand was and do a little detail work. One of my daughter in laws got me some new brushes for Christmas, and so Ive been itching to try them out. So painted up the seat and the rest of the cockpit and painted some dials on the instrument panel. Sprayed up the interior of the cockpit and slid the seating assembly into place. Nice snug fit. Well happy. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 (edited) Two large areas needed filling on the Yak. However, the AK putty soon made short work of them. A bit over zealous with the filler. However, I think with a little more practice we will start to get the hand of the correct amount to apply; so less filling afterwards. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) A little sanding and the gaps have gone. However, I think there is a little more filling to do and then sand smooth. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 (edited) So I think we are ready to give the Yak a full coat of blue on the underneath. (Humbrol 68 thinned with white spirit. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 (edited) Well I dont think that as turned out to bad. Time to move on to the brown tomorrow. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 Alarm bells ringing - what brown? These Yaks were in two shades of grey. It was long thought that the Russians painted everything green and brown on the uppersurfaces - actually they painted nothing like that. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Graham Boak said: Russians painted everything green and brown Hi Graham. To be honest I am really going off whats on the box and on the instructions. Light Blue underneath and brown and green on top. Like a lot of things I am finding the colour schemes to be conflicting; all the time. Only the other week I was doing an F4F and that was done in blue; when it should have been grey. Ill have a look into this a bit more as I really have not done to much research on these aircraft. Thanks for the heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 Here is the actual model that Iam making. Blimey if thats not green and brown then I must be colour blind . What is it with these kits that they can make such blinding mistakes and get away with it. I know I am starting at the lower end of things but really. Not surprised that these arent around anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 Whow, now this is just confusing. Green and grey. All the decals are more or less identical to whats on the kit, even the red, white and blue on the tip of the propeller OK, now Ive even spotted the underbelly is a grey or light duck something; instead of the light blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 20, 2022 Author Share Posted January 20, 2022 Really 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Graham Boak said: These Yaks were in two shades of grey. OK Graham, think Ill take a little more time to look into this aircraft before I commit to anymore work on it. The more I keep looking in to this Iam thinking Ill have a proper crack at doing some decals for this aircraft as well. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 Looks like some discussion has take place on the correct colours before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/Modeling/Yakovlev/Yak-3/Decals/Aeromaster_48642/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) This now moribund site is not exactly the best for VVS colours. The best English-language site is this: index (massimotessitori.altervista.org). Graham is correct about the green/brown 'scheme' for Soviet-painted aircraft; that has been discounted and discarded by nearly all Soviet Great Patriotic War aviation researchers and historians (including yours truly, who has had five books published on Soviet WWII aircraft). Best Regards, Jason Edited January 21, 2022 by Learstang Additional comments added. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 When I made that kit, I painted it green and brown too. However it was Cold War days, if just before the time that better information was trickling out. It was also before the time that the Yakovlev factory produced a limited number of these aircraft, which have been flying in warbird circles ever since, in a wide range of colours. Both the examples above are recent (comparatively) photos - the one above is surely a warbird and the lower one might be. Just better. One of the French Normandie Niemen aircraft is is the Paris Museum, and original colour photos from the unit's return to France show the greys. (The lower picture may be this aircraft since restoration.) I'm afraid you will find many more examples where descriptions/guesses at the history, colour schemes and markings were made in post-war aircraft and modelling magazines, and then adopted as gospel to be repeated down to this day. On a low day I sometimes think there is more myth than truth around. You'll need to develop a sense of which sources are backed up by evidence and most likely to be correct, and which were dashed off by a journalist needing to make copy for a deadline - or some long-ago propagandist, or a well-meaning veteran with poor colour memory, or remembering a tale told in a bar room. There is a lot of good information around, but it may be expensive and time consuming finding out which is which. Alternatively, there is the school of modelling which argues that you are free to paint a model however you like, and two fingers to history. Most modellers fall somewhere between the two extremes. For Yaks and other WW2 Russian types, Massimo's site is the place to visit and rely upon. Or you could just make it from the box art as representative not of the original, but of the thinking in the 1970s and 80s. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) 7 hours ago, Learstang said: The best English-language site is this: index (massimotessitori.altervista.org) Hi Learstang, thanks for the very informative reply. My knowledge on Russian aircraft is pretty limited; as you can see. However, I am always open to a little brain bashing and feeding it a little information on the subject in hand. I shall take some time to look into web page and try to understand a little more about what Iam doing. This site as explained a few things of which I was confused about; especially all the French pilots names and the red, white and blue on the propeller, for starters. Thanks for your time and pointing in the right direction. Kind regards Keith. Edited January 21, 2022 by Valleyforge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 53 minutes ago, Graham Boak said: When I made that kit, I painted it green and brown too. However it was Cold War days, if just before the time that better information was trickling out. Yes, younger readers may find it hard to believe how little we knew in those days. Even designations were closely guarded. I recall in the early days of glasnost' one of the first Western visitors to a Soviet airfield asking his hosts what a certain aircraft was. The stony-faced response was, "That is the aircraft you in the West call BISON". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 I'm old enough to remember when the Tu-95 was still referred to as the 'Tu-20'. I still occasionally find myself thinking of the Bear as the 'Tu-20'. Best Regards, Jason 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valleyforge Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) The wing as not lined up to well; on one side. Think Ill have to remove a little plastic so as to make them look at least a little level. Not much raised detail to go at. Again not to much detail when it comes to the panel lines. Edited February 15, 2022 by Valleyforge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) The wings shouldn't have any lines, other than for the fuel caps. The wings on the Yak-3 were wooden-covered, with the wood then covered with putty and fabric (it was the same with the fixed horizontal tail planes - the stabilisers). This was then sanded down for a very smooth panel-less finish. Those long straight panel lines on the Heller kit are a fiction. I would look at Massimo's site to see which of the lines, if any, you should keep. Obviously, the lines for the ailerons and flaps should stay. Regards, Jason Edited January 22, 2022 by Learstang Additional comments added. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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