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Anyone built a Yak-28?


TeaWeasel

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Doing a little bit of browsing and came across quite a spectacular-looking aircraft, the Yakovlev 28. I have a thing for those Cold War-era designs that look a little bonkers like the V-Bombers and TSR, and this just fits the ticket even though I've never heard of it until now. 

 

Once I clear up the backlog I think it'll be a decent addition to my hangar but the only 1/48 kit I can find is by Bobcat, a brand I'm also unfamiliar with. Looking at Scalemates they have instructions from a slightly older incarnation and it looks pretty rudimentary, although this review I found seems to back it up a little. I'm a bit hesitant as I bought a KP Su-25 recently and it's proved to be an absolute waste of time and money, hence I'm reluctant to stray from the bigger-name companies.

 

So has anyone had any experience with this kit, or any Bobcat kits in general? Every time I search on this site I get the standard 500-error so can't find much myself.

 

Cheers,

Joe

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5 minutes ago, Creepy Pete said:

 

 

Thanks very much, it's getting bloody annoying not being able to search anything on this site. I did find a thread in another forum where they've said the kit is actually pretty poor on the wing fittings and overall cockpit detail. I've since found a HobbyBoss kit which appears to be better, albeit with it's own minor issues. Is Hobbyboss a decent manufacture in general?

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I built the Bobcat Yak-28P and the PP with the glass nose and they are brilliant.I do not know the Hobbyboss model but I have built many Hobbyboss kits and they are excellent.The Bobcat kit can be built with the short and the long Radar nose.From the pictures I found the Hobbyboss kit only has the long radar nose because it has the complete fuselage molded in one part.

 

Saluti

 

Giampiero

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Hi @TeaWeasel,

 

I have both kits (Bobcat and Hobby Boss) started so I can give you some feedback on them.

In short, you have to decide between accuracy and build-ability.

 

In case you want to build a Yak-28PP, you can’t build an accurate one from the Hobby Boss kit. Reason is that HB provides you the wrong windscreen for this variant (Bobcat provides the correct one). The PP-variant (and the “R”) has a windscreen with a central bar (like the F-102/F-106) but HB gives you a windscreen with a flat front panel that is only applicable to the bomber variants.

 

In addition, the HB kit has the following issues compared to Bobcat:

 

Main canopy:

For whatever reason, HB has molded the main canopy in 2 parts (clear front and metal rear part). So if you want to display the cockpit open you have to deviate from the instructions and glue the 2 parts together in a separate step (instead of gluing the rear part to the fuselage as instructed)

 

Intakes:

In order to provide a good attachment for the central inlet bullet HB simplified the construction to the point that they omitted the whole intake trunking which end far to early on a flat bulkhead. Better hide this mess with an intake cover.

 

Engine pods:

The transition between the upper wing and the engine pod should be a lot smoother and HB omitted the panel line which separates this fairing from the rest of the wing surface.

 

Wing incidence angle:

The incidence angle of the whole wing is too parallel with the longitudinal axis. This throws off the alignment of the engine nacelles and the wing tanks. One could increase and adjust it by modifying the attachment holes of the wings but then you get some gaps as the wings won't fit as good anymore. 

 

Wing/fuselage joint:

Oversimplified as HB omitted the transition fairing between the wing and fuselage completely.

 

Exhaust nozzle:

HB puts the exhaust flush with the back of the engine pod but the nozzle should be recessed back inside the pod by quite a bit.

 

Belly radar fairing:

This fairing should be raised, HB represent it just with some engraved lines. 

 

If you want to build the fighter version, some of these points (wings, exhausts, ...) still apply. 

 

So while the Bobcat kit has the clear edge in accuracy in these points it builds more like a short run kit (you will require some test fitting and you can’t mount the engine pods to the wings without some gaps which need to be filled) and some components are broken down into a lot of parts which make construction unnecessarily complicated (e.g. engine pods).

The HB kit is much simpler and better fitting all around.

 

Hope this helps you in your decision.

 

 

Cheers

Markus

Edited by Shorty84
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On 30/04/2022 at 14:41, Shorty84 said:

Hi @TeaWeasel,

 

I have both kits (Bobcat and Hobby Boss) started so I can give you some feedback on them.

In short, you have to decide between accuracy and build-ability.

 

In case you want to build a Yak-28PP, you can’t build an accurate one from the Hobby Boss kit. Reason is that HB provides you the wrong windscreen for this variant (Bobcat provides the correct one). The PP-variant (and the “R”) has a windscreen with a central bar (like the F-102/F-106) but HB gives you a windscreen with a flat front panel that is only applicable to the bomber variants.

 

In addition, the HB kit has the following issues compared to Bobcat:

 

Main canopy:

For whatever reason, HB has molded the main canopy in 2 parts (clear front and metal rear part). So if you want to display the cockpit open you have to deviate from the instructions and glue the 2 parts together in a separate step (instead of gluing the rear part to the fuselage as instructed)

 

Intakes:

In order to provide a good attachment for the central inlet bullet HB simplified the construction to the point that they omitted the whole intake trunking which end far to early on a flat bulkhead. Better hide this mess with an intake cover.

 

Engine pods:

The transition between the upper wing and the engine pod should be a lot smoother and HB omitted the panel line which separates this fairing from the rest of the wing surface.

 

Wing incidence angle:

The incidence angle of the whole wing is too parallel with the longitudinal axis. This throws off the alignment of the engine nacelles and the wing tanks. One could increase and adjust it by modifying the attachment holes of the wings but then you get some gaps as the wings won't fit as good anymore. 

 

Wing/fuselage joint:

Oversimplified as HB omitted the transition fairing between the wing and fuselage completely.

 

Exhaust nozzle:

HB puts the exhaust flush with the back of the engine pod but the nozzle should be recessed back inside the pod by quite a bit.

 

Belly radar fairing:

This fairing should be raised, HB represent it just with some engraved lines. 

 

If you want to build the fighter version, some of these points (wings, exhausts, ...) still apply. 

 

So while the Bobcat kit has the clear edge in accuracy in these points it builds more like a short run kit (you will require some test fitting and you can’t mount the engine pods to the wings without some gaps which need to be filled) and some components are broken down into a lot of parts which make construction unnecessarily complicated (e.g. engine pods).

The HB kit is much simpler and better fitting all around.

 

Hope this helps you in your decision.

 

 

Cheers

Markus

 

 

Thanks very much for the detailed response, much appreciated. I think I'd personally go for ease over accuracy, the odd panel line discrepancy I'm not too fussed about. I'd rather go for the HB kit for reasons of ease, but in the interim I've also considered the marking schemes provided; HB only provides one scheme for the standard Soviet silver, but another Russian/Ukrainian/other Soviet state would be nice to try.

 

Cheers

Joe

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On 4/30/2022 at 8:15 PM, TeaWeasel said:

 

 

Thanks very much, it's getting bloody annoying not being able to search anything on this site. I did find a thread in another forum where they've said the kit is actually pretty poor on the wing fittings and overall cockpit detail. I've since found a HobbyBoss kit which appears to be better, albeit with it's own minor issues. Is Hobbyboss a decent manufacture in general?

I gave up on the site's search functionality ages ago but now I just write my search term into Google along with britmodeller - like "Yak-28 britmodeller" and it usually coughs up a few results. Worth a try!

 

If you get the 500 thing just hit refresh and it clears it. 

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On 4/30/2022 at 11:30 AM, TeaWeasel said:

Doing a little bit of browsing and came across quite a spectacular-looking aircraft, the Yakovlev 28. I have a thing for those Cold War-era designs that look a little bonkers like the V-Bombers and TSR, and this just fits the ticket even though I've never heard of it until now. 

 

Once I clear up the backlog I think it'll be a decent addition to my hangar but the only 1/48 kit I can find is by Bobcat, a brand I'm also unfamiliar with. Looking at Scalemates they have instructions from a slightly older incarnation and it looks pretty rudimentary, although this review I found seems to back it up a little. I'm a bit hesitant as I bought a KP Su-25 recently and it's proved to be an absolute waste of time and money, hence I'm reluctant to stray from the bigger-name companies.

 

So has anyone had any experience with this kit, or any Bobcat kits in general? Every time I search on this site I get the standard 500-error so can't find much myself.

 

Cheers,

Joe

Hi, I have both the fighter and bomber boxing of the Yak-28. Haven't tried so much of a dry run yet, but I can tell you that the other kits of this manufacturer (who went by the name of Xuntong) are well detailed, possibly even over-engineered. The part count is high as is usual from this manufacturer and the bits look good on the sprues.

 

I can also recommend their other kits, the Tu-2 and Il-4, if you can find them. The problem with the il-4 was being "rushed" to production, and some parts have a rough-ish finish. I've seen built and finished yak-28s and they look great.

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On 30/04/2022 at 10:41, Shorty84 said:

Hi @TeaWeasel,

 

I have both kits (Bobcat and Hobby Boss) started so I can give you some feedback on them.

In short, you have to decide between accuracy and build-ability.

 

In case you want to build a Yak-28PP, you can’t build an accurate one from the Hobby Boss kit. Reason is that HB provides you the wrong windscreen for this variant (Bobcat provides the correct one). The PP-variant (and the “R”) has a windscreen with a central bar (like the F-102/F-106) but HB gives you a windscreen with a flat front panel that is only applicable to the bomber variants.

 

In addition, the HB kit has the following issues compared to Bobcat:

 

Main canopy:

For whatever reason, HB has molded the main canopy in 2 parts (clear front and metal rear part). So if you want to display the cockpit open you have to deviate from the instructions and glue the 2 parts together in a separate step (instead of gluing the rear part to the fuselage as instructed)

 

Intakes:

In order to provide a good attachment for the central inlet bullet HB simplified the construction to the point that they omitted the whole intake trunking which end far to early on a flat bulkhead. Better hide this mess with an intake cover.

 

Engine pods:

The transition between the upper wing and the engine pod should be a lot smoother and HB omitted the panel line which separates this fairing from the rest of the wing surface.

 

Wing incidence angle:

The incidence angle of the whole wing is too parallel with the longitudinal axis. This throws off the alignment of the engine nacelles and the wing tanks. One could increase and adjust it by modifying the attachment holes of the wings but then you get some gaps as the wings won't fit as good anymore. 

 

Wing/fuselage joint:

Oversimplified as HB omitted the transition fairing between the wing and fuselage completely.

 

Exhaust nozzle:

HB puts the exhaust flush with the back of the engine pod but the nozzle should be recessed back inside the pod by quite a bit.

 

Belly radar fairing:

This fairing should be raised, HB represent it just with some engraved lines. 

 

If you want to build the fighter version, some of these points (wings, exhausts, ...) still apply. 

 

So while the Bobcat kit has the clear edge in accuracy in these points it builds more like a short run kit (you will require some test fitting and you can’t mount the engine pods to the wings without some gaps which need to be filled) and some components are broken down into a lot of parts which make construction unnecessarily complicated (e.g. engine pods).

The HB kit is much simpler and better fitting all around.

 

Hope this helps you in your decision.

 

 

Cheers

Markus

Thanks a lot,

I will  go with the Bobcat version of the Yak"schnozzola"-28 ... 

Alias, a beautiful fighter design.

 

SouthViper from Brazil 

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