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Airfix Yak-9D 1/72


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My fininshed Airfix Yak-9D in 1/72 scale. The kit was sold as a starter kit but really should be sold under the Airfix 'vintage classic' range from now on given how poor the quality of the moulding was. The radiators were especially bad. I scratch built a basic cockpit as the kit only provides a seat but once it's closed up there's not much to see anyway. I decided not to go with the early-war green/brown scheme recommended by the box and bought an AK-interactive paint set for a late-war Soviet two tone grey scheme instead. Vallejo Nuetral Grey did for the interior and undercarriage colour. The kit was all brush painted. The decals of the red stars from the kit had the yellow outlines suitable for the early-war scheme, so I sourced the red stars with white outlines from my spares box to match the decided on paint scheme. The end result isn't too bad despite the kit being very old and basic.

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Thanks for looking :)

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55 minutes ago, HMS Thunderbolt said:

I decided not to go with the early-war green/brown scheme recommended by the box and bought an AK-interactive paint set for a late-war Soviet two tone grey scheme instead. Vallejo Nuetral Grey did for the interior and undercarriage colour. The kit was all brush painted. The decals of the red stars from the kit had the yellow outlines suitable for the early-war scheme

Very neat. 

:goodjob:

 I stalled doing mine.   

Note there is no early war green /brown scheme, (all green, Green/black, then 2 greys) or yellow outline stars.(palin red, then with a black outline, then with a white/silver outline, with a thin red outline)    It's just very old misinformation. 

 

Here's the real 31

Yakovlev-Yak-9D-6GvIAP-VVS-ChMF-White-22

 

 

here's maybe the only period colour photo, taken in Italy by an American,  on a shuttle mission escort.  Note the silver outline star.

50734702207_72d87fffd2_b.jpgYak-9dd Bari Italy, resize by losethekibble, on Flickr

 

 

I'll @John Thompson as he'll like this.

 

hope of interest

cheers

T

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Anyone who beats these old Airfix kits (why, oh why do they keep re-releasing them?) into submission deserves a rousing cheer - so Hussar! A cracking build from a dinosaur of a kit; well done.

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Concur that it should bear the Classic logo for the unwary, like so many of Airfix's 1/72 old hanger bag era moulds now in a new bright red box range. 

Memory lane stuff fo me though. I built that in 1966 or 1967 as best I recall. This was the hanger header at the time. Loved Airfix's moulds in light blue coloured plastic phase.

Edited by Bigglesof266
forgot to include link
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Great work on a classic kit. I love building the older kits. They are more challenging in many respects. You have met many challenges this kit may have offered and bested them magnificently!!

 

Edited by Pantherhawk27263
Fixed spelling
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On 17/07/2022 at 16:26, Troy Smith said:

Very neat. 

:goodjob:

 I stalled doing mine.   

Note there is no early war green /brown scheme, (all green, Green/black, then 2 greys) or yellow outline stars.(palin red, then with a black outline, then with a white/silver outline, with a thin red outline)    It's just very old misinformation.

 

 

Thank you very much. And that's interesting about there being no early war green/brown scheme, Airfix really shouldn't be recommending it as the paint scheme if it doesn't exist. Good job I chose to do a different scheme! I wonder if Airfix were just trying get rid of some of the surplus Humbrol mini-tins from all the Spitfire starter sets. And thank you for the picture of the real 31, I hadn't come across that before.

Thank you for all your kind words people, very kind of you!

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1 hour ago, HMS Thunderbolt said:

And that's interesting about there being no early war green/brown scheme, Airfix really shouldn't be recommending it as the paint scheme if it doesn't exist.

The paint instructions AFAIK are identical to the ones always with the kit,  pictures of the bagged kit show green/brown, with yellow stars.

Bear in mind when the kit was done, early 60's,  there really was no information widely available.

probably the first real information was the Aircraft In Profile monograph.

see here for scans

https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Aircraft-Profiles/Soviet-Union/Yakovlev-Yak-9-Series

 

1 hour ago, HMS Thunderbolt said:

Good job I chose to do a different scheme! I wonder if Airfix were just trying get rid of some of the surplus Humbrol mini-tins from all the Spitfire starter sets.

I suspect they just repacked what what they had from the archive, which they had been knocking pout since the mid 60's.

I think the last outing for this was about 10 years ago, and I don't see if surfacing again...except as 'Vintage Classic' 

   

VVS colours were pretty mysterious in the west, the first really useful books were around 1980, from Finland, Red Stars In The Sky, which were a revelation then. 

About  20 years ago,  controversial book was published, Soviet Airforce Fighter Colours by  Erik Pilawskii, wowed when first published, it's an impressive books, A4 hardback, lots of photos, profiles and looks at first defintive..... 

 

 and then discredited when Russian finally got hold it.  which was the source of many an early news group bunfight. 

Some of the book is right, some is wrong....  but if you know which is which you don't need the book....  and if you don't it's just confusing..

I can link you more if you wish. 

 

this is your best bet for information on VSS colours and markings now.

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/colors/colors.html

@Massimo Tessitori is a member here,  as is an author on various GPW types, @Learstang 

 

Bear in mind the VVS in the Great Patriotic War had over 150,000 aircraft....   the production runs of main types being over 30,000 of each family.. (Yak fighters, Lavochin Fighters, IL-2 Sturmovik )    let alone all the Lend Lease types,  Airacobras, P-40's, Hurricanes (nearly 3000), Spitfires (about 1,500) etc etc...  and more info keeps becoming available, see below..

 

 

1 hour ago, HMS Thunderbolt said:

And thank you for the picture of the real 31, I hadn't come across that before.

there is the other side in the profile link, they are some of the most famous Yak-9 images.  

 

Now, with the internet there is now a lot of information on VVS planes available,   for example, 31 was part of the 6 GvIAP, (6th Guards fighter unit) a naval unit, I think part of the Black Sea Fleet

see here

http://ava.org.ru/iap/6gm.htm

 

Увеличеный другой ракурс по клику. Опознавательные знаки на Як-9Д позднего образца с красно-белой обводкой. Пилотируют:
№22 – Герой Советского Союза Гриб Михаил Иванович;
№31 – Воронов Владимир Иванович;
№26 – Герой Советского Союза Белозёров Иван Павлович;
№30 – В. Акулов.

 

so the pilot of 31  is Voronov Vladimir Ivanovich

 

this is THE famous image

http://ava.org.ru/iap/6gm/yak-9d-may-1944.jpg

 

but there are more in the link. 

 

the ava.org.ru is fascinating, as now you can find out actual units, dates types were flown, locations, pilots etc, it's pretty easy to navigate with some basic Cyrillic, or just run it through a translator. 

 

hope of interest...ironically it is only now we appear to be getting an accurate 72nd Yak-9 kit...

 

cheers

T

 

 

 

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On 19/07/2022 at 12:09, Troy Smith said:

VVS colours were pretty mysterious in the west, the first really useful books were around 1980, from Finland, Red Stars In The Sky, which were a revelation then. 

About  20 years ago,  controversial book was published, Soviet Airforce Fighter Colours by  Erik Pilawskii, wowed when first published, it's an impressive books, A4 hardback, lots of photos, profiles and looks at first defintive..... 

 

 and then discredited when Russian finally got hold it.  which was the source of many an early news group bunfight. 

Some of the book is right, some is wrong....  but if you know which is which you don't need the book....  and if you don't it's just confusing..

I can link you more if you wish. 

 

this is your best bet for information on VSS colours and markings now.

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/colors/colors.html

@Massimo Tessitori is a member here,  as is an author on various GPW types, @Learstang 

 

Now, with the internet there is now a lot of information on VVS planes available,   for example, 31 was part of the 6 GvIAP, (6th Guards fighter unit) a naval unit, I think part of the Black Sea Fleet

see here

http://ava.org.ru/iap/6gm.htm

 

Увеличеный другой ракурс по клику. Опознавательные знаки на Як-9Д позднего образца с красно-белой обводкой. Пилотируют:
№22 – Герой Советского Союза Гриб Михаил Иванович;
№31 – Воронов Владимир Иванович;
№26 – Герой Советского Союза Белозёров Иван Павлович;
№30 – В. Акулов.

 

so the pilot of 31  is Voronov Vladimir Ivanovich

 

this is THE famous image

http://ava.org.ru/iap/6gm/yak-9d-may-1944.jpg

 

but there are more in the link. 

 

the ava.org.ru is fascinating, as now you can find out actual units, dates types were flown, locations, pilots etc, it's pretty easy to navigate with some basic Cyrillic, or just run it through a translator. 

 

Thanks again! The book extract linked was an interesting read. I had never considered that there would be serious issues getting reliable information about colour schemes, that's what you get for growing up in the internet age. Amazing to think you can even find out the name of an individual pilot for a particular plane now.

I'm a big fan of @Massimo Tessitori 's site, I built a little 1/200 scale Li-2 earlier this year and it was the only place I could find any information on it- greatly appreciated!

52229779261_78079c7a08.jpg

 

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Started the hobby with the plastic bagged Yak kit in 1970.It was in light blue and the green/brown camo was what made me attracted to it but of course it wasn't painted like yours. The paint pots didn't reach the interior towns of Malaya until the mid 1970s. Honestly it's good to see a very old friend again. Marvellous build. 

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