A (red) star of the Great Patriotic War: Zvezda 1/48 Yak-3

[PattheCat]

Hello,

 

Time to show I'm still alive and kitting 😁.

So here is my latest project: Zvezda's 1/48 Yak-3. I looked for a hassle free build, and the kit being simple and with about no surface details - which I'm prone to smear with gluey fingerprints - it was the perfect candidate. Also I never built a Zvezda kit.

 

I'll present it "in flight" on a stand (Zvezda too) and won't use the kit decals but those of an Eduard one binned long ago.

This plane was the mount of col. Anton D. Yakimenko, commander of the 151st. GIAP in 1945.

 

 

 

So, as per the infrangible rule, construction began with the cockpit. It was sprayed with my new airbrush, a H&S Ultra 2024, and I must say I'm more than happy with it, so that my Evolution Silverline now has plenty of resting time.

I made my own interpretation of steel grey adding 10% of Tamiya XF66 (light gray) to XF53 (neutral gray). Details and pilot were mostly painted with Revell Aqua and the weathering done with Vallejo Metal Color aluminium and a very light wash that nearly completely faded after the finishing flat coat. Well then, let's say I applied "stealthy weathering".

 

Sparse but nice detail on the side panels, I just used decal bits to add a red cross on the first aid kit.

 

 

 

I didn't paint a figure since I was a kid and smudged Airfix "small soldiers" with Humbrol enamels. Quite satisfied with the result.

 

As I said, that's my first Zvezda kit and it goes beyond my expectations as it's simple but the essential is there, it's well moulded and fit is real good.

 

More to come next week (or sooner, if possible).

 

In the meantime, I wish you all a nice weekend and happy modelling.

 

Pat.

[PattheCat]

Good evening.

Some progress made. I glued the fuselage halves together and then to the wings  (onto which the cockpit is moulded).

1) Care has to be taken when placing the fuselage. It's necessary to put it at an angle (front down) and slide it back and down to avoid breaking the gun handle that's been glued earlier to the front wall.

2) The only thing I've found that could cause a problem at that stage is the junction between the wings and fuselage sides. It's a good fit but i'ts vertical and there are no tabs to insure perfect alignment. The discrepancy is so small that maybe you won't encounter it with another copy of the kit. Me, I had to add very thin plastic shims (0.2mm) along one side, I placed two, alongside the outside of the lateral console and the protruding radiator well.

 

My apologies for forgetting to take pics. Anyway, I hope this helps:

 

It's not that I don't like pilot figures but, when you get one with a kit, it's usually in a totally unrealistic attitude. Here was the possibility for an "active pose" (you get two heads, with or without goggles on and two right arms).

 

The engine cowling is a three parts affair. I glued the two halves forming the chin and will add the upper part later. And that's how far it's come for now:

 

Friendly regards to all.

 

Pat.

 

[fubar57]

Looking good

[2996 Victor]

This is looking great, Pat, I'm very interested in seeing this build progressing as I quite fancy a Yugoslav Yak-3.

 

Looking forward to your next update!

 

Cheers,

Mark 

[PattheCat]

Thanks Mark @2996 Victor. A Yugoslav one, that sounds good for sure, especially if you go for something different of the VVS machines. Weren't these repainted in an overall light blueish gray? 

[2996 Victor]

3 minutes ago, PattheCat said:

Thanks Mark @2996 Victor. A Yugoslav one, that sounds good for sure, especially if you go for something different of the VVS machines. Weren't these repainted in an overall light blueish gray? 

They were painted grey on the upper surfaces, afaik, but later in their service. I think they retained their VVS camouflage initially. I quite fancy a Cominform Crisis one with white tactical markings.

 

Cheers,

Mark 

[PattheCat]

Hi everybody.

Nearly no time at the bench today but I got the tailplanes and engine cover glued on. The cover is fitting nicely but just a trifle too long and needed the tiniest bit of sanding at the rear end.

 

And, as always, I did something stupid. When drilling the first gun barrel hole, I noticed that I used a too large drill bit and .... wrenched it out. Doing so I teared away a chunk of plastic. On with the filler then. Nothing serious but what I worry about is rescribing the panel line around the rear of the channel. If someone has a trick to share on how to rescribe such a small curve, thanks in advance.

 

Now I'll let the putty dry up and ..... stop cursing myself.

 

Have a good evening.

Pat.

 

 

[2996 Victor]

Lovely progress, Pat, definitely looking like a Yak now! Shame about the gun port, we all do it, but you'll get it sorted out no trouble!

 

Cheers, 

Mark 

[Tomas Enerdal]

Regarding the panel line:

Sand the filler down carefully. As you have used a white filler on grey plastic the panel line should show up as a thin white line.

Restore the panel line by very careful scribing, use a very sharp pin. Use dymo tape as a support for the scribing. With a punch you should be able to prepare semi-round curves for the corners.

The scribing should be done with very light pressure. Do several successive passes, going a small section at a time. Patience and a light hand will be the way.

And remember if you make a mistake, it can be restored by filling the mistake with filler, sand down and try again.

[PattheCat]

13 hours ago, Tomas Enerdal said:

Regarding the panel line:

Sand the filler down carefully. As you have used a white filler on grey plastic the panel line should show up as a thin white line.

Restore the panel line by very careful scribing, use a very sharp pin. Use dymo tape as a support for the scribing. With a punch you should be able to prepare semi-round curves for the corners.

The scribing should be done with very light pressure. Do several successive passes, going a small section at a time. Patience and a light hand will be the way.

And remember if you make a mistake, it can be restored by filling the mistake with filler, sand down and try again.

 

Patience is not my main quality @Tomas Enerdal but your advice and support will greatly compensate.

Many thanks.

 

Pat.

[PattheCat]

Good afternoon. No build update but I wanted to show my attempt at repairing the gunport.

 

After sanding and rescribing (thanks @Tomas Enerdal) I re-drilled the gunport opening but the white putty crumbled doing so.

The next method I decided to try out was to fill everything using a more solid filler compound, so I did a mix of cyano and talc. Also, to avoid more drilling, I first put a small metal rod representing the gun muzzle before adding the filler.

 

Looking horrible 😬, doesn't it?  I'll let it dry until tomorrow before sanding. Crossing fingers.

 

A nice day to all BMers.

Pat.

[2996 Victor]

That's so frustrating - I've done the same thing several times. The CA/talc will be much stronger and should be absolutely fine 🤞

 

 Cheers,

Mark

[PattheCat]

I hope so. Thanks for your crossed fingers Mark @2996 Victor.

[PattheCat]

Good afternoon,

 

I did more damage than repairs on the gunport (scratchin, too much sanding thus surfacer needed). I decided to leave it alone for a while, install the wheel wells covers and begin global filling and sanding.

As support is minimal, I put some plastic scraps inside the wheel wells to get the doors to sit (nearly) flush. More filler than really needed as I widened the seam to have it equal all around. Unnecessary, some wiggling before the glue was set would have sufficed.

 

 

I detected sink marks, the largest being on the upper wing surface because of a light sinkage above the whole structure of the wheel wells. It was easily corrected with sanding but is still noticeable in front of the fuel's fill caps where I didn't dare to sand:

The white dot is filler, ... cause of a stray drop of extra thin.

 

The other - really minor - places are: fuselage at the front of the tailplane root and on the rudder of vertical stabilizer.

 

 

As fit is globally OK, the areas that need filler are the tailplane roots and

- the rear and front junctions of the wings with the fuselage

       - rear (sorry for the blurry pic): under and sides. I think it could have been avoided with a bit more care and/or maybe a spacer in the fuselage above the connecting zone (as the trailing edge at the roots also doesn't match perfectly)

 

       - front: chin halves mating, is a bit flat needs to be rounded with filler/sanding. is in fact flattening near the connection to the rest. Some filler needed.

 

- behind the wheel well, needs filler to make it flat.

 

Still some minor corrections to do and install the radiator. Then I'll spray primer over the seams to check if no more work is needed before installing the glasshouse.

Many pics for not much done, in hope it will be of use to others.

 

A pleasing sunday afternoon to ya all.

Pat.

[PattheCat]

Good evening,

 

As I said i wasn't happy with the rescribing around the gunport. That was the perfect excuse to justify buying a second kit. When I bought this one I initially thought to assemble it with the engine visible and add a Quinta 3D decal set for the cockpit but I fnally decided for an in-flight pose to preserve the elegant lines of this little fighter (and a more relaxing build TBH).

 

So I did some surgery 

 

New upper cowl in front

 

 

Then I installed the radiator after painting the inside with my A-14 mix

 

I mentioned earlier that one more spacer would be best placed in the fuselage above the place where the extension behind the wings inserts. Some sanding and filler took easily care of the fit but I still recommend a spacer

 

Then a tiny bit of filler and sanding to reshape the intakes in front of the the wing roots (I don't know what they were meant for). Still not perfect but more convincing (basing myself on the plane at Paris-Le Bourget museum).

A word of caution: I dry fitted the exhaust pipes at that stage. They don't fit inside the shrouds. The easiest is to scrape/sand the upper/lower inside of the fairing a bit.

 

Sprayed some Stynylrez metal coloured primer to highlight and corrected remaining flaws (the metallic primer is very fragile but I find it best for that purpose). Everything now seems "to taste".

 

Then came my first head scratching moment comparing the instructions and the parts. Looking at these, you'd suppose you have to place the head armor plate on the two prongs above the seat. But there are no dents at the bottom of the armor plate and if you do so, it sits too high so that you can't install the rear part of the canopy (if you use the part to show it open). In fact there are also prongs on the armor plate and you have to place these against the rear of the ones on the seat. Behind the nibs on the seat there are two indents so shallow I nearly didn't see them under paint.

 

First I deepened the mating places but found it still too fiddly an attachment.

 

I couldn' find pics of the area so I took a look at Scalemates on the instructions folders of other kits of the Yak-3. On the 1/32 ICM kit there are two supporting triangles moulded at the top of the seat. I scratch built such and glued them under the armor plate behind the prongs.

 

And another small word of caution: install the gunsight support as per instructions. Getting it into place after the fuselage is closed and pilot installed can be a bit tricky.

 

 

I'll glue and mask the clear parts tomorrow and then, next week, on for the real fun with primer and paint.

 

I hope you're having a nice sunny weekend too.

 

Pat.

[2996 Victor]

Great progress, Pat, this Yak is really looking good!

 

Cheers, 

Mark

[corsaircorp]

Good job Pat !!

The Zvezda kit is fine, but I try to finish an ICM one.....

I'll go to Namur model show today... In Belgrade.... But not thje yugoslav one....

Sincerely.

CC