Great work going on here! I'm doing a P-51 for the CBI campaign right now but think this one is next:





A very nice resin kit that I've been looking forward to getting into. My plan is to do this aircraft:



I'll have to cut stencils and paint the numbers on but they don't look too complicated and I have a 1/32 figure of Litvyak in the Master Box fighter aces set, so seems like a good match.

Michael

Great to see all these interesting kits! VVS modelling does bring out alot of other than mainstream kits. I had no idea montex even made kits!
The holidays allowed me a good bit of time at the bench as Ive been working on a small cluster of kits in parallel and now all are finally past the cockpit stage! The Eduard Yak-3 has a nicely detailed cockpit in its profipack boxing. I used different bits from the kits PE fret and the older,more complete eduatd set. This allowed me to use the color instrument panel and wall details while ditching the color harness for the more posable regular brass harness. It also added better radio details and tons of spare levers!

I added some solder wires to the radio and hollowed out under the port side console so the levers would be more stable. References I found gave A-14 steel gray as the cockpit color. Not stressing over precise matches I mixed a little black with tamiyas xf22 rlm grey and sprayed it over some black preshading then highlighted with straight xf22. I then dry brushed with some xf53 neutral grey. After details were picked out in various acyrlics and enamels I brushed on a coat of future followd the next day with an acrylic/future black wash and finally a flat coat. Instruments got micro kristal klear lenses.

It should be a bit more down hill from here. Everything is dry fitting very well so I expect no problems. The yak-3 is a simple aircraft and the only area ahead requiring time and thought should be the landing gear.

Another 1/32nd scale kit Micheal? And in resin to boot? Amazing! Look forward to seeing this built as I'm sure it's just chock full of detail!

Mike love the work on the Yak, great looking pit! That looks like a serious sink mark in the upper wing? How was the rest of the kit? Unusual for an Eduard kit but I suppose the plastic is not originally theirs?

I think what your seeing isnt sink marks but Eduards so-so representation of the wing fuel tanks external gauges and I think the fill points. They're a bit soft and a bit overdone compared to 1:1.

Overall I really like the kit. Its taken some knocks for accuracy, the trailing edges are thick and it is one of eduards older kits but so far it fits really really well. In weekend kit form minus the etch I believe it could truly be a one weekend build. Its been a pretty enjoyable build

I am finally able to join in on a campaign after some health issues that have held me back for some time.

Beautiful work has been posted and a little help also for my build.

Here is my entry: ICM Yak-7V

Okay so working to get the I-153 together pretty simple build so far. Most of the main assembly is done just the fragile bits to go landing gear etc. Here are some progress pics.

Chris, is your I-153 1/48? I had a kit in 1/72, but it was too small for my big fingers and even the magnifying hood that I use.

BTW, great looking instrument panel.

Bob

My Il-2 is coming along quite well. The engineering of this Tamiya kit is great. The wing joint just disappears. I'm building the Accurate Miniatures single seat Il-2 along side this kit. I don't think it will be nearly as simple.

Ryan, she looks good so far. I almost picked up the Accurate Il-2 kit, but did not like the price.

HI Bob yes this is ICM's 1/48 Chaika, it has it's fair share of issues but it's an easy build. And it'll look good once together. Thanks for the kind words about the IP, it is supplied with separate dials as decals but no instruction as to what goes where so it was multi guess on my part. But it was a very nice touch and greatly welcomed by me. It lent a real air of realism to the cockpit. Anyway I've got the fuselage and wings all together now just the tricky stuff to go. I've got a replacement photo-etch part for the cooling plate for the front of the engine as ICM got it totally wrong in this area. I'll need to scratch some exhausts for it as well as apparently they're actually dimensionally correct for 1/72 scale. I've also filled in the mould imperfections on the lower surface of the top wing.

Chris, those wings are really looking good (I am afraid of biplanes). Cant wait to see her finished.

I am not a great fan of no locating pins on a kit, but this Yak 7 has been a real easy build so far. Plus I love this Tamiya putty and I cannot believed that I have not tried it before.

You guys are making me feel very uncomfortable with posting pictures of my progress. I am nowhere near your level. Your workmanship is stunning! I have recently finished a 1:72 I-153 by ICM, I did not do very well. Yours looks so much better!
Anyway I have a simple question for you, Chris, as I am building a biplane as well. When I was fumbling about with my I-153, I assembled the plane first and then I had big trouble painting the surfaces in between the upper and lower wings. I thought I should have painted them before assembling the wings, but I see you have assembled them before painting too. I have tried a different approach with my Po-2 now - I have fully painted the wings and now I am going to assemble them already painted. Am I making a mistake here?

Hi Shrimpman no not necessarily. Don't sweat it we all started somewhere and the modeller we are now is not the modeller who started this journey. Post away buddy you'll only get helpful advice from this community and plenty of support to boot! We're all about helping one another. Now you'll have to be careful when you glue the upper wing to the fuselage as the glue will attack the paint but touch up should be relatively easy. The approach I'm using is that I'll simply mask and spray as the I-153 lends itself to this. There are no "N" cabane struts to worry about and everything is bigger because of the scale. I'd prefer 1/32 for this kit but who's going to make one that size? There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do this, someone may teach you a "better" way but it's just about what works for you the modeller.

Here's my progress so far. I've got the fuselage and wings painted. Now I will try to get it all together with the support struts. At first I wanted to do a Battle of Stalingrad machine, but then I decided it would look too much like my I-153 and decided to go ahead with a 1943 paint scheme (AMT-1, AMT-4 and AMT-12 and also AMT-7 on the underside. I am still working on the grey AMT-12 patches as I didn't thin the paint enough and now I can see the brush strokes.

Looking good Shrimpman! As Chris said, we all started at novice, and you'll find lots of help and support here.

For what it's worth, I always paint the top wing separately on a strutted biplane like the Po-2. Then, when the time comes, I'll install the cabine (fuselage mounted) struts, get them straight and let them set up, then the top wing. I find it's easier to keep everything straight and level if I attach the top wing to the cabines only. Then I'll squeeze the interplane struts in. I'm sure others have different but equally good methods, but that works for me.

Keep up the good work!

Michael

Good solid work Shrimpman the camo looks damn fantastic. Can't see any brush strokes from the pics but you can get closer than I! LOL Given the scale of the kit and the cabane "N" struts I think you're taking the optimal approach.

Shrimpman, the Po-2 camo looks great and it is a bi-plane (a bi-plane is one of my nightmares and you have done very well on yours.)

Bob

Started sanding the tamyia putty:
And those are the wheel well covers supplied by the kit, not sure about them.

I am having trouble locating good decals for this Yak 7. Are the ICM decals good, bad, or a maybe proposition?

Bob

I've found ICM a mixed bag, nice and thin they settle really well over details but brittle, prone to cracking. However a coat with liquid decal film usually protects them enough to make them a little more robust and handle being adjusted into position. Use care and patience and they'll work wonderfully well.

Chris, thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Bob

Nice works on your builds already, guys!
This will be mine for this campaign. It's the Pe-2 from Zvezda in 1/48. This kit contains of over 400 parts, which is about twice as much as for a 1/35 Leopard 2 from Revell ....
Just started a few days ago with the left engine, which should be shown open.


I won't build one of the kit's options but an aircraft of the 125. Guards BAP, which was an all women unit (except the CO ....). The profile shows one bird of this unit. Would like to build the ship of Lt. Irina Osadze, but I don't have a photo ot it (but of her), so I will look, what my decal spare box offers and later hand the aircraft over to Osadze. That's the freedom of the artist ....


Happy modelling and good luck for all your builds!
Torsten

Torsten, I was just looking at this model with an eye for purchasing. But not in my budget yet, I will be following your build with great expectations.

Bob

Bob, I've got the kit last year from my LHS and paid something around 35 Euros for it.
Still working on the engine, which is a little gem of its own but nothing worth to show yet.

Torsten

QUESTION:

Landing gear on Russian a/c were what color?

Aluminum.
Lower surface color.
Zinc color.

My Yak-7v had a landing gear that could have been retractable, but the gear wells were covered over and the LG was secured in the down position.

Bob