Hey guys. This is my Yak-1 in 1/48 from Accurate Miniatures. It is a winter version with skis. I started off by painting the black and green camo scheme with MM enamels. The bottom side is a homemade mixture of Russian underside blue. After a coat of Future the decals were applied. Next I airbrushed a very thinned down coat of Tamiya acrylic white over the black and green camo and after it was dry i began to remove patches of it with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol. The last step was a coat of Testors flat. The research I've done showed that this "whitewash" of paint had to be applied fairly often as it wore off rapidly in the field. This is about as close as I could get to a realistic representation to some Yak-1 pictures I found. Thanks for looking.
Hermon

Please pardon the "ski-plane" being shown on grass. The temperature was very warm when the pictures were taken and the snow all melted.

LOL!!! :-) :-) :-)

But honestly, such a nice plane really deserves a nice wintery diorama!

Cheers!

Hi Hermon.
Nice build! Congratulations.
I like the way youve finished this off with the white wash.
A fine addition to your collection and again you can see the development of your skills. Feels good doesnt it?
Only comment I would make is on the ski's.They look a bit shiny and new compared to the rest of the Yak.But thats just a minor nitpick.
Looks great Hermon.
Whats next??
Nige

Very nice build Hermon. The whitewash looks effective.
I have looked at this kit several times in the past and seeing your example might just make me buy one.
Agree with Nige on the ski's being shiny but that could be the camera flash. A bit of mud on them would sort that out pretty easily.
Well done.
Andy (++)

Very nice looking plane! I'll have to try that whitewash someday. I was wondering about the ailerons. Should they both be down when it is parked? Just curious.

Looks great!! The spinner especially stands out to me as a nice detail area.

HI guys,
Thanks for the comments.
PolarBear, I tried the first set of pics with the plane sitting on some white paper but all you could see was the canopy surrounded by some smudge marks. :-)

Nigel, not only are the ski's shiny looking but I completely forgot to do any weathering at all on the underside of the plane . Eeeeek! Guess I was too wrapped up in the snow camo.

Andy, mud is on it's way.....along with the weathering on the underside. You should get this kit. It was one of those "glue&hold......wait.....glue&hold" kits with some fit problems and lots of filler and hardly any decals but pretty quick and fun.

BugNerd, both the ailerons should NOT be down but the only people see my planes daily are friends and family who have no idea about such things. Plus, for some reason when I try to put the ailerons right on my models it looks as if I've messed something up.



What's next on the workbench is a Macchi C.202 Folgore. This one I may have to ship over the pond and let you do the paint job on it. It's what I refer to as "the camo scheme from hell."

Thanks,
Hermon

Hi Hermon.
A Macchi 202.I know the scheme you mean.
That'll be fun.
You'll definately need a double action airbrush for that,and a fine nozzle.
Ive just had a morning doing the old white sausage masking technique on my Hurricane and Im starting to think ahead to what Im going to build when I get back from work next month.
Seeing as how Spitfires in various guises are starting to take over my stash I might do one of those,but a voice inside my head,,(we all have those dont we?,,,,dont we???), is trying to steer me towards a Luftwaffe subject with loads of mottleing and a spiral spinner!
But then theres always the Tamiya Thunderbolt so I can get to play with Alclad metal finish,,or the Airfix Tiger Moth so I can have a go at some biplane rigging.
Decisions decisions
Have fun with the Macchi and dont forget that you can always stick in a bag of oven cleaner and start again.(Thats probably the best tip Ive got from here,,because I know if it all goes belly up I can start again),
I would suggest you practice the technique on a fine product, The (insert supermarket name here),1/1 scale plastic bag,a very easy build with no seams and no filling required
You could allways branch out into camouflage schemed sandwich bags for the kids to take to school.
Have fun :-)
Nige

Hermon,
I very nice looking Yak and particularly effective winter white wash. The shiny skis and one way ailerons have been mentioned so there is only real nit picking left

Your exhaust staining looks good, but, in my opinion, plain rusty exhaust stacks look wrong. I paint mine burnt iron, or gun metal might do, drybrush just a little steel, on the tips then a more heavily drybrush rust, mainly around the bend of the pipe where the most heat would be generated. Remembering that the first pipe is probably cooled in the airflow.

Would the props be white washed?

It is also likely that there would be un-white washed areas around the markings, or the markings would show signs of being slightly overpainted?

Overall a very good winter white washed model, nice one. I guess this will be entered in next months MOM
Mal

Hi Mal,
Thanks for the advice on the exhaust painting. I operate bulldozers and excavators for work and I've noticed that engines used daily indeed have the burnt iron or steel look rather than plain rust. Something to think about on the next project.
As for the props, the only decent pic I have of the Yak-1 in winter paint is in black and white. It looks as if the prop has been painted white but then again it may be aluminum creaping out from under the black paint.



You're right again. I wanted to try overpainting some of the decals with the whitewash but to be perfectly honest I was scared to death because I had no spare decals and this was a totally new painting process for me.



Not a chance. I won't bother entering MOM for a long time. I'm going to take my time and get lots of practice in on some more models before I attempt MOM again. There are lots of things I need to work on.....ABing being one of the main problem areas. But, thanks for asking and also for the tips.

Hermon

Well, I certainly wasn't trying to be critical. It's a beautiful plane, but my aircraft knowledge is kind of limited

I forgot to include the Thank You for sharing

Hey BugNerd, criticism is what makes us all better modelers in the end.
As far as your aircraft knowledge, you were right about the ailerons so you're a step ahead of me at least

Hermon