Soviet aircraft question

Nothing I've ever heard of at all. I've read countless Air war books on the eastern front, from both sides, and have never heard of this. Paint being in short supply during the initial phase of Barbarossa, '41-42 may be possible, but this would not apply to the Yak 9. What sort of experiment do you have in mind?

Hmm, unfortunately that's what my gut was telling me, too.

I don't have any particular attachment to the Yak 9T, so I'm looking to just try a bunch of new techniques on it, and I didn't pay too much for it, so I don't really care if I mess it up.

My idea was to paint the plane in its actual colors before paint. For example, prime the fabric sections with something like Tamiya buff or gray or whatever, then do the wooden wings with something wood-colored and the metal parts Alclad polished aluminum. After that, I was going to put down a clear coat, spray the paint on thin, post-shade the panel lines and then scuff, chip, etc. I thought that might give some interesting tonal variation to the paint, but it is probably unrealistic in the end.

Which brings me to a general question - does paint fade at different rates on metal vs. cloth vs. wood? I am thinking not, but would like to vary it slightly.

Either way, I want to weather this one pretty hard. Maybe do some salt weathering or whatever.

-BD-

The ICM kit? I'm currently working on one with a ton of am add ons. It's actually not a bad kit to start with. I'd say generally paint on the hard surfaces chips off first. I usually don't see much chipping on fabric. I'd say study ur refs. If u can't find some I have a ton of soviet ww2 pics in the archives I can pm you.

I can't vouch for wood, but the painted surfaces of aircraft fade at a different rate than the doped fabric areas. There is plenty of photographic evidence to support that. Fabric is "doped", which causes it to shrink over the support structure for better strength, a property that regular paint does not have when applied to fabric.

What Stik sed. Paint with red in it fades or discolors pretty quickly. Fabric dope fades more slowly than paint, usually.

Remember too that a/c in war in particular that front had a pretty short shelf life.

Wait, so the camouflage pattern wouldn't be paint on top of doped fabric? I thought it would have all been painted at once.

-BD-

The camo could be paint, lacquer, or dope. But in the case of the former two, if those, it will be applied over dope. That will effect paint fade to one degree or another. Or it can be applied during production as pre colored with appropriately matching shades of dope. Fabric control surfaces will be made in larger quantities for use as replacements due to damage. And will be in the unit's spare parts stores pre camo'd, so it just needs to be installed. Aircraft factories can and will receive them in the same pre camo'd condition.

Thanks, stikpusher. I appreciate the info.

-BD-

Well, I have to say, this kit is a real test of my patience. Nothing fits as it should. I had to remove about a millimeter of plastic on the engine panels to get them to fit, the aileron fit is abysmal and the wings had to be filed heavily on the insides to join the fuselage.

The cockpit is just an oversized seat, some lackluster rudder pedals, and a stick. The instrument cluster has a decal, which fell apart and reminded me of the terrible quality of the decals on another ICM kit I built. I may get an aftermarket sheet if I feel like it.

But hey, that's why this is a platform to experiment with.

-BD-

I have built the ICM Yak-7, so I have a good idea of your challenges. But we have all seen what you can do (Spitfire VIII), so I have faith in your skills.

Hello!

I always say to just take a look at the real thing - or the next closest thing, instead of thought experiments. First thing that comes on my mind here would be the Antonov An-2 - plentiful, lots of photos, and has fabric covered wings and control surfaces, and metal fuselage. So I found this photo for you:

You can look up many more yourself - hope it helps, good luck with your build and post some pictures! Have a nice day

Paweł

I never have built one of their planes .They did have a group of 1/32 or 1/48 boats that were decent though . All civilian variants of cabin cruisers . Even a 36' C.G. Cutter from Malibu .

Pawel - thank you for the ideas. I didn't know of many color pics of that, but I'll definitely do some research on that one. I really appreciate it, and yes, it's way better than just a thought experiment.

Stikpusher - thanks! I built the thing last night and am basically letting a bunch of filler dry. I didn't spend too much time on the cockpit, which will really make me angry if the outside comes together well, but I'm not really anticipating that, haha.

Tankerbuilder - I built their Spitfire Mk. IX back in October. I remember it having really big gaps at the wing root that took a lot of filler, and the assembled engine didn't fit inside the closed-up nose. One caveat - that was one of the first two kits I built after returning to the hobby from a 15-year absence. The cockpit in it was fine, it came with some great ground crew figures, and I would build one again if Eduard didn't do weekend editions of its fantastic kits for essentially the same price. This Yak is an altogether different story, but I will say the one part that matters most for fit - the canopy - is flawless (and the one-piece design means you're modeling it closed or getting a replacement, which works for me on this one).

Hmm, maybe I'll throw some weathered snow camo on it if I find markings that call for it.

-BD-

I would be careful when using an aircraft like the An-2 as an example.  The An-2 was in production from 1947 to 2001.  You stand a very good chance of finding a photo of an example built much later than the aircraft you are looking for.  This means that you could be relying upon a photo of a plane that was painted with much better paint products and techniques.  It also means that you will not be relying upon a plane that's been through the war.  aircraft production during the war was treated differently than that after the war, when there's not so much a rush to get the planes built and flying.  The An-2 was not around during WWII.  

I know you're talking about Soviet built planes, but for general discussion, anyone wishing to consider this thread for future reference, you need to consider the home country of manufacture for any aircraft on the eastern front.  Example, anything built in America, like lend-lease P-40s and P-39s, were completed to normal US standards, including rust preventative and paint.

Back to the Yak-9, this link may help.  not much in the way of color photos, but these are wartime photos of several Soviet aircraft.

mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/.../1945-1950-newtypes.html