1/48 Eduard YAK-3 WIP

Superb build very cool paintwork and weathering

Gents,

I certainly appreciate the kind words.  I would have replied sooner but am having some technical difficulty with the forum (the system logs me out each time I change pages or link onto a different forum).  

The kit was a joy to build and offered me the chance to experiment with the techniques perfected by the Spanish masters, Daniel Zamarbide and JM Villalba.  I've also picked up many techniques and have been inspired by the beautiful work I've seen here on the forum.  You all are really a talented group of chaps!

Cheers!

Very nice build.  Great shading and just the right amount of weathering.  Nice canopy work too.

Well done FastEagle your YAK looks splendid, I love that red nose and the shading looks spot on to me

Cheers...

Beautiful!!! 

Well done!

Excellent build! Love the paint work.

Nate

Good Sunday everyone,

Well, Mother Nature came through with a wet, stormy weekend - perfect for logging time on the bench.  I present to you the completed Yak-3:  

If you are looking for that perfect simple kit to tackle as a break from a larger, more complicated build, I humbly recommend this one.  Bravo, Eduard!!!

Well, that completes this build.  I appreciate you stopping by and taking a look.  

Happy Modeling!

Cheers Gents,

You all are far too kind and I appreciate the feedback.  This kit has been a blast to build and I've learned a few things along the way.

I completed the airframe paint work today with touch ups to the red overspray and a seam on the top of the vertical stabilizer.  Next up is the gloss coat and decals; one of my favorite steps!

I hope to have another update ready soon - the weather folks are forecasting storms in the area this weekend which will force me to delay the yard work (darn).

Have a great day and happy modeling.

Great touch on the cowling, boy the preshading is really paying off.  The rivets and panel lines look great.  On to the homestretch.  Good luck,  Rick.

I've really enjoyed watching the progress on this one. Excellent paint work, and the construction so far looks flawless. Keep up the great work!

Happy Monday everyone,

More progress to report as we continue the fun with our water colors.

I've completed the top of the fuselage with a diluted coat of Tamiya XF-66 Light Grey over the light blue I applied in the prior post.  To further distinguish the few metal panels, I added white to the light grey and applied it in light layers.  Once this was complete I post-shaded the panels with 10% Tamiya flat black and 90% alcohol.

Onward to the red cowling.  The first step was to measure and cut a template from a Post-It note:

I transferred this to a strip of Tamiya 18mm masking tape (I love this stuff) and prepared two mirror image shapes:

After applying the masks to the fuselage, Tamiya XF-9 Hull Red provided the base layer.  At this stage the pre-shading is still visible.  Notice the tape on the leading edge of the windscreen - this would later come to haunt me. Ugh!

And the finished result after two light coats of Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red:

I'll clean up the extra paint on the windscreen framing before applying a coat of Future.  We are almost ready for decals!

Thanks again for stopping by and feel free to leave a note.

Greetings everyone.  After far too long from the bench, I'm happy to report that painting has begun 

I now turn it over to the ayatollah of rock and rolla:

Pre-shading of the few panel lines on the bottom of the aircraft (note the high-tech masks for the wheel wells) with Tamiya flat black:

And the completed ventral side.  I used Tamiya XF-23, light blue for the base coat....

and added a touch of white for a weathered look on the metal panels.  Another view:

And a bonus view:  Woohooo!

I used this color as a base coat on the top side of the aircraft from which I will modulate various shades of grey.  

Happy Mother's Day to all our Mom's.  God bless them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers Skater-x,

That's a great story - I can't imagine how happy your friend was to received such a cherished gift.  Awesome.

Certainly this little kit has been a joy to build.  And speaking of which, I've completed the seam clean-up around the canopy and hope to move it to the paint shop this weekend.  

Onward!

my friends daughter built this kit as a present for dad when she was six (yes-really) and usd no filler anywhere. i put the gunsight in but she did the rest-this says volumes about the buildability of a this lovely kit.

Cheers everyone,

I appreciate the feedback and it certainly is good to be back at the bench again.

Spike - That's my "production supervisor" who's always ready to donate the odd strand of fur to my builds.  As luck has it, I discover these contributions only after the paint is on and dry.  

Ruddratt - Thank you, sir.  I'm going to finish the Yak in one of the schemes provided in the kit; Red 12 of W. Nosow, Hero of the Soviet Union, as he flew with the 150 Guard Fighter Regiment.  It calls for a two-tone color scheme of grey over light blue, with a red spinner and nose.

Getting us started today is a shot of the wheel wells:

Now the fun begins - painting the fuselage begins with a coat of Tamiya XF-22 over the canopy and windscreen.  This allows me to get paint on the insides of the frame without actually painting the insides of these structures and to identify any seams that need to be cleaned up:

....as we see here on the rear portion of the canopy (the sliding portion of the canopy is placed here just to keep paint outside of the cockpit).  Indeed, these seams will get "the business" before we continue painting:

I'll use Mr. Surfacer 500 diluted with denatured alcohol to fill the seams around the canopy and blend them into the fuselage before reshooting the XF-22.  

Thanks again for dropping by.

Top-notch work all around, FastEagle! Good to see you back at the bench, too. Have you decided on a paint scheme?

FastEagle, the prop and hub look very nice, I can see how you've worked the paint. Nice kitty to

Cheers...

Good day everyone,

I know it has been too long in-between posts when I have to search 10 pages into the Aircraft threads to find my original post...bloody he$$!!  My slacking off has come to an end and I respectfully submit the following progress report:

Re-employing the "high tech" display device, here is our lovely Yak modeling the latest in Tamyia masking tape:

And from another angle:

I call this next one The Evolution of Russian Aircraft Size.  For the comparison I have posed the KKR-1 recon pod from a Su-17R4 project I'm concurrently working next to our diminutive fighter.  Stand brave o' Yak; it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog....

Did someone say dog??

And finally, the prop and hub after a little clean-up and paint.  I modulated the hub with a base coat of Tamiya XF-9 Hull Red followed with a light coat of XF-7 flat red.  I'll finish weathering it once I get the rest of the model painted:

Thanks once again for stopping by.  A pint to your good health!

Cheers!

FastEagle, looks great...the interior detail is fantastic I have the Eduard La 7 in the stash so i'll be following this build...Thanks for sharing......

Good day gents,

I appreciate the kind feedback.  I've finished painting the interior of the ventral air intake/ radiator structure and will attach it to the model this weekend along with the windscreen and canopy.

Now onto the paint and finish - My goal is to modulate the paint in such a fashion that the fabric and metal surfaces are marginally distinguished from one another.  I'm considering base coats of gray's/ black for the major portions of the fuselage and wings with red-brown as a base coat for the red portion of the nose.  I'll give this some more thought over a beer and will pass along an update.

Once again I appreciate you all following the build and offering your kind feedback.  Spike - so impressed with Eduard have I been that I purchased the 1/32 Bf-109E-1 this past weekend (my economic stimulus in the local sense) and have not been able to put it down.  I will give it my best shot on the Battle of Britain GB on another post.  

To all of you who observe Easter or Passover, I wish you peace and blessings.

Cheers! 

Nice progress FastEagle, I see you've got a taste for the Eduard kits now

Cheers...

Good evening everyone,

Between the weeds and fire ants I've had little time to dedicate to the bench. But such is the joy of Spring and I am thankful to be here to see it all.

On with the update:  The fuselage and wings have been joined and a small amount of Mr Surfacer 500 finished the job (observe the "high tech" device used to display the model - it's all about repurposing, baby!).

A close-up of the port side shows the minor additions to the kit: in this case, brass tubing and .01" sheet stock.

The other side:

And finally, another plan view (sans high-tech display device)

Thanks for checking us out and happy modeling!

Blast! Now I want an Avenger like Mr Villabla . I've seen the Buccaneer although I cant think where as I cant find it on his blog now, awsome stuff, he's got an F100 on the go now and it looks gorgeous. 

Cheers...

Looks very nice FE1.  Very sexy looking legs has. 

Cheers Spike!

A friend sent me a link to his blog several months ago and I must admit it was like setting my eyes on a room full of stunning women.  I discovered another modeler by the name of Juan Manuel Villabla (check him out on the Accurate Miniatures website) who uses the same techniques with brilliant results.

Have you seen his 1/48 Buccaneer?  Simply gorgeous.  Please keep us posted on your results and thank you for the kind words.

Yes that's the chap I had in mind, have you seen his step by step stuff on his blog? I'm trying to head in his direction myself for interior painting especially, I'm after some of the Vallejo paints myself for that very purpose. your doing a very fine job FastEagle, keep it up

Cheers...

Gents,

Many thanks for the kind words.  This kit really has been a joy to build and I recommend it without hesitation.  

RadMax - I'm not sure if XF-22 is 100% historically accurate but who am I to say.  It looks good and, if nothing else, allows for some practice with the tones and tints prior to tackling your next Luftwaffe subject.  If the La-5 is engineered and molded like the YAK, you'll have a blast.

Ruddratt - I value your opinion and thank you for the kind words.

Fermis - Let me take this opportunity to give your P-61 a shout-out and some love.  Very well deserved, indeed.

Spike - Keen observation on your part.  I have been a student of Daniel Zamarbide since I first saw his technique on a Spanish modeling site.  He is simply brilliant in my humble opinion.

Cheers.

fermis

This is coming along beautifully!!!!   I'm diggin it!!

I gotta agree with Fermis. This build helped me decide the next kit in my build pile: Eduard's Weekend Edition La-5. I'll probably use the same XF-22. My instructions are given in Humbrol, though.Don't have access to that paint