A few weeks ago I started work on a 1/72 Revell Yak-38.
Here’s a review (not mine) of this particular kit. Everything in the review is spot on. The profile is too thin, and there are several other inaccuracies, but most are easy to address.
But, my-oh-my, this is a nice kit to build! Everything is basically fitting together with a minimum of cleaning and sanding. This is such a welcome relief after my last kit, a Glencoe MB-2. On that model, I had to sand for hours and hours just to get rid of the ejector pin marks. It had some of the hardest plastic I’ve ever worked with.
In any event, I’ve scratch built an instrument panel (which turned out okay, but just okay), and added seatbelts to the seat with masking tape. Oh, I added a bulkhead to the rear of the cockpit too. Other than that, I simply plan on reversing the horizontal tail pieces so that they have a dihedral instead of an anhedral.
I think Revell has sold the molds to Kangnam, so the kit is probably still available. This kit has been sitting in my stash for probably ten years. I’m glad I dug it out.
Has anyone else worked on this kit? If so, what did you think? Has anyone else been pleasantly surprised by a kit’s quality or ease of build?
I remember that kit! I’d sure like to give it another try now. I built it years ago, and quickley decided the wings were too small…so I stole the wings off of an Su-25(?) Frogfoot glued them in place and painted it Green Chromate, lol. (I did not do a very neat job either).
I actually still have it hanging up…Just a bizarre mishmash of two Russian birds.
I do remember the nice Box art of the blue Yak-38 is what made me buy it. Maybe I’ll find one on ebay…
Well, the honeymoon is over, but I’m still in a state of mild bliss.
The vertical stabilizer piece is warped in two directions. I think I have the front-to-back warp fixed, but I’ll need to soak the piece in hot water to correct the side-to-side warp. Otherwise, things continue to go together without the need for a much putty. [:)]
Just a quick update: the hot water fix didn’t work, but my razor saw did. [:D]
I made a thin cut along a panel line and got the vertical stabilizer straightened out that way. I still have a minor misalignment with the “spine” of the tail, but I’m not going to worry abou it at this point.
Not much to add at this point except that after taking most of October off for various reasons, I’ve started working on this model again. My next steps are to putty a few seams (with very little putty) and prime the plane in preparation for painting.
I’m back at this model after a half-year layoff in which I finished my master’s thesis and graduated – then recovered for a few months. [ ]
After priming the model back in October, I noticed a few seams that still needed some minor cleanup, so that’s what I’m working on now. The next step is stick on a bunch of little scoops and fences, many of which have no locating pins, and then paint the fuselage with the exterior color.
It was a real relief to not only me, but my wife when I graduated. [:D]
Anyway, overall, I’m still pleased with this model. It’s not fantastic, but it’s pretty good. It’s the first model I’ve done with recessed panel lines, so I’m going to try a very subtle wash with tempera paints to bring out some of that detail.
I’ll let everyone know how I did – hopefully with pictures.
I’m finally back to work on this kit. I got some small bits on it, dipped the canopy (which is in two pieces) in Future, and glued it on with white glue after the Future was fully cured.
The next step is a big one. I’m going to use a liquid mask on the canopy, and regular masking tape on other parts of the fuselage, and I’m going to paint the fuselage with its final exterior color.
Most importantly, though, my wife rescued an air scoop that flew off the sprue from the carpet monster! I was worried that I’d have to leave the scoops off.
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