1:48 Yak-1b OVERTREES

A teardrop canopy and a cut-down spine

The Yakovlev Yak-1 was one of the trio of new Soviet fighters which appeared just before the war in the east broke out. Its mixed structure joined a welded steel fuselage frame with a wooden wing and fabric covering on the rear section. The letter b after the numeral refers to a modification introduced at the end of 1942: the designers lowered the spine behind the cockpit and fitted a teardrop canopy, so the flyer could finally see behind him. At the same time a single heavy 12.7 mm weapon above the engine replaced the pair of rifle-caliber machine guns, supplemented by a 20 mm cannon firing through the hollow propeller shaft.

Who flew it

The machine was simple to build and to maintain and it stood up to field conditions. A French volunteer unit on the Eastern Front flew it, and so did several women posted to fighter regiments, which made the type one of the most frequently remembered Soviet fighters of the time.

The package keeps to a minimum: the plastic sprues and nothing else. Anyone who needs national insignia or references for the shades has to reach for a complete issue. The wooden and fabric surfaces of the real aircraft give room for work with color, because each material reflects light differently. In the larger formats it pays to suggest even the sag of the fabric between the ribs; at this size it is enough to set the gloss of the wing apart from the more matte rear fuselage and to add dust on the landing gear legs. It also pays to thin the trailing edges, because it is precisely on them that the coarseness of a casting shows best when seen against the light.