Accurate Miniatures 1/48 Yak-1, previewed by Scott Van Aken

HISTORY

The Yakovlev Yak-1 (Russian: Яковлев Як-1) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. The Yak-1 was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings; production began in early 1940.

The Yak-1 was a maneuverable, fast and competitive fighter aircraft. The composite-wooden structure made it easy to maintain and the engine proved to be reliable. It formed the basis for subsequent developments from the Yakovlev bureau and was the founder of a family of aircraft, with some 43,000 being built. As a reward, designer Alexander Yakovlev was awarded the Order of Lenin (Russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina) (the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union), a 100,000 ruble prize, and a ZIS motor car. Along with the two seat version, the Yak-7, almost 9,000 aircraft were built.

THE KIT

When Accurate Minatures produced this kit along with the Yak-1b, they were the best and in some cases, the only early Yak fighters in this scale. This kit consists of five sprues, one which is clear. AM's boxings were unique in that there was a partition in the bottom of the box under which the clear bits, decal sheet, and instructions resides. This made for a fairly tall box, which retailers didn't like as they took up extra space on the shelf.

The molding is excellent and will stand up against many modern kits. This is a fairly simple kit that offers three options. First one can install the early transparency behind the pilot, though it will require aftermarket decals. The other two fit under the wings. There are drop tanks, and the option for three rocket rails on each side. None of these options will be required for the decals that come in this boxing.

The interior is vvery nicely done with framework on the sides that make into a cage. The forward firewall is molded in the floor piece and will need to be folded upward. The floor also includes the lower radiator and ducting. One then build up the various bits that fit between the fuselage halves, which includes the prop shaft, before joining them. The entire upper fuselage is a separate piece so no upper seams to deal with.

Interior fits from below and then the tailplanes are installed. Before building up the wings, the modeler will need to open holes if the drop tanks or rockets are to be installed. Ailerons are separate and a template is provided if one wants to cut out the flaps. There is a wing spar section that is also the rear wall of the main gear well. Landing gear are well done and the wheels have separate inserts to help painting. A set of 'flattened' wheels is provided. The last steps are gear doors, tail gear, prop, clear bits and the exhaust.

Instruction booklet is landscape format. Each construction step includes the color of each part. There are also notes and supplementary drawings where needed. The decal sheet has the markings for the box art plane of ace Lilia Litvyak in the standard scheme of dark green/black over light blue. The decals look to be nicely done. There are aftermarket decal options for this version, but you have to do some searching.

CONCLUSIONS

While not a fairly new kit, it is one that many have built without issues. It is currently in Academy's catalogue as Academy did the tooling for it so they own the molds. It is not expensive and well worth picking up.

KIT #:	3424
PRICE:	$
DECALS:	One option
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	1998 tooling