Stratus has a series of books called 'Spotlight ON:' which basically consists of superb artwork on specific aircraft. This one is on the Yak-3.

The Yak-3 was a late war plane and part of the Yak-1/9 family. Specifically, it was an attempt to lighten the aircraft to provide improved performance. Unfortunately, the engine for which it was designed never really got past the experimental process so a lower performance version was installed.

Fortunately for the pilots who flew it, their opposition was getting weaker and weaker as much of the opposition they faced were relatively inexperienced pilots, the experts having been mostly killed or wounded to the point they could no longer fly.

In the hands of an experienced pilot, the Yak-3 was formidable foe and quite a few Soviet aces flew the type. With the end of the war, production ceased and extra airframes were parceled out to some of the newer nations that were taken over by the Soviets post war.

This edition differs from the previous one on the F-4 that I reviewed. Specifically, this one is all side profiles. Most of these planes are in the same scheme of two greys over a light blue, though the markings they carried varied quite a bit. By not including upper views, the artist is able to fill the pages with profiles. Aside from an initially brief history of the type, the rest of the book is superbly drawn profiles. The book is in landscape form which is best when doing long subjects like aircraft. Each page has minimal information on the subject, though it does mention if the plane is flown by a specific pilot.

In all, it is a great book for color profile fans and for the modeler looking for some reference material for the next project. 

August 2017

Review book courtesy of Casemate Publishing, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb books. To see more and purchase this book, visit this link.

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