LTD 1/48 Yak-9?

[John Thompson]

Is this a reasonably accurate kit? Difficult to build? Any comments or on-line reviews? Thanks in advance!

John

[Dark Green Man]

I think the overall size , shape and external surface detailing are far superior to the ICM/Maquette offering.
two vacuum-formed canopies are included and are the correct size and shape (unlike ICM)
high quality decals for Yak-9D 'Orlitsa' flown by Avdeyev (with 'handed' eagles for both sides),Yak-9D White 14 'capped Frenchman' flown by Marcel Lafavre and Yak-9B Malyi teatr frontu
White 14 could also be used for Lafavre's Yak-9T as this kit can represent a Yak-9T,K,DD or M (with slight modifications)
however it is a short run kit and has thick molding gates and some crude details , mostly the cockpit and main landing gear legs.
I recommend replacing the seat ,stick , rudder pedals and wheels/tires.
(there are also no 'shelves' for the cockpit sidewalls.)
with suitable replacement wheels/tires and an 'upgrade' for the cockpit it should end up a fine model.
(I use left-over ICM Yak-7 parts for the cockpit)

[John Thompson]

Thanks, DGM - I knew you'd have the answer! I did do a search, but all I turned up was a brief comment by Alexey Matvienko in his article, "What Would It Take, a Yak To Make?", in the research pages on this site:
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/yak179/yaks-matvienko/yaks-matvienko.htm

Just what I needed - temptation to wander across the border into Quarter-Scale Land...

John

[Dark Green Man]

oops! sorry !
I also forgot to mention the spinner and propeller are also very good.(although they need some 'clean-up')
there are also no wheel wells, just a hole in the bottom wing.
one will have to scratch-build 'walls' here and add detail if desired.

if this will be your first 1/48 kit or first 1/48 VVS kit then I applaud you for tackling such a 'difficult' project.
because of it's short-run nature many people won't even touch this kit.
if you have built a few short-run kits before and are not afraid of some old fashion model building skills then I think you will be satisfied in the end.

[Greg C.]

There's short-run, then there's LTD.  They are REALLY rough kits, and take a considerable commitment to tackle.  I have the LaGG-3 (obsolete now, with the Vector and ICM offerings on my shelf..) and a couple of I.A.R. 81s which I may very well build, depending on whether or not anyone "surprises" us with a new kit of this lovely little airplane.  But despite their crudeness, LTD had a reputation of doing reasonably accurate kits, at least in outline.
Somehow I have the feeling that we may well see some new Yaks in 1/48th sometime soon.  It's just too prominent a subject to be left so poorly served in 1/48th.

[John Thompson]

Thanks for your comments on the LTD kit, Greg. I hope you're right regarding the possibility of new Yak kits in both 1/48 and 1/72, considering the importance of these aircraft! A new, accurate 1/72 Yak-1b would be especially welcome, as I've said numerous times before.

John

[Dark Green Man]

Greg , I think you are being unnecessarily harsh against this kit.
you are scaring him away!

[Bonehammer]

Pardon me for necroposting, but I see this kit keeps popping up on eBay for fair prices and perhaps someone might be interested in knowing what's in the box. I hope this mini-review is helpful...

Building the kit on its own represents a challenge. Fortunately, with the advent of the ICM kit aftermarket picked up quickly. My opinion is that if you get the kit, Part's etched set and a pair of True Details/Aires/Tally Ho! wheels, Bob's your uncle. You can throw in Quickboost's exhaust and control stick if you feel really lazy.
Here are some pictures of the sprues: the quality of the plastic is similar to MPM.












Cons:
- It's really a rough gem - huge feeding channels, flash galore, rough edges, no locating pins, the works.
- Some parts remain unusable even after cleaning - e.g. the wheels suffer from soft detail and shrinkage issues.
- The chin radiator is still a bit shallow.
- It has the same problem as the Accurate Miniatures Yaks - no enlargement in the rudder base. Takes a bit of work to correct (separate rudder, add spacer to fuselage, either rework the kit rudder or graft the ICM one) but can be left as-is.

Pros:
- The main areas failing in the ICM kit - fuselage section, canopy shape, radiators, ailerons, tailplanes, propeller - are correct.
- Box decals are correct and of good quality.
- When you've cleaned everything up, fit is good.
- You would probably spend the same amount of money and work on the ICM kit.

You can click on each picture to see a larger version. Pardon my unsteady hands: I'll get a tripod for Christmas.

[John Thompson]

Thanks, Bonehammer - very interesting and well-written review, and the photos are very helpful!

Regards;
John

[marluc]

Thanks a lot for this very good review.Greetings.

Martin

[Dark Green Man]

your sample has a lot more flash (and a broken part) than any of the 5 that I have.

I was planning on a web article comparing the LTD kit versus the LTD kit , but I need to
re-take the photos.

there are some areas of the LTD kit that are superior to the ICM and vice versa.

also the decals,although very accurate and nicely printed are not appropriate for this kit.
(it best represents an early Yak-9T or Yak-9K , but can be easily modified to a Yak-9M or Yak-9DD.)

the decal sheet has :
Yak-9D White 14 "Capped Frenchman" flown by Marcel LaFavre of Regiment Normandie.
Yak-9D "Orlitsa" flown by Colonel Avdeyev
Yak-9B "malyi teatr frontu" (little theater-front)

many people have been scared off by the kit's limited-run nature , and that is not really justified.

[Bonehammer]

You should not have told me that you had five... now I went and picked another one. Thanks for the corrections. From this angle it is hard to tell if the canopy is in the forward or rear placement:



BTW the "Capped Frenchman", aka Le P?re Magloire refers to a brand of liquor:

[Dark Green Man]

That's his Yak-9D.
the Yak-9T that he flew later has similar , but different markings.