Sovietwarplanes

The subject of the tail colour of Vladimir Pavlovich Pokrovskiy's Yak-1b has come up yet again, this time in the pinned Yak-1 thread on Scalemodels.ru. The correct answer (red? blue? AMT-12? a mix of AMT-11/AMT-12?) is still not known, but there is a small amount of new information now.

Here's the only known photo of this aircraft, published in Osprey Aces No.64, "Yakovlev Aces of World War 2"; the photo copyright is attributed to Gennadiy Petrov:

(http://s1.postimage.org/2zNLS.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/57q3z8ec/)

Here's a profile from this Yakovlev tribute web site:
http://airfield.narod.ru/yak/yak.html

(http://s1.postimage.org/2zDNi.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/57jhtuf8/)

Another one; looks like the Osprey Aces No.64 profile, but with Russian text:

(http://s1.postimage.org/2zLgJ.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/57ogfvwk/)

The following was posted by M. Golovanov on the Scalemodels.ru forum; this is apparently information he received by e-mail from Sergey Kuznetsov, the author of the book "First Yak". I've provided both the Google and the Babel Fish translations, since neither one is perfectly clear, and reading both helps to understand what was posted:

Google:

"That car, which is credited with Pokrovsky - not him. Pilot filmed somewhere in Bulgaria (like the sailors stood on EIA. Yambol) in someone else's faulty machine (see photo mounting tape vodoradiatora hanging under the fuselage), which stood in the meadow. This information came to me (albeit through third parties) from the Pokrovsky."

Babel Fish:

"That machine, which they assign to Pokrovskiy - not it. Pilot is taken somewhere in Bulgaria (seamen like they stood to [aer]. [Yambol]) in whose- that of the defective machine (on the photo they are visible the tapes of fastening water radiator, which hang under the fuselage), which stood on the clearing. This information is alien to me (truth through the third hands) from Pokrovskiy's very."

So, it seems that Kuznetsov had some indirect contact with Pokrovskiy himself, possibly trying to get an answer regarding the tail colour, and was told that this was not his aircraft at all. The real pilot is unknown; I found the comment regarding the radiator to be interesting.

John

Hi John,
thank you for translating this interesting topic.
In my idea, the base color of the plane could be silver. The shade changes relatively much in correspondance of the internal struts of the fabric-covered rear fuselage, and this let me think to silver. Besides silver was not rare for prototypes and aerobatic planes, we can find Yak-3s and Il-10s with this finish.
About the tail: the red fillet of the star contrasts with the tail in its upper part, where the reflex is, so, it's not the same color. So dark blue could be an option.
Massimo

Hi,
there is a page of EP on this subject.
http://www.redbanner.co.uk/History/ace_aircraft/pokrovskiy/Pokrovskiy_Yak.html (http://www.redbanner.co.uk/History/ace_aircraft/pokrovskiy/Pokrovskiy_Yak.html)
Regards
Massimo

Thanks Massimo. :)
Great article.

Hi,
I think that the base color was silver, not grey, because the small reliefs of the sides are put in great evidence. Besides there is clearly a dark stripe visible on the wingroots, plus a lighter one that is likely a reflection on a silver painted fillet.
Regards
Massimo

Well, the article is certainly something to think about. To my eyes, the wing root and the leading edge of the stabilizer certainly appear brighter than the side of the fuselage and the upper surface of the stabilizer. My guess would still be that the tail is painted in AMT-12, but the rest of the fuselage looks very pale to be AMT-11. If I was building a model, I'd probably use AMT-12 for the tail; I'm not sure I'm brave enough to use an aluminum paint for the rest of it, but it's tempting! :D

However, until someone produces a good Yak-1b in 1/72 scale... ;)

John

Article is actually very bad.  Some of authors starting points are wrong:  This Yak did not belong to 2 giap VVS SF.  It wasn't repainted in late 1944; more likely it was repainted in 1943.

This Yak wasn't camouflaged, it wasn't in factory finish (especially not in a fictional "AMT-11 over AMT-7") - it was re-painted to be distinctive.
The new scheme may have included silver, light gray or light blue as a base.  Tail could have been dark blue?  To figure this out, we need a real research, not Pilawskii's "research".

Regards,
KL  

???  What is so enigmatic there?


According to K. Chirkin, who interviewed Pokrowskiy, the tail wasn't red.  Pokrowskiy couldn't remember what colour it was, but he insisted it wasn't red...

My guess would be silver AII Al with dark blue tail.  AII Light Blue or AII Light Gray (with dark blue tail) are posible, but the plane would not be distinctive enough...

Regards,
KL

Going way back for this one... 8)

I would be interested to hear anyone's thoughts on Exito's interpretation of this aircraft: AMT-7 overall with AMT-12 tail and white spinner.

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2020/06/decal-review-yak-attack-in-148th-scale.html

Hi,
a silver plane with the dark blue tail (as described in previous posts) is an interesting interpretation.
Looking at the shadows, sun is almost directly above, slightly to the left and behind the photographer.
However:
- No color demarcation line on the fuselage is visible - was silver paint on the whole plane, or only on the upper surfaces while underwings were light blue AMT-7?
- Leading edge on the horizontal stabilizer looks brighter than rest of the stabilizer upper surface. White?
- Metal wing root looks brighter than the fuselage - is it only a reflection of the sun?
- Tail wheel cover is very bright - is it only a sun reflection on the glossy dark blue surface?
- Bright rectangular looks like repair - yellowish nitroputty over fabric?
- color of the propeller spinner - no idea. Also silver, or white or red or dark blue?
- Color of the antenna mast? Its tip is dark - dark blue?
- Seems like moving part and the rear part of the cockpit canopy is missing and pilot leans against the covered armored glass behind the seat.

Regards,
   66misos

Hi,
I agree on silver and blue.
The nose area could have some more decorations, but this is unknown. I suppose that some red star (with 5 or 6 tips) on the spinner would be likely, as on an Il-2 painted by the same painter.