Zvezda1:72 Yak-130 Demo Team

[PilotMM]

Hello all!
I am back from my first ever modeling contest with a fresh 2nd place! The award was $10 in store credit so I spent an hour or so looking at the stock and picked up this kit. I have been trying to paint A/C camo and failing so I thought I would try something that isn't camouflaged. If you are not familiar:


Anyways I saw this and have always been fascinated with Yak's and thought this would look great in Tamiya red with a gloss coat. Just from the factory look.

When I opened the box to inspect the parts I was a little disappointed that they don't include decals for the EFIS :-/ I jumped online and ordered the Eduard PE set for the cockpit and threw in the canopy mask too just for good measure. It will be my first time actually using either of those.

The detail on the kit is top notch! This is not one of the older Zvezda kits that I have been told leaves a lot to be desired. The panel lines are a little thin so I spent some time scribing them with a safety pin. Not all of them but the ones on the top of the wing and the empennage.

So this is what the plastic trees look like.
Untitled by M M

I like the color decal/color diagram!

Untitled by M M
The pilot is doing his best Happy Gilmore impresson....

So, something I picked up with my last build and will probably continue to do is priming on the sprue. It is a little cumbersome but I keep track of all the parts and numbers (and there were quite a few for this kit) and will build in stages. Engine sections will be painted together and then assembled, then landing gear, cockpit, and finally body. This will take longer but I will be able to take my time with the painting and assembly.
Untitled by M M

I plan on doing this with the gear down and speed brake up but with the canopy closed so it looks like they just landed. I might change my mind and leave the canopy open but who knows. Lastly, I have to figure out how to paint the ejection det cord. I saw another company made a mask for it but the places in the US that sold the PE kit didn't have that brand masking kit. I dislike paying to ship from two different places for small parts so it might go unpainted unless you guys have some suggestions.

Anyways that's it for now! Thanks for stopping in!
-M

[Twokidsnosleep]

They got the pilot colour correct...he is a Red through and through
Nice little plane

[PilotMM]

Thanks Scott.

Made a little progress today, maybe two hours worth of work. Its really hard to see what is going on here but I will do my best to explain. Zvezda has molded the engine inlets separate and you have to put together the inlet, the N1 fan, the exhaust fan, and then put them in a housing and they fit in the bottom of the aircraft.

The only thing I don't like is that there is a seam right down the middle of the inlet, the good news is it will be so buttoned up it will be hard to see. I missed one spot I still need to paint so I might try to flood it with CA and hit it with white again. I also have to paint the silver stripes of the inlets. I think its best to do it now because it will be easier to mask now then when its put together.

Anyways enough text, here are some photos.

Untitled by M M
Huge seam :-/

Untitled by M M
Still is nice that they allow the builder to put this together. That's cool

Untitled by M M
Rear section. Those gaps will all be covered up so I am not sure why they molded it this way. IMO they should have let the rear fan be a separate piece and the longer section and enclosure be another. This is 3 pieces.

These next few photos are dry fit so I could conceptualize what was going on.
Untitled by M M
Note the APU exhaust port! I love that, I will have to drill it out.
Untitled by M M
Untitled by M M
Pretty ingenues how they routed the inlets. The motors are small but this bird is capable of nearly Mach 1 Speeds. I can see why they use this as a trainer/light attach aircraft.

My PE parts should be here tomorrow. I probably won't be able to work on this any more until next week. I am going to try to go to the IPMS Best In The West show on Saturday so the weekend will be booked up.

Thanks for checking in.

-M

[PilotMM]

I have been working slowly on this build. Maybe an hour or two at a time but there has been progress made.

As mentioned I decided to try PE for the first time. I kind of got discouraged by the seam inside the inlet and decided to shift gears and work on the cockpit. The good news is that my discouragement has vanished because I love the way the PE cockpit looks! Unfortunately I already knocked off and lost the tiniest piece off the ejection seat but I have a spare. I plan on waiting until I am finished with the seats to reinstall it.

The first step was removing the molded detail off of the seats. This was a little trickier than I imagined. I don't have a chisel so I used my #11 hobby knife and used the sharp side and the back side until I got it "close enough."

Untitled by M M
From here I glued the top pieces of PE (I imagine they are for lifting/lowering the seat in) and the seat adjustments piece. I wanted them to be flat black. From there I went to town and started slowly adding pieces.

Untitled by M M

I did not realize how small some of those pieces of brass are. It really took some careful gluing to get right. I spent maybe an hour and a half just to make it that far on one seat. I think I will only do one seat though because I plan on having the pilot figure in the other seat. I haven't looked close enough to see if I can manipulate the PE seatbelts around the figure to see if its worth it.

All the photos I have seen on the ejection seats show the cushions to be almost OD green and the headrest black but just to add some interest I colored the headrest OD.
Untitled by M M
Untitled by M M

From there I worked on the MFD's. Again you have to remove the detail that is smartly produced on the plastic so they lay flat. It was a chore and I ended up bending the forward cockpit piece a bit. The results though are so worth it. Its a travesty that Zvezda doesn't include decals for the displays.
Untitled by M M

I was happy that the side panels were PE because they would have been nearly impossible to paint all the switches.

Here is a quick mock up of the forward cockpit. I have intentionally left off the HUD for the moment. I have read that people tend to knock it off and its a lovely piece of PE.

Untitled by M M

So one thing to note if you are a newb (like I am) at using PE. If you are not careful with the super glue and the printed part is glued to your finger, the printed part will be removed. The targeting computer that sits below the HUD was touched up with some Flat black because the printed part is still attached to my finger.

From here I worked on the pilot just a touch. I incorrectly painted his O2 mask OD green because that's what color mine is but will leave it. I still have to paint his helmet white and then touch up his belts. I will try to color match them with the PE belts but that might be an exercise in futility.
Untitled by M M

I love how the blue flight suit is going to contrast with the red AC paint!

Like I said the PE cockpit has really sparked my drive again. I went to a modeling show this past weekend and one of the guys I met really stressed to me to "build models for yourself" and that really resonated with me. I want to see how far I can take this one like I did with my GT40. I love airplanes and this is a unique one. I think once I get the cockpit sorted I will head back to the body and press on.


Thanks for following along!
-M

[PilotMM]

We have had company in town and work has had me busy but yesterday I took time to do just a little painting and some assembly. With the exception of the HUD the cockpit is finished.

Untitled by M M
Thats probably the best I can do for 1:72 scale

Untitled by M M
I probably should have sprayed my pilot in flat clear but *Shrugs*

Untitled by M M

Oh I should mention there was no way to fit a pilot and the PE details. So one pilot it is! And if my internal masking goes well I will have the canopy open.

Untitled by M M

If I get time this following week I will get more of the fusealuge put together. I started painting wheel wells too just don't have photos yet.

-M

[chief5437]

this is looking really good. nice progress, should look great when its done