Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: Frank3k on December 08, 2021, 01:08:50 PM
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I've had a kit of the Yak-6 made by Alpha (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/alfa-jak-6--130690) rattling around for 20+ years in a container of started kits. It's not a good kit, despite its simplicity. I decided to finish the plane and not put too much effort into it since it's not worth the effort of super detailing... and it would guarantee that I would finish the model before I lost interest.
In the same container, I found a box with some old 1/72 Airfix Hs-129 parts (not enough for a complete kit) and another box with an ancient but also partial, Lindberg Hs-129 (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/lindberg-441-50-henschel-hs-129b--145808). From the brittleness of the plastic, it has to date from the 1960s.
So I decided to mix and match parts. I started by putting together the Yak-6 fuselage and noticed that it was too narrow for the canopy, so I widened it with styrene strips to improve the fit. I didn't like the radials on the Yak-6, so I replaced them with the Gnome-Rhône radials from the Hs-129. This involved some careful plastic surgery on the brittle Lindberg plastic (the engines were a better fit than the Airfix ones).
The box with the random aircraft bits also had the tail from an Airfix 1/72 Pe-2. The Yak-6 tail didn't spark joy, so after a quick surgery the vertical tail was removed and the two vertical stabilizers from the Pe-2 grafted onto the horizontal stabilizers.
The kit's side windows seem to have gone AWOL over the years. They were replaced with thin plastic and masked with Tamiya tape. I also did some minor detailing of the cockpit, with pilot seats from a Matchbox Ju-188, throttle stand and instrument panel from an Airfix B-25 and a styrene floor and bulkhead - the kit only comes with two seats and a blank ip slab.
Here's what it looked like after the first layer of primer:
(https://i.imgur.com/Xd967uz.jpg)
The props are from the Airfix Hs 129:
(https://i.imgur.com/0OnOJtm.jpg)
I'm leaning towards a French aircraft from immediately after the war, hence the "Jacques Six" name. The plane is starting to look like a fixed gear version of the Beechcraft 18, too.
Here's after some paint:
(https://i.imgur.com/jcuq9DR.jpg)
The blobs of putty are there because I pulled off the masks too soon and I need to put on a semi-matte coat after decalling.
(https://i.imgur.com/58bu8iT.jpg)
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:smiley:
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:smiley:
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Nice work.
I find it interesting that there are so many aircraft of around that era that look practically the same, Electra 10, Beech 18, and sort of, the Airspeed Oxford/Envoy and now this design which fits right in.
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The Yak 6 was a flimsy, underpowered underperformer... but with the new engines it's not only about the same size as the Beech 18, it would have had a similar performance.
I think a lot of designers were using similar airfoils and roughly equivalent engines, so there was some convergent evolution in the designs.
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I thought it was finished, but I just noticed I left off the navigation lights. a quick dab of Tamiya clear and it'll truly be done. Top view, with a figure for scale:
(https://i.imgur.com/uJuESih.jpg?1)
Two side views:
(https://i.imgur.com/Vr2IFm0.jpg)
The aircraft registration, "F-TODC" is the year and month I finished the model - Twenty One DEcember. The aircraft code on the tail - 2112 is the same.
(https://i.imgur.com/E928qsC.jpg)
The hand painted canopy framing came out OK - the canopy is a lot clearer than I had expected. I added the cowl flaps under the engine to cover the huge gap between the cowling and the original engine mount.
The list of kits/kit parts used:
Yak-6
Lindberg Hs-129
Airfix Hs-129
Matchbox Ju-188
Airfix B-25
tailwheel from a mystery Tamiya kit
styrene bits and clear plastic bits.
black decals by me, French tricolor from a Heller 1/220 Noratlas.
Not a great kit, but it came out OK and I'm pleased that the original kit is barely recognizable. Thanks for following along!
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A very nifty little twin prop. Well done!
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Great job! That's a really nice paint scheme!
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Thanks guys. It was a surprisingly quick project, considering the mods I had to make. Not trying to make it perfect helped, too...
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:smiley:
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Not trying to make it perfect helped, too...
And now you've found the secret of enjoyable model making . . . ;)
cheers,
Robin.
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Not trying to make it perfect helped, too...
And now you've found the secret of enjoyable model making . . . ;)
cheers,
Robin.
Plenty perfect by me. Build to 'your' level and enjoy. :smiley:
Is good as I ever get it on a good day.