king derelict

She’s beautiful. I wish you many long years together alan

I’ll be using the Vallejo metal paints on my YAK-27. Any tips on air pressure and needle / nozzle size? I have some of their gloss black primer on order. Thanks alan

Super metal finish alan

The last two photos could be the real thing although for ultimate realism there probably needs to be a draft of cigarette ends on the floor 😃 Absolutely brilliant alan

I started putting things together and have already got a flavour of how things may go. I started with the cockpit tub and the first problem was trying to fit seats and instrument panels. As shown there just isn't room. I sanded the bottom of the rear panel to set it at a different angle which gave be just enough space to the front seat. I dumped the joysticks, they were a mess of flash and were far too tall unless Yaks of the 50s used eye level sticks. I made a pair from 0.5 mm brass rod. The instrument panels have dials sunk into them. I used very dilute white paint in each dial which had the effect of highlighting the rims and giving a bit of depth. A dab of Gators Grip acted as the glass. It will never be seen once closed up but it came out quite well. The rear bulkhead is requiring some heavy-duty sanding to allow the two fuselage halves to come together. A bit more work still needed and I may need to adjust the front IP too. I also made up the rear main landing gear bay and had to get pretty savage with teh sanding sticks there but it does not fit and the uselage will close back there Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments Alan

Welcome Dave

So at last the sage of the prop tips is over. Paint props white mask tips and paint grey ,mask blades and paint red Each time I let the paint cure for 24 hours between coats and I used a dilute clear coat to seal the masks. I never seem to get on well with Tamiya Red but the alternative was a bottle of Mig Ammo Atom Red which is completely untried and I did not want any more drama. I had to tidy up the results from spraying but they were close enough to make it worth a bit of touch up by hand. Touch up duly completed and the props reattached. They are not perfect but they are reasonable for a first attempt at 1/144 scale aircraft. Lots of scope for improvement - and I have a few more 1/144 scale to build when I feel strong enough. I think I have learnt a few things that will improve my efforts for the future. Fairing wings, fuselage and tailplanes will be given more attention and @Landlubber Mike has provided an excellent note to help future builds. Thank you all for the likes and helpful supportive comments. It was nice to see an old remembered aircraft come together as a completed model Alan

Hi Ken You are right about the Yak-28 developing from the -27. All four missiles are included in the kit. I’m not sure if it makes sense to use any or all of them. I had a brief look at the engine nacelles and I need to save up my allowance of bad language for them.

Thanks Mike. I suspect there are some interesting issues ahead alan

Thanks OC. There seems to be a lot of time waiting for paint to dry and idle hands get into mischief 😃 alan

Lovely work and beautiful photographs. Alan

This is the third of my planned Eastern European kits and may be the most challenging. It was an impulse buy because I liked that 50s "supersonic" look. As I understand it the Yak 27K never made it beyond prototype although a reconnaissance did get in. to production. This was also planned to see if I could improve my metal finish skills without too much heartbreak. Having had a quick look in the box I think it may also define the cliff edge of my sanity. References are scarce and it seems that few models have made a public appearance. Lots of parts in the box, quite a bit of flash, some distorted looking parts, sink holes and no locating pins. No major warping at first sight tough. Instructions are somewhat vague and tend to indicate an approximate location of where to add parts Fuselage halves have been cleaned up and the cockpit bucket assembled. Primer added while I try to determine colours. As far as I can tell Yaks had dark grey cockpits in the 50s not the turquoise seen in most Soviet aircraft. I don't think much will be seen inside once the fuselage is closed up. The current overall plan is to complete the fuselage, add wings and tail surfaces then paint. The engine pods will be assembled and painted separately and then fitted. Obviously a lot of dry fitting before picking up the airbrush. I see a lot of filler in my future. Thanks for looking in. Alan

I made a start on the colour glazes. The colour guide on the back of the card with the figure states that cape, vest, breeches, hose are all black. The sample photo shows bands of grey on his vest and the figure actually has seams where the colour changes. I am reluctant to paint everything in black he is going to look like medieval panzer crew. Also the clothing will not be well efined. I actually think dark grey may be better which will become black in the folds and where the white shading isn't present. Curiously the guide also calls out "carmesi" for the sash and bows but that is crimson I think and the guide photo shows violet. Having just bought a bottle of Vallejo Dark Violet I will be going with that. I can't find any images to confirm / contradict. So the first coats of the mid grey and dark grey are on. The cape is going to need more; its a little too light at the top. I think I am going to leave the hose as black and maybe work a little grey into his shoes to demark them. Thanks for looking in and for teh likes and comments Alan

Definitely a touch of the D'Artagnan about him. Up for some serious swashbuckling.

An exercise in shades of grey. Going to be another learning experience. Alan

I can see him sniffing posies on the battlefield. Alan

Welcome OC. This looks like a nice figure. Alan

It looks so obvious when its off. I got the white sprayed on today. Tomorrow I mask and add the gray to the blades. Spend more time cleaning the airbrush than spraying paint. Alan

I use the same stuff (but matte). Seems to work well for wood, plaster but probably needs primer for plastic Alan

Something to occupy idle hands while paint is drying elsewhere. Another Thirty Years War subject from Art Girona. This time a Spanish Officer. I assume every war has its rear echelons but with his little shoes with violet bows this chap doesn't look like someone who plans on charging through the mud and unpleasantness of the front lines😄 The figure is the usual very nice sculpt from Art Girona. I added brass wire pins at the raised arm and neck to locate the head and hand. The usual black primer and the directional white shading before starting the colour glazes. Thanks for looking in. Alan

Progress is shamefully slow to finish this one. The second attempt to detail the prop tips were a miserable failure. The masking worked quite well but I seemed to suffer from incompatibility / inconsistency between the paint colours which were a mix of acrylics from Vallejo and Tamiya. The Tamiya colours didn't like being brush painted and the Vallejo either chipped off or peeled off with the masking. So its all been stripped off again and I am trying again using Tamiya and the air brush. The front and backs have now been primered and tomorrow I will mask and add the first colour. All this for a bit of red and white on the tips of teh blades. Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments. Alan

The luggage racks are so neatly made. Super work alan

Thank you very much OC. This is a first venture into 1/144 scale and there is a learning process as always. I need to tidy up my paintwork. It looks okay to the eye but the camera shows up every flaw. There were some horrible parts in the kit and flash, fit and some deformed parts made it a challenge but I was very happy with the way the fuselage, wings and booms went together. It all locked into place with the booms square to the wings and parallel. I gather the Beverley is much worse. alan

So I went looking on Etsy. I didn’t see the exact same thing but I did buy an Athena figure- complete with owl

Thank you so much Mike. The Art Girona range has several more tempting subjects. alan