September 2020 – Mike's Models

Yak-3 flown by Semyon Ivanovich Rogovoi, 64 Guards Fighter Regiment, 2nd Baltic Front, Autumn, 1944. His name is on the side of the fuselage, and it says that the aircraft was funded by the sailors of the Amur Red Fleet.

The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Я́ковлев Як-3) designed by the engineers of the Yakovlev design bureau was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft that became operational in 1944. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by pilots and ground crew alike. It was one of the smallest and lightest major combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war and its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance making it a formidable dogfighter. It was more than a match for the Messerschmitt 109 F/G variants, and the Focke-Wulf 190, in fact it is said the German pilots tried to avoid it in combat.

In combat, the Yak-3 proved its worth almost immediately as it arrived. It maintained a stellar kill-to-loss ratio over Luftwaffe fighters and held the upper hand in most engagements thanks to its inherent capabilities and powerful armament. The addition of the Klimov VK-107 1,700 horsepower engines upped the ante even further as now the Yak-3 was capable of improved top speeds reaching 450 miles per hour. Marcel Albert, World War II French ace, who flew the Yak-3 in the USSR with the Normandie-Niémen Group, considered it a superior aircraft when compared to the P-51D Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire. By war’s end, nearly 5,000 Yak-3s in 12 variants would roll off of Soviet assembly lines and into battle against the Luftwaffe. Production continued into 1946 when the era of jet fighters began.

She looks the business! I highlighted the rivet detail and added a bit of exhaust staining as usual. She was armed with two 12,7mm machine guns and had a 20mm cannon in the nose.

A lovely, sleek design. I put her up there with the Spitfire and P-51 Mustang! The instrument panel just visible is a decal.

This was a fairly easy build from the Eduard ‘Weekend’ edition of kits, which are supposed to be cheap and cheerful. I did have a few fit issues with it but nothing too bothersome. I brush painted this one again using my specialist Hataka line of camouflage paints for Russian WW2 aircraft.

I partially damaged the decal with the writing on the starboard side, so out came the trusty 000 fine brush and re-wrote it again with white paint!

The cockpit was fairly basic. The seat belts came as decals. The canopy didn’t quite fit when closed which is why I chose the open option. There is no antennae as it was supposed to fix to the back of the canopy and I didn’t want to risk it!

Alongside the La-5, showing the similarity in size. My Red Air Force is growing!

Box top. The other colourful version was for the famous Normandie-Niemen squadron, flown by French volunteers, in this case Captain Marcel Albert.

The pilot officers appear to be having a discussion while the ground crew effect repairs.

The man himself Semyon Rogovoi and his aircraft

An interesting incident apparently took place at the end of the war over Yugoslavia in November 1944 between Soviet Yak-3s and American P-38 Lightning fighters, which mistook the Soviet fighters for Germans. As a result of the action, the Americans lost four aircraft, after which the Allies managed to effect a degree of co-operation. American recollections about the outcome of the combat differ somewhat from the Soviet with the American pilots claiming they shot down eight Soviet fighters!

I-153. Think she looks rather cute even if a little on the tubby side!

This is the ICM kit of the legendary I-153 Soviet fighter, the last and most perfect of the N.N. Polikarpov design bureau biplane fighter family. It had a gull or v-shaped upper wing, hence the nickname ‘Chaika’ or ‘Seagull’, which became its official second name, also retractable chassis and four ShKAS machine guns. It had an M-62 radial engine while later versions had a more powerful M-63.

Actually today most researchers and aircraft connoisseurs do not rate the Chaika very highly, as they consider producing biplanes during 1938-40 a mistake.

After the Spanish Civil war, monoplanes showed their superiority to bi-planes, but they continued to be produced.

To achieve an increase in speed while retaining manoeuvrability was only possible by reducing aerodynamic drag. Therefore, the aircraft was equipped with an upper wing of the ‘seagull’ type.

The maiden flight of the Chaika was in August 1938. During 1939-41, 3,437 I-153s were produced. In the summer of 1941, the Chaika was the basis of Soviet Fighter Aviation together with the I-16. They were used in combat until 1943.