Kit: No. CM4804
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Czech Model, available from Squadron Mail Order, 1115 Crowley Dr., Carrollton, TX 75011-5010, phone 972-242-8663
Price: $24.95
Comments: Mixed media, 49 parts (31 injection-molded plastic, 16 resin, 2 vacuum-formed canopies), decals.
Work began on the USSR’s Yak-15 as early as February 1945, and it was advanced greatly by German scientists “recruited” at the end of World War II. Derived from the Yak-3 piston-engined fighter and powered by a Soviet copy of the Junkers Jumo 004B jet engine, the Yak-15 (Allied code name Feather) flew successfully on April 24, 1946. Production amounted to nearly 400.
Czech Model’s Yak-15 is a limited-run kit with shallow and inconsistent engraved panel lines, good-quality True Details resin parts for the interior and wheels, and a pair of crystal-clear vacuum-formed canopies. A pitot tube shown on the drawings is not provided and should be made from stretched sprue or wire.
The instructions include a brief history, parts maps, assembly sketches, and paint and marking drawings. More color information is printed on the back of the box. The parts are not numbered or named, but the sketches make it clear what goes where.
You’ll need a flat file or sandpaper glued to a flat surface to dress all the mating surfaces. My sample had an oily substance over most of the plastic parts. Soapy water wouldn’t cut through it, so I used a polishing stick to remove the stuff. You get a choice of plastic or resin wheels; the resin versions have better detail, but the flattened bottoms are too flat. I sanded some of the bulge from each side for a better appearance.
Overall, the parts fit well, but there are a couple of glitches in the assemblies. Mount the wing spars so they end flush with the wing roots, not as shown. If you miss this, the landing-gear-strut mounts will be too far outboard.
The rear portions of the fuselage halves were slightly warped, but they cooperated under the influence of slide clamps and rubber bands while the glue set. I had to file the left wing root to achieve dihedral equal to the right wing. There are no tabs for mounting the wings and horizontal stabilizers, but after carefully dry-fitting, the flush mounts will bond securely when you glue them. The fit of the canopy was nearly perfect.
I couldn’t resist the overall red Yak-15 that was featured in a Soviet air force aerial demonstration team at the Tushino Air Display in 1948. I airbrushed Testor Model Master insignia red.
The decals are thin but sturdy. Slide them into a puddle of water or decal-setting solution on the model so they won’t fold back on themselves. A light application of Solvaset helped them snuggle into scribed panel lines.
The gun barrels in my sample were too long and out of round. I replaced them with metal tubing about 1/8″ long. The resin gunsight was unusable.
My Yak-15 took longer to finish than I expected: 38 hours. Plastic cement and filler putty caused many of the seam lines to shrink, calling for additional filler and more sanding.
Once finished, though, it makes a handsome (and very red) addition to my growing collection of WWII Soviet fighters. It measures almost perfectly to scale with the dimensions in Hans-Heiri Stapfer’s Yak Fighters in Action (Squadron/ Signal).
Modelers experienced with mixed-media construction will enjoy the little red Yak.
– Allan F. Jones