Workbench:
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ICM
has six kits of the Yak-7 in 1/48th scale, but they all come from one multi-variant
tool. Having built one of all the Yak-7 variants by ICM (or ISM) I have come to
the conclusion that they started with a Yak-7UTI as a base and went from there.
that is not necessarily the best way to go. all the kits have the early style
windscreen, but thankfully the late type is avialable in vacuum-form. For example,
I would have liked seperate side panels for the engine so that a Yak-7b could
be built with either the Klimov M-105PA or M-105PF. as best I can tell the PA
had the standard cowling with individual holes for the exhausts and the PF had
the slotted type as seen on the Yak-1b,Yak-3 and Yak-9. Thier "yak-7di" kit (#48041
and #48042 M. Albert)has this cowling panel arrangement and I have thought of
cutting them and swapping them with the 7b to create one of these variants. I
say "yak-7di" so you don't get confused with the REAL Yak-7DI, which can be built
if you are willing to kitbash two yaks and correct the wing. (the Yak-7DI had
the Klimov M-105PA not the PF as depicted in the kit and had a Yak-9 style wing.)
The photos I'm showing you here are actually from the Baltic Fleet Aviation
set (#48025), they are better for this in the fact that they are not cut for
thier individual releases. 
since
they may be hard to read I will give you the parts breakdown:sprue "A" is the
fuselage halves. (there are actually six of these, two for the Yak-7A,V &
UTI; two for the Yak-7b(shown) and two for the "yak-7di") sprue "B" is the upper
and lower wings. sprue "C" is the propeller,cockpit floor,aelerons,tailplanes...
sprue"D" is the important one , this is where all four of the engine cowling
(top) pieces are. The white lettering indicates which cover goes on each version.
if you buy one of the individual releases three of these will be cut off. if
you buy the Yak-7V then the entire left half will also be cut off. I have indicated
this cut with the white line. this is a mistake on the part of ICM as I cannot
find any photos that show the 7V with non-retractable skis.if you want to make
an accurate Yak-7V go buy the 7A,b or UTI and use those ski parts and instructions.
I ran out of film before getting a shot of sprue"E", these are the clear parts.
the canopy could be replaced by the vacuum-formed one by Falcon (sold by http://www.Squadron.com)
the other parts are wingtip lights, landing light and the gunsight that I like
a lot better than the one from ICM's Yak-9 kits. Before you begin construction
decide if you are building a single-seat version or two-seat version. if you
are building a single-seater you will need to remove the canopy frame rails
on the fuselage behind the cockpit. This is molded on all the "razorback" Yak-7's
and was not present on single-seat variants.
Part two will begin after I have used Pollyscale Plastic prep on all the parts to get rid of the mold release agent (ICM is known for heavy,thick and oily mold release agents).
Here
we can see the differences in the kit-supplied canopy and the excellent vacuum-formed
one. I have opted to show you the late version (the earlier version is at the
other end of the piece) so you can see the differences in the style. Some Yak-7b's
had the early style canopy and some had the later, so be sure to check the photos
of the plane you are modeling to be sure you have the right type. This piece has
a nicely molded early canopy for use on the Yak-7, 7A, 7UTI, early Yak-7b and
early Yak-7V, so it is well recommended for those versions if you want to build
one (or more!) of those.
Although
it is hard to tell in this photo, I have painted the cockpit floor in my mix
of Wood Use Aerolak prior to construction as I find it more difficult to paint
later. The interiors of the fuselage were also painted, but did not show up
in the film, so I chose not to submit them. The rudder pedals, control stick,
seat pan, seat back and armored headrest have been glued in place and will be
painted soon. I find these pieces better glued in now rather than later, they
can be tricky maneauvering through the open fuselage top after the fuselage
halves are together. The kit instructions tell you to use part D2 between the
side frames, but I wanted to do this as a seperate sub-assembly so I stole parts
from unused areas of the sprues to add structural strength and visual appeal.
the rear seat mount (part D12) would generally be used for two-seaters but worked
here to provide more support. The two gun barrels (part D24) were trimmed to
the correct length and glued in, the whole framework then being turned upside-down
to allow it to dry with the correct flat top edge. This next shot shows what
the cockpit floor assembly and the framework assembly will look like when glued
together (this will be done after these pieces are painted).
The
wings are actually the easiest part of the kit and I have only one secret here
to give you. The wing root edge of the top wing parts (B2 & 3) should be
glued to the "corner" of the landing gear bay as I've highlighted here with
red and black felt-tipped pen. The red arrow shows where the part goes and the
black mark is the area where the glue should go. If you don't, there will be
a gap between the wing spar and the upper wing. There will be the inevitable
clean up around the leading edge, wingtip and especially around the Aileron.
I've found that the Aileron will require trimming and sanding no matter what
you do so it is far more important to have a good wing root to fuselage joint.(Carman's
sleeves) this will save you from a lot of puttying and sanding in a difficult
area later on. The fuel guages have been 
drilled
out and cleaned up in preparation for their sheet styrene reinforcing, this
is not something you need to do but is an option for more realistic fuel guages.
You can paint the discs white and add fine red and black lines, or you can make
decals for them.
It may seem like I am jumping around and not really building this kit, but rest assured that my unusual building method will cause these sub-assemblies to come together rapidly later on. Yhis kit is the 12th ICM Yak-7 that I have built and have developed this strange method to deal with the unique issues the kit has.
(For
the photos in part three I used a different lighting setup , but will return to
the older method for better colors). here is the cockpit floor re-painted with
Pollyscale's P.R.U. Blue, even though it does not show up on this type of film.
the earlier mix did not seem blue enough and seemed too light. the control stick,
seat pan and seat back have been painted in flat aluminum with leather in the
padded areas to provide some color and contrast to the black used on the control
stick's grip. the armored headrest is also in aluminum , but should be A-14 or
M.U.P. the rudder pedals are very delicate items and fall off easy as you can
see , they will have to be re-attached before fuselage assembly. the cockpit sidewall
framing is shown here in overall flat aluminum to give some contrast to the blue-grey
wood primer when assembled. this also helps give the impression of an aircraft
manufactured in the haste of war. this next shot shows what the framework looks
like connected to the floor. it's horizontal cross-brace is immediately behind
the armored headrest.
ICM's
decal for the intrument panel is a black layer over a clear one so it is neccessary
to paint the panel (part C23) white in order to see the edges of the instruments.
the right-side console did not want to stay glued on so I hope and pray that
it will stick to the framing when assembled. the inside of the fuselage halves
have been repainted in PRU blue, but again don't show up well under this light.
the rear canopy frames have been removed from the outside fuselage as was standard
for single seat fighter versions of the Yak-7. however, there is an exception
to the rule : the Yak-7 (no suffix) was essentially a Yak-7UTI without the rear
cockpit parts and two 7.62mm SHKAS machine guns added above the engine and a
20mm SHVAK between the cylinder banks. the shortage of plexiglass neccessitated
the replacement of the rear canopy with a curved plywood sheet.
a
piece of white styrene sheet has been glued to the underide of the upper wing
to add depth to the fuel guage, and the upper wing part (B3) has been glued
to the lower (B1) allowing you to see the "corner" it is connected to. (the
other side is still highlighted for continued reference) the top view helps
to illustrate the depth of the fuel guage. this next shot shows the cockpit
floor,framing and intruments in place , minus the right console (C26) once this
part is in the cockpit sub-assembly can be considered ready for installation.
the next shot shows the cockpit being dry-fit into place in the left fuselage
half.
(During the test fitting I discovered that my horizontal braces at the rear of the cockpit are too long.)
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I
had originally planned to build this kit without the engine, because with the
cowling closed up you can't see it anyway. at the last minute I decided to include
it as an opportunity to cover some of the colors used on the inside of Soviet
aircraft of the period. according to Erik's book you have a few options for the
engine block:
unpainted (cast iron?), MV-6 black primer or MV-2 dark blue-grey primer. I've painted mine in Pactra A36 military blue (FS 35189) to simulate MV-2, although I don't know how accurate that really is. Engine heads and valve covers are listed as MV-6 black primer. The reduction gear, supercharger and it's ducting are painted with steel from the Testors Acryl line. The 20mm SHVAK connon is also painted in semi-gloss black as I find flat black a little too dull for guns.
These
next two shots show the trick to the cockpit floor: you have to trim off the
corners or there will too many layers of plastic at the wing roots leading edge.
A roughly 45 degree angle will work well as can be seen in the bottom view.
next the fuselage halves can be joined together, trapping the tailwheel and
cockpit sub-assembly in place. I have found it easier to paint the exhausts
first and insert them from the inside, this requires bending them a little bit
so be carefull not to break them. You can also seperate the stacks individually
( from thier "runner") and insert them from the outside after the camoflage
is painted. The machine guns would go on top of the shelf immediately in front
of the instrument panel, if I were going to install them. I have found that
they are better ommitted as it will not allow the engine cowling to fit on properly.
Some people have thinned the inside of the cowling to make it fit, so it is
possible if you wish to dislay the machine guns and engine.
Next
the wings can be added here, as you can see my method allows for a tight fit
here requiring only the bare minimum of filler at the wing roots. The side view
shows the tail wheel peeking out from the underside. The underside is also a
tight fit, most of the join line will be hidden under the radiator when it is
installed. A small portion of the cockpit floor ( the outer "rails") actually
forms part of the landing gear well, these will be painted the underside color
when the time comes. The top view shows the general arrangement of the cockpit
and engine inside and the tight wing root to fuselage joint on the outside.
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Ailerons:there
aren't any major secrets here, just a little cleaning up with the hobby knife
and/or the the sanding stick. the area where the Ailerons go just needs to be
straight and square and the Ailerons themselves will need a small trim. I usually
do this on the outboard end where it is quicker and easier to trim.
Upper Cowling panel: this part always seems to be very tight fit, so I use
the sanding stick or sponge to shorten it.
there is no need to go crazy with this as the part just needs a light shave.
out of habit I do this on the front end as I find the straight line easier to
sand and not get the angle wrong. this is a good idea if you are building the
"A" "V" or "UTI" ("?", "?", or "???") versions as they have the early panel
line at an angle. sanding at the front helps eliminate the possibility of gaps
from an incorrect angle of sanding.
Radio
Deck : I don't know why ICM not not provide one as all Yak-7b's had radios.the
radio sets were introduced gradually in late series Yak-7A's , first with recievers
only (squadron leaders had the transmitters) and then with transmitters for
all planes. this one was stolen from the "Yak-7DI/Yak-9 (early)" kit so I will
have to make a replacement for that kit later. since I am presuming the deck
itself was wood I have painted mine in Wood Use Aehrolak and I have used Testors
Russian Armor Green (#4807) for A-7 Green primer. Testors Russian Topside Green
is also a reasonably close match for A-7. another option is A-11 Black primer,which
I believe had a semi-gloss finish.
Landing
Gear : only one little trick here,use sanding sticks to slightly narrow the
upper sides of the outer landing gear doors (parts C 49 & C50) to fit them
into the bay in the wing. if you want you can also cut off the top end to shorten
it ,but I find that narrowing it and fitting it in where ICM wants you to put
it in also helps with the landing gears alignment. when the landing gear is
fully installed with it's wheels and tires the wheels and tires should be perfectly
vertical.
Oil Cooler : this is another area of the kit where your skills come in , as
it doesn't fit well without some work. there is a small lip at the very forward
edge of the lower engine cowling, which only seems to make the fit worse so
I shave it down smooth. another strange part is the "pin" on the backside of
the cooler piece itself, another "Duncil" piece (part that serves no useful
function) that should just be cut off. I have thought about it long and hard
and cannot come up with a reason for this "pin". the cooler piece (C2) can then
be glued in 
it's
proper place. I glue it in place and push it back so that the leading edge of
the wing overlaps it and hides the seam.
What is that white on the side?
the aircraft I have chosen to model had white tactical numbers on the side,
but the decal sheet provided them in yellow. this is white primer from the Testors
Acryl range (# 4622) that will serve as a primer for the number during the model's
painting stage.
Part Six
The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray" is a quote you will recall from the novel by John Steinbeck. Just as much as it applied to mice it applies to modelers, too.
At first my plan was to mask the numbers and paint the camouflage, but Frisket Film proved to be a little too stretchy and I didn't have any Frisket Paper. So, on to plan B-- make masks from paper and temporarily attach them with a spray-on adhesive. Then I read the label and it said "may leave a residue...", so I decided it was best not to do this.
On to plan C-- paint the camouflage first and worry about the numbers later. After the model was given a base coat of AMT-7 Light Blue for the undersides and AMT-4 Green for the top and sides it was time to make this plane look good. The pattern from Erik Pilawskii's book Soviet Air Force Fighters Colors (page 158 fig. 11) was enlarged to the size of the model and the paper it was printed on was cut out along the demarcation lines and applied to the model. I then used a mechanical pencil to trace the lines. When I airbrushed the AMT-6 Black (actually a very dark Gray) all I had to do was cover the lines left by the pencil for a semi-soft edge.
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Canopy
I thought I would save myself some time and apply the canopy masks to the canopy
and then attach it prior to painting. This is when I discovered they did not
fit the vacuum formed replacement canopy. It is a good thing I didn't discard
the original canopy as I was then forced to use it. In all other regards I would
recommend the Black Magic set (CEBM 48363) to you for use as you can see the
results in the painted canopy versus the un-painted one.
Spinner and Propeller
One of the biggest inaccuracies of this kit are these very recognizable features
[problems with shape], so some type of correction is needed.
Most of the other flaws in the kit are relatively minor and I am usually willing to overlook them, but not this one. In the past I've simply used them as a matter of convenience, but I've got a better way to do it in the future. This is actually an experiment as I removed the spinner and propeller from the Accurate Miniatures Yak-1 as these two planes were both fitted with the VISH 61P propeller. I liked the way it looked so I decided to glue it on. Since I don't have an excess of AM Yak's I will make resin copies of a suitable replacement for many future kits.