Yak-3 Weekend Edition

Eduard, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Eduard's 1/48 scale Yak-3 Weekend Edition is available online from Squadron.com

The Yakovlev Yak-3 was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft.

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. It proved to be a formidable dogfighter.

Marcel Albert, World War II French ace, who flew the Yak in USSR with the Normandie-Niémen Group, considered it a superior aircraft to the P-51D Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire.

After the war ended, it flew with the Yugoslav and Polish Air Forces.*

Eduard first released this kit way back in 2000. This undoubtedly places it in an earlier generation, but it has stood the test of time well.

Eduard's 1/48 scale Yak-3 comprises just 53 pieces in grey plastic, five parts in clear plus two marking options in this expanded Weekend Edition package.

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Thumbnail panels:

Despite its vintage, the sprues have held up very well with no hint of flash.

The Yak-3 constructed built largely from wood so surface features are smooth. Where appropriate, panel lines are moulded on the shiny plastic. These are crisp and fine.

Fabric texture on the control surfaces are restrained.

Interior detail is basic, but so was the real aircraft. Eduard supplies decals for harness straps and also as an option for the instrument panel. Alternatively, you may prefer to paint the raised detail of the individual dials.

The parts breakdown is very simple. The wing is supplied as a full span upper and lower half, with the cockpit parts - seat, control column, rudder pedals, side consoles, forward firewall and instrument panel - all mounted on top of the wing's centre section. The assembled fuselage halves are then glued onto the wing "saddle".

The wheel wells are moulded as part of the lower wing half.

The canopy is supplied in open and closed configurations.

The closed option is a single part, while the open canopy has a separate windscreen, sliding section and rear section.

Markings

Markings are supplied for two Yak-3s:

• Lt. Semyon Ivanovich Rogovoi, A 64th GIAP, 2nd Baltic Front, Fall, 1944

• Capt. Marcel Albert, GC 3 Normandie-Niemen, 1944/ 1945

The decals have been produced by Eduard. Printing, colours and registration is perfect on my sample.

Eduard's 1/48 scale Yak-3 dates from 2000 and therefore represents a different generation of tooling and detail compared to recent releases.

Even so, the Yak-3 was a simple aircraft and Eduard's kit has delivered accurate outlines and a very straightforward build thanks to the small number of parts and easy assembly sequence.

Comparisons to Zvezda's 2013-release Yak-3 are probably inevitable. Zvezda's kit occupies a different universe of detail with a full engine bay, separate cowlings and a very high level of general detail. If you want to build a superdetailed Yak-3, Zvezda is the way to go.

However, Eduard's kit still has its charms. It will look as much like a Yak-3 as the Zvezda kit does when it is finished, and it will be a fast, easy build. If you are planning to build a curbside kit as a canvas for one of the many striking marking schemes worn by this little fighter, then the Eduard kit is an excellent option.

Recommended.

* Historical summary courtesy of Wikipedia.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2016 by Brett Green
Page Created 18 August, 2016
Last updated 19 August, 2016

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