Yakovlev Yak-25 by Fotios Rouch (Collect-Aire 1/48)

Yakovlev Yak-25

by Fotios Rouch

Yak-25

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Introduction

History

The YAK-25 answered a need for a long range 2-seat, 2-engine all weather and night interceptor. Production started in 1954. The YAK-25M carried the "Sokol" radar which made it a capable interceptor. The YAK-25 stayed in service until the mid 60's because the Soviets had no replacement for it.

Collect-Aire's 1/48 Scale YAK-25

The kit is made in Slovakia in the usual cream resin. The master must be pretty good with a lot of detail including all of the air scoops, access panels, riveting, etc. The decals provided are for two different aircraft. The model following very-very closely the scale plans included in the 6/97 issue of Aviatsiya Vremya (Aviation and Time) issue. It certainly looks like everything is included in the scribing.

Construction

The quality of my copy was okay.

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Quite a bit of the very nice fuselage and wing detail was partially obscured by resin blobs or little gauges. After careful sanding I had to rescribe the missing detail. The main fuselage parts and wings were straight. The trailing edge of the wings was razor sharp. The jet pods had some problems. The maker did not choose to cast them as left-right with fan blade insert pieces. He chose instead to cast them as two chunks of resin one for the front and one for the rear portion. The problem with this, on my copy at least, is that the resin shrunk or maybe it was pulled out of the molds before it was fully cured. Hence the jet pods did not fit very well at all. Add to that the fact that the maker did not chose to define the joint point between the front and the rear pieces. He could have left a clearly defined portion for us to sand or cut off so we could get a nice joint surface.

Another problem was that both rear portions of the jet pods had resin blobs deposited right on the rear fan blades. Difficult to remove and reconstruct. I am glad it is not very easy to see in there. Another point of note is that all of the detail that was present around the jet pod joints got obliterated by sanding in my efforts to get them to look right. The detail was recreated with plastic sheet and scribing. All of these problems would have been totally avoided if the maker would have chosen a multipart construction avenue (or if the casting was better).

Something else to watch for is the relationship of the main wings to the fuselage. This is critical if you want the outrigger wheels to touch properly. I chose to enlarge the front view scale plans from Aviatsiya Vremya and cut templates to help me with the wing droop angle.

Spend time on the tail to fuselage joint. On my copy the width of the fuselage top hump was greater that the one of the tail root.

All these points are important because the metal finish will not be too kind on your mistakes. This is why good casting quality and lots of prep work is important for natural metal planes done in resin.

Pay attention to the nose cone. It is nice and hollow but my copy needed a lot of putty to get the contours right since the diameter of the nose cone at the root was not exactly the same as the one of the fuselage.

It is easier to pose the canopy in the open position. If you choose to pose it closed you will have to create your own or modify the existing piece that represents the rear metal canopy portion. It does not look right and it does not fit at all when all the pieces are together. I hollowed out mine after I removed a small portion from the back of it.

Look carefully at the Aviatsiya Vremya photos that show aircraft with the canopy open. It was quite elevated when in the open position.

Painting and Markings

I polished the resin as much as I could before even assembly started. After the main parts were together I used automotive primer and polished it in earnest as well. I then used gloss black paint sprayed in thin coats. When I got a very shiny surface I went at it with my favorite AlcladII shades.

I weathered with pastels. Light gray for the natural metal areas, Darker blue shade for the nose and some reddish brown for some areas around the jetpods and the fuel fill areas.

The decals look good but they are very delicate. Exercise caution.

Hair was provided graciously by the wife again!

Conclusion

Although tough, it proved to be a rewarding kit to add to my collection. I am looking forward to Collect-Aire's Mig-31 which is almost done and on its way to the States from what I hear and to the IL-28.

I am also curious to see how well Trumpeter and HiPM will do in the long run with the Su-15 and Mig-19 kits. This should indicate if there is a viable market for more Soviet subjects in the west. If they prove to be disasters then resin and vac will continue to be the way to go for those who like these planes!