Yak-18 - Amodel
![](/albums/img/6/7/1/1705671-57594-64-p.jpg "Dry fitting to ensure that the "lip" on the trailing edge of the wing near the fuselage sits flush with the top wing surface, or you will have a hard time sanding it into shape. | View full picture")
![](/albums/img/9/7/9/1707979-57594-70-p.jpg "Sanded smooth after 24 hours of drying and the lost "panel" lines rescribed. This process completely eliminated every trace of the gap. The wingtip position lights are sanded off and will be replaced later. | View full picture")
Comments
87 14 March, 21:47
BozoThank you for this box opening, difficult model, it's very heavy and thick. I will look carefully at your assembly but I pass my turn for the purchase of this reference.
Good luck.
15 March, 07:57
NicolasI'm in. the parts look much better than on my last Amodel kit. Good luck with this little beauty.
15 March, 18:13
Thomas KolbNicolas, no it is terrible. The parts resemble something from a child's toy vending machine. Everything is warped, bent, drowned in excess plastic and nothing really fits together. I am not sure that it can be built to any reasonable standard, but I am willing to try.
16 March, 09:39
NicolasHello Thomas. I know how bad Amodel kits can be. I just wanted to express that your kit is still one of the less bad ones compared to some I own. So far your project looks promising in any case. Good luck and above all a lot of patience.
16 March, 14:19
Alec KTaking a seat. Fingers crossed you persevere with this, from all appearances, difficult kit 👍
17 March, 00:36
MariusYou're courageous Thomas. I inspected this kit too some time ago, since this is such a cool looking aircraft in my view, but I gave up because of that canopy. The sample I saw had an even worse canopy. With all those cockpit details, maybe you can improvise an opened canopy out of vacuformed parts from other similar aircraft. With the open canopy, mismatches will be less obvious.
30 March, 09:07
Łukasz GlińskiBrave choice! Still, not the worst kit of that airplane 😋
Jakowlew Jak-18 (Waku , 1:72)
Actually you could use its canopy - seen one online today for around 6€ 😁
11 April, 18:35
Thomas KolbMariusz & Łukasz 🙂 I am not trying to be brave, this is the only reasonable kit of the Yak-18. That Waku thing would give me nightmares. I just cannot stand vac-formed stuff.
12 April, 06:47
Thomas KolbYesterday I spent some time investigating how I can improve the canopy and discovered that most of the bubbles and the roughness is on the inside surfaces. So I took a deep breath and sanded everything, both on the outside and inside with sanding sticks and Mr Hobby sanding cloths and then polished back the transparency with Tamiya polishing compounds. Everything cleared up pretty well, so the canopy is now actually perfectly usable!
17 April, 17:11
Robert PodkońskiGood to know that, Thomas. Great job! (I have an A-model Yak-18 in my stash too 😉 )
17 April, 17:17
Bruce HuxtableWatching and learning lots 🙂 Soo much to do on this tiny plane! Good luck with all the following steps 🙂
17 April, 17:26
MariusThat's a good save with the canopy. Whar kind of sanding cloths are you using? Can you attach a link maybe?
17 April, 18:51
Thomas KolbMy good mates, it is no masterclass by far, just a ridiculous amount of time and work for a tiny model kit.
18 April, 16:46
Simon O'GormanThis is a fantastic transformation - great comments as you go too. Learning loads here.
19 April, 17:13
CuajeteThomas, all the improvements look incredible. You're doing a great job with this plastic mess 👍
20 April, 19:30
NicolasIt remains interesting. Looking great so far. 👍 Shake and bake kits are good for relaxation, but if you have successfully assembled such a difficult kit, you can be proud of it. Good luck for the remainder.
21 April, 13:39
Patryk S.Joining in, I have the Korean War version in plans. Great work so far on this difficult kit!
21 April, 20:31
Thomas KolbThank you for the encouragement, my dear mates. With this horror nose surgery out of the way, I can finally proceed to the rest of the project, which from here on seems more of a standard build process.
23 April, 19:08
Thomas KolbThank you my dear mates! The model is now primed and waiting for its first paint coat. Light blue underside and green top. Pretty boring, but well, that's how they looked.
28 April, 16:18
Neil PatrickSpectacular outcome from such a horrible looking box of bits Thomas. I do love to see such unpromising material turned into a fine model and it looks like this will be another! Inspiring and a rebuttal for those who moan about kits that have relatively minor accuracy issues.
29 April, 07:47
Gordon SørensenYou have managed to turn a Amodel kit into something that looks great, Thomas! Looking forward to the final reveal!
29 April, 13:22
CuajeteFantastic job so far, Thomas. I agree with Łukasz. Looks more like a Tamiya kit now 👌
What is Badger Stynylrez primer like?
1 May, 19:13
Thomas KolbCuajete, this is simply the best primer I have ever used. Easy to spray, sticks to both plastic and metal, levels out to a perfectly smooth surface, dries quickly and becomes very resilient to handling after a day. But it's a bit thick so it needs a rather high airbrush pressure and also a large needle. Also if it dries up inside the airbrush, you will have a very hard time cleaning it out.
1 May, 20:12
Alec KOutstanding work Thomas, amazing amount of tlc you have poured into this build. It's shaping up great 👍
10 May, 13:06
Thomas KolbThank you gentlemen for the encouragement along the final steps of this project! While this may never be a show winning model (mainly because of the botched nose area), it is turning into a quite a cute little replica.
10 May, 15:18
Robert PodkońskiGood choice, Thomas! The Yak looks great (we are all waiting for more photos)
12 May, 07:55
Bruce HuxtableGosh, she cleans up nice! All that work on the canopy really makes all the difference, plus the nose job of course 😉 I admired the subtle weathering too. Congratulations on your creation.
12 May, 09:01
Zbynek HonzikCongratulations on finishing, Thomas! Looks gorgeous this little "quail"! 👍👏👏👏
12 May, 11:03
Alec KAwesome. I would wager that this is probably the best that was ever done with this kit 👍
12 May, 11:52
Łukasz GlińskiOutstanding! Now I have the reason to bury all my Yakovlevs deep in the stash 😄
12 May, 14:11
CuajeteThe tenacity with which you have made this tough kit is an example to follow, Thomas. It was worth not seeing Eurovision to be able to finish this project. Very good result and great work done in mastering this prohibited plastic.
Congrats!
12 May, 18:33
Bernhard PetheIch bewundere immer Deine schönen Modelle. So auch dieses und aus einem Bausatz, ich kenne ihn, ein so schöne Modell zu machen. Respekt.
Eine Sache sie mir noch erlaubt zu sagen, das Hauptfahrwerk steht zu weit nach vorn. Kann man aber bestimmt noch ändern. 😉
13 May, 10:03
Thomas KolbBernhard, thank you for the compliment and the constrictive criticism. Yes, you are absolutely right, the main gears should be about 20 degrees less forward. I might try to fix that,
13 May, 10:10
Robert Podkoński👍
You're absolutely right, Łukasz - Thomas provides us with life-like miniatures of real stuff.
13 May, 12:49
Thomas KolbUndercarriage removed and re-cemented at the correct angle and also at the correct length (it was originally too long). Thanks to Bernhard who was kind enough to provide some useful feedback on this. 🙂
13 May, 13:10
Album info
The Yakovlev Yak-18 was used in the Hungarian People's Army as a trainer under the name 'Fürj', meaning the "quail" (the bird) - a bit more appealing than its NATO code name 'Max'. Hardly any photos exist of the aircraft in the original Hungarian livery, but I had the opportunity to see the last remaining one in the Szolnok aviation museum in Hungary a few years ago. It would be a rather easy build - if it wasn't for the poor mold quality requiring substantial cleanup or scratch making of most parts. I am at this point not 100% sure if I will be able to finish this project, but I am willing to give it a try.
