Yakovlev Yak-7B & Yak-7V

Valom 1/72

Reviewed by Glen Porter

Valom's 1/72 scale Yak-7B and Yak-7V will be available online from Squadron.com
 

The Yak-7 B and V were developments of the two-seat I-26, also known as the Yak-1. Flight trials, begun at the start of the Second World War, of the Yak-1 through the 7B and 7V (two-seat trainer) culminating in the more successful Yak-9 at the end of the war.

Valom, a relatively new model manufacturer from the Czech Republic seems to be getting better with every new release. A few models back, they had panel detail which, although not as extreme as Matchbox, were certainly overdone. Those on these kits are much more subtle, in fact as good as any I've seen. These two kits are very similar. The plastic sprues are identical with the only differences being in the resin and PE for the second seat, fixed undercarriage, skis and unarmed engine cover of the Yak-7V.

Click the thumbnails below to view images full-sized:

The one plastic sprue carries all the usual parts for a short run kit like fuselage, wings, cockpit floor, etc, and you could actually build it with-out the resin and PE, with the exception of the resin wheels, and end up with a nice looking replica, providing you kept the canopy closed. Resin consists of cockpit sidewalls, wheels, spinner backing plate and rockets for the fighter version (7B) plus second seat, and skis for the two-seater (7V) with the PE having seat belts, instrument panel, rudder peddles and radiator matrices.

The clear sprue from both kits provides both the long and short canopies  plus each kit has one vac-formed canopy of the appropriate type if that is your preference.

My one criticism is the instructions of the Yak-7V kit fails to mention that the fuselage, being identical to the single seater, needs to have the section behind the cockpit cut out for the second seat and longer canopy.

Colour options are interesting with two per kit with two greens for the upper surfaces and light blue below. One of the fighters can be finished with a winter whitewash on the uppers. Typical of Russian aircraft, there are not a lot of markings but what there is, is well printed and in register.

These kit should be a much easier build than some of Valom's earlier examples simply because they are single engine monoplanes. Due to their multi-media nature I still wouldn't suggest them for beginners.

Highly Recommended to all experienced modellers.

Thanks to Valom for this review sample.

Review and Images Copyright © 2007 by Glen Porter
Page Created 28 February, 2007
Last updated 24 December, 2007

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