Yak-28P Firebar, 1/48th
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- 1. Bobcat used to be Xuntong.
During the 1960's, the Soviet Union's interceptor force was a very interesting mix of aircraft, which included the Yakovlev Yak-28 Firebar. The Yak-28 was part of the Soviet Union's air defense component, or PVO (Protivovozdooshnaya oborona), whose mission was defense of the borders, and air defense of strategic locations. Accordingly, units equipped with the Yak-28 Firebar were located in far-flung locations throughout Russia, from the Baltic to the Pacific, and from the Black Sea to the Northern borders. The Yak-28P (along with some of its specialized variants) served from the mid 1960's through the 1980's, defending its nation from aerial intruders.
The Bobcat Yak-28P is the second model that I have built from this Chinese plastic model manufacturer; the first kit of their's that I built was the Tu-2T, twin-engine WWII medium bomber. Bobcat used to be named Xuntong, but has changed its name to Bobcat. Irregardless of name, this company makes some very fine plastic kits. This Yak-28P kit can be made into an early or late version, by using different noses and weapons configurations; Bobcat has included the short nose, along with the long, pointy nose, seen on later models. The Yak-28P has no gun, so only air-to-air missiles are included. Bobcat gives the option of locationing the R-3S missiles (NATO name Atoll AA-2) either inboard of the nacelles, or outboard on the wigs. Since I was building an early version, I chose to locate the AA-2's in the less-common location, between the fuselage and nacelles.
The kit was painted using Alclad II aluminum, with a coat of Future to give the decals something to stick to. The decals include a lot of stencils for both the aircraft, and the missiles. These decals are thin, in-register, and go on perfectly.
The kit goes together very well, with no construction issues, aside from trying to get all of the six wheels to touch the ground; the landing gear consists of six wheels, four main gear, and two outriggers. Even though I thought that I had everything lined-up perfectly, I still had to sand some of the wheels to get all six to touch the ground...this was the biggest issue that I had during construction.
All-in-all, the Bobcat Yak-28P kit is excellent, and is a welcome addition to my growing stable of Russion aircraft.
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- 1. R8M AAM
- 2. R3S AAM (Sidewinder knockoff)
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- 1. Tail antennas for GCI guidance
- 2. I have no idea what these small pipes are on top of the fuselage...fuel tank vents?
Great work, Marvin! I enjoyed that kit too. I’m glad you used the short nose cone. Nice contrast with my long nosed Yak.
Thanks, John, I appreciate it. Looks like HobbyBoss has jumped on the Yak-28 wagon, too; I see they have released their own Yak-28 in 48th scale. Matbe someone will do a comparison for us.
Thanks again.
Nicely done, looks great!
Robert, your comments are very kind, and most welcome. Thanks again.
What a cool looking beast! Nice build, Marvin
Wolfgang. The Yak-28P is one of those old Soviet designs from the 60's that screams "Look at me!". The old Soviet design bureaus really created some neat stuff back when everything was done with slide rules for calculations, and a pencil for drawings...remarkable, for sure.
You mean, back when airplanes were made by "airplane guys" and not the beancounters, who know the price of everything and the value of nothing and think "fix it to get it right after you make it" can be a profit center.
I built this beast a couple of years ago and I had the exact same issues with the landing gear! I also kept sticking myself with all the pointy bits...Great Build!
Juan: Thanks for the comments. This Bobcat kit requires some sacrifice to build, and it sounds like you gave your share. Thanks again.
Marvin, I really like the "Buck Rogers" look of this aircraft, and you've done a wonderful bit of modeling making this into very interesting and nice looking model. I like it a lot !
Terry: Thanks! his was a fun build, that is until I got to the end and had a problem getting all of the wheels to touch the ground. I think it was probably too much anhedral built into the wings; this is only apparent at the end of the build. The way Bobcat has engineered the way the wings attach to the fuselage is the culprit, I think. So, if I were to do another of these Bobcat Yak-28's, I would fiddle with the wing-fuselage attachment area, so that there was a little bit of "slop", thus giving the ability to move the wing up or down, as needed, to give the outrigger wheels some play. As it is, the outrigger wheels are fixed in location when the wings are attached...a little bit of up or down is needed, probably a 16th of an inch on each side would do it.
Very nice build Marvin. I agree with Terry, great looking plane with a touch of sci-fi to its lines.
Thank you, Gary...much appreciated.
That looks really sexy, for a jet. Super result on your build.
Thank you, Tom...I appreciate your kind words.
Very nice build! I've been wanting one of these in 1/72 - none in my stash yet... I agree with above comments - sleek and sexy, from a bygone era.
Thank you, Greg. I agree, those Cold War-era jets are pretty neat...lot's of experimenting with design back then.
WOW, fantastic build! Reminds me of the story on how the secrets of the Firebar fell (almost literally) into British hands, who managed to retrieve one of the engines and the radar system from under the noses of the Russians and return the items within 24 hours without them being any the wiser! How I miss the cold war...
Thanks, Ian. The Cold War really accelerated aircraft design during the early jet era. I recall going to airshows and seeing a wide range of aircraft designs on the ramp. Now, not so much.
Quite a nice build and glad to see one built.
Thanks, Dan. It was a fun, and interesting, build. I think Bobcat has a big Ilyushin bomber that I may build (if I can locate one). Thanks again.