Zvezda 1/72 Yak-130 Mitten – Russian trainer with an attitude
I built this kit as a buddy-build on YouTube and I was surprised about the quality and engineering performed by Zvezda. It's not far behind the top players in 1/72 aircraft (Tamiya, Eduard, Trumpeter et al.). Decals behaved well and the only drawbacks where some minor fit issues and a bit weak panel lines.
It was a really fun build anyway and the Belarusian Airforce livery was a blast to paint.
Very nice presentation Tommy, the camouflage makes it very interesting, no doubt that it was the fun part of your work around the Yak. For a 1/72 it looks quite detailed
Thanks Pedro.
Ohh, I forgot to mention that I used some parts from the Eduard PE Zoom-kit.
A lovely Yak! I love these small "trainers" and have Amodel's version of this on the on-deck shelf. I like that scheme also. Well done.
Thank you very much, Greg.
Nicely done Tommy, a lovely little pet Yak !
Thank you Allan, it's a flying "egg-plane" 😀
Seeing how popular the L-29 Delphin and L-39 Albatross are with civilian operators I wonder how it would work for Yak if they would build a version for civvie use and start taking orders? The other two were bought surplus so the manufacturers didn't see a dime. The factory could make some extra money and operators might have an easier time importing them as they wouldn't be ex-military, but built purely with civilian operation in mind. It is a nice looking little jet. I see a bit of Me-262 in the tail in the it tapers when viewed from the upper rear. Great job.
Thanks Josh 🙂
It's an interesting idea. Yakovlev have tried to minimise the use of expensive material to reduce manufacturing and maintenance cost, but it is still a high-tech trainer built for pilots of 4G/5G aircrafts. Maybe it's still a bit expensive ($15 million/unit) and I have no idea if it's possible to reduce the cost for civilian market. But I agree; it would be nice if the manufacturer could some return on investment from non-military users.
Tommy, that's a great little trainer ... that's loaded for bear! It sure looks a lot like an F-16 without the huge under-body scoop, or is that just me? LoL!
Lovely built, Sir!
Thank you, Jeff! 😀
That’s sharp! I’m waiting on the Zvezda 1/48 kit.
Thanks, John!
I saw an inbox review of it and it looks awesome.