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Yak-9T ICM
The Yak-9 was the most numerous and the most successful series of fighters to serve the Red Army during WW2. They were developed from the successful Yak-7. Main armament of the heavier Yak-9T was the NS-37 37mm automatic cannon with the cockpit being moved rearward to accommodate the large cannon. This cockpit feature became the standard for all later produced Yak-9 series fighters. Having been developed from the lighter Yak-7 design, flight characteristics made it an excellent interception and ground attack fighter. The Yak-9T served with the Soviet and Polish Air Forces as well as the Free French air Regiment "Normandie-Neman". Maximum speed at height was 605kph, range was 1,000klm with a service ceiling of 9,000m. In addition to the main armament firing thru the aircrafts spinner, a single 12.7mm UBS machine gun was mounted in the aircrafts upper port nose area.
The review sample is molded in a dark green plastic with very little flash evident. All panel lines are nicely engraved with only a small number of sink marks on a number of parts. There are 2 clear parts with the windscreen/canopy as one piece and an armoured rear screen also supplied. My canopy appeared slightly fogged, however may clear up with the 'Future' treatment. It would have been nice for the canopy to be in 3 parts so that the canopy could be modelled open. No doubt Squadron or Falcon will come to the rescue here.
Most of the parts that were dry fitted showed that the kit has been well engineered and on a par with the earlier reviewed Mig-3 from the same company. Cockpit detail appeared sparse with an opportunity here for a resin set from one of the resin manufacturers. The instrument panel is also supplied as a decal. 3 decal choices are supplied with all choices being for the Matt Sea Grey / Matt Ocean Grey over Russian Blue schemes. Painting is called out during construction , with references to either the Testors or Humbrol range of paints. Measurements of the main airframe components make it close to published dimensions and to my eyes it looks like a Yak-9.
Overall, ICM's 1/48 scale Yak 9T kit fills a nice niche in the Russian aircraft modeller's collection. The limited number of parts as well and clever engineering will make it a good choice for either the novice or the expert modeller. If the price comes in near the Mig-3, you can afford to do two or three. Roll on the ICM Spitfires! Recommended to all. Thanks to my friend Mikhail in Moscow for supplying the review kit. Review Copyright © 2000 by Dale
Smith
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