Yakovlev Yak1b

A kit you loved to build – now released in a new edition.

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What’s inside the box:

• Plastic sprues: one grey and one clear
• New clear sprue with two canopy options: open and closed
• Arma Hobby Jig for precise alignment and landing gear geometry
• Cartograf decals for two marking options
• Painting masks for canopy and wheels
• Instruction manual
• 3D-printable detail file

3D printable file – available via QR code or link in the instruction

The 3D file includes:

• seat pan with harness
• exhaust stacks
• radiator meshes
• landing gear scissor links

Marking options:

• Yak-1b, No. 4, 1st Squadron, Polish 1st Fighter Aviation Regiment “Warszawa”, pilot: W/O Edward Chromy, Zadybie Stare, Summer 1944
• Yak-1b, 31st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (31 GvIAP), pilot: Maj. Boris Nikolayevich Yeremin, 1943 (aircraft modified to carry an aerial reconnaissance camera)

Yak-1b 70088

The Yak-1b was one of the most widely known Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. During its production, the aircraft underwent continuous modifications and improvements.

In June 1940, one of the production machines was rebuilt by lowering the rear fuselage and installing a teardrop canopy, which significantly improved pilot visibility. A retractable tail wheel was introduced, along with a new VISz-105 propeller and an oil cooler adopted from the Yak-3 fighter.

The armament was also revised. Two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns were replaced with a single 12.7 mm UBS heavy machine gun, while the 20 mm ShVAK cannon remained unchanged.

In July 1942, state trials of the modernized fighter were carried out, and the aircraft received the designation Yak-1b. In older literature this aircraft was sometimes referred to as the Yak-1M, which is inaccurate. That designation actually belonged to a prototype that later became the basis for the new Yak-3 fighter.

Yak-1b fighters saw their first major combat during the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk in 1942–1943. At that time they were considered comparable to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109F and the British Spitfire Mk V fighters.

Yak-1 and Yak-1b aircraft remained in combat service until the end of World War II. In addition to Soviet Air Force units, they were also operated by Allied formations, including the French “Normandie-Niémen” Regiment, the 1st Polish Fighter Regiment “Warsaw”, and three fighter regiments of the Yugoslav National Liberation Army Air Force.