Review

This offering from Zvezda arrives in the usual manner of an end opening card outer and a flip top cardboard tray containing the parts. The contents are provided in 2 sealed plastic bags, with the decals and clear sprue provided in a Ziploc bag - This does, of course, leave the decals open to possible damage from the clear sprue. An examination of the contents shows clear crisp moulding, with limited gates which are of a small to medium size. There are some very finely moulded parts, which could be very easily distorted or damaged when removed from the sprue. 

Zvezda, with this release, has provided a very detailed engine which, due to the scale, may prove difficult to build purely down to the small size of a good number of the elements that make up this sub-structure. It is my understanding from checking through the model that alternate parts have been provided to support the required structures within the engine bay, such as the cannon barrel and the exhausts. So you very quickly have an option here, to display the engine bay as intended by Zvezda or not. The cockpit itself has the aluminium frame that goes down both sides and supports the engine itself, and these 2 particular parts do worry me as far as breakage is concerned. This framework extends well back from the pilot and so the structure is well covered in what needs to be there. 

A rear portion of the framework across the fuselage of the aircraft, is also present and will mean that you have to make placement of parts very carefully so that everything mates up. A framework support for the cockpit floor will help in this regard and the cross members that support the wings and provides the walls for the rear area of the wheel wells and then further pieces come into play to detail these 2 areas further. The result is a very nicely done undercarriage, which is one of the elements that was altered in the late Yak 7B fighters. The cockpit itself covers all of the essentials that I can see, including a very nicely detailed instrument panel, with the bezels have decals provided to show the flight instruments. No harness detail has been provided on the cockpit seat, but a very nicely detailed pilot figure with alternate heads has been included which makes the inclusion of harness detail on the seats un-necessary if you use the pilot figure. One aspect that I am not keen on in this model, is the main wheel struts being added to the model very early in construction, which for many of us almost guarantees that we are going to damage the undercarriage. The result of all this is that you have been provided with an extremely high quality level of detail from the box, but the construction design concerns me. 

One of the things that will surprise you with this model, is that the left hand side of the fuselage has been cut off just behind where the engine starts and I could not for the life of me figure out why this had been done. This is in order that 2 optional parts can be used, one being a standard fuselage detail and the other is a frame part that displays the engine on the finished model. The cloth covered areas of the model, such as the rear fuselage has been nicely detailed in that regard. The lower wing is a complete width moulding, with the upper halves added later in the build. As far as I am concerned the detail is of a very high standard still, but for those who like to go that little bit further some wire detail could be added to the engine and the wheel struts and bay. The flight controls surfaces have been provided as separate parts, allowing you to decide how you wish to display. You will need to pay attention to the instruction booklet, as there are a number of parts specific to how you wish to display the aircraft, and the version of the aircraft that you intend to build. The late Yak-7B featured a shorter wingspan and Zvezda had tackled this by cutting off the ends of the wings and then adding separate wing ends. My only concern, is that in very many of the cases the finish joint between the main wing and tip has been less than premium. 

The decals that are common to all versions provided are covered in their own area of the instruction booklet, and I score this highly as it makes it easier to navigate the addition of the decals. Zvezda has provided 4 finishing options for this aircraft:

Yak-7B of Hero of the Soviet Union (From 02.09.1943) Senior Lieutenant G.I. Flatov from the 146th IAP of the Red Army Airforce, Bryansky Front, July 1943

Yak-7B from the Training Aviation Regiment of the Yeisk Naval Aviation School after I.V. Stalin, Borskoye Village, Kuibyshev Region, 1943

Yak-7B of Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (04.02.1944 and 19.04.1944) Captain A>V> Vorozheikin from the 728th IAP of the Red Army Air Force, the 1st Ukrainian Front, November 1943

Yak-7B built with funds from workers of the Nenets National Okrug of the Arkhangelsk Region, deputy commander of the 20th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union Captain (from August 19, 1944) A.K. Tarasov from the 20th IAP Air Force of the Northern Fleet of the USSR Navy, Yagodnik Islans, September 1944.