Scale aviation modeller international

stores are accurate to the smallest

detail, even including the small

stencilling that makes them look

a perfect replica of the real thing.

Armament includes two types of

bombs, two types of rocket pods,

two fuel tanks, four air-to-air

missiles, and a twin-gun belly pod.

One particular feature of this

kit is the method of incorporating

guides and location holes for each

of the underwing stores on the six

wing pylons. These had the proper

guides on every single store, with

corresponding holes for the pylon

they attach to. I really liked this, as

it made the fitting of the armament

and tanks accurate and easy.

Zvezda provides markings

for three Yak-130 aircraft. The

first one is a trainer aircraft of

the Russian Air Force service in

an overall dark grey finish. The

next option is a test aircraft in

two-tone blue and grey, based at

Kublinka airfield. My choice fell

on the third option, which is Yak

130 No79, 116th Guards Ground

Attack Air Force of the Belarussian

Air Force Lida, 2017. The aircraft

is finished in two-tone greens

and gull-grey top camouflage,

with medium- grey undersides.

There are decals, including

lots of tiny stencilling and the

walkways for all three options.

Decals are on the thin side and in

some cases are so small that it is

easy to lose them. On the positive

side I like the decals on the pylons,

tanks, missiles and rocket pods.

CONCLUSION

Considering the size of the

model (barely 6 inches overall

length), the assembly was time-

consuming, particularly the early

stage of construction where the

fit issues make the kit one for

the experienced modeller. The

somewhat flattish shape of the

aircraft makes it an easy platform

to apply paper masking when

painting the camouflage pattern.

In the end this proved to be

a worthwhile addition and one

will be surprised at the size of this

model when compared to the Su-25

Frogfoot, a type that it is intended

to replace in the ground attack role.

My thanks to Zvezda for the

review sample and I do hope we will

get a 1/48 scale version at some point

(announced for a 2018/19 release. Ed)

KIT REVIEWS

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