Beautiful 1:48 scale model by Steve Evans
The Yakovlev Yak-28 is a swept wing, turbojet-powered combat aircraft used by the Soviet Union. Produced initially as a tactical bomber, it was also manufactured in reconnaissance, electronic warfare, interceptor, and trainer versions, known by the NATO reporting names Brewer, Brewer-E, Firebar, and Maestro respectively. Based on the Yak-129 prototype first flown on 5 March 1958, it began to enter service in 1960.
Yak-28P “Firebar” was a dedicated long-range interceptor version of the Yak-28. The Yak-28P was developed from 1960 and deployed operationally from 1964.
It omitted the internal weapons bay in favor of additional fuselage tanks (its fuel capacity was considerable, limited by weight rather than volume), and added a new ‘Oriol-D’ interception radar compatible with the R-98 (AA-3 ‘Anab’) air-to-air missile.
Late production “upgraded” Yak-28Ps had a longer radome of pure conical shape and enhanced armament. Produced until 1967, with 435 built.
This beautifully built 1:48 Scale Bobcat Hobby Model Kits Yak-28P was built by master model builder Steve Evans.
Steve was born in 1963 in Cardiff, South Wales, UK. “I’ve had a love of aircraft for as long as I can remember. I trained as an Aircraft Fitter and spent 22 years in the Ministry Of Defence working on all kinds of military aircraft, including Phantoms, Canberra’s and even Spitfires for the BoB Memorial Flight.“
“Luckily, I’ve also had a separate career in journalism, pursuing my love of model making, writing for Scale Aviation Modeler International (SAMi), Fine Scale Modeler, and now for Valiant Wing Publishing. Steve is semi-retired and loves taking the dog for walks and takes pleasure in, generally, being a “grumpy old man… what more to life is there?”
Steve’s take on Bobcat’s Yak-28P kit:
“This is the one and only Bobcat model I’ve made so I can’t really say I don’t like the make but this kit had way too many niggling problems for me. The basic design of the parts on the sprues leave you with a lot of fettling and unnecessary messing about to do, the fit of the (engine) nacelles being the main culprit.“
“They are a complicated set of curves, no doubt, but the way in which Bobcat designed the molds made it all the harder to get a decent result.“
“The detail on the kit was also inconsistent, with varying depths of rivets and panel lines, some almost non-existent, whilst other bits are cavernous pits! The markings in the box are really nice, though, and the decals work very well.”
Unfortunately, there’s a lack of instruction as to which alternative parts go with which version of the aircraft. Also, the instructions have a number of errors regarding part numbers and color call-outs. In truth, I really didn’t enjoy the construction phase of this at all.”
The Scale Model section of The Florida Pilot is a new one. There are so many talented modelers out there that put thousands of hours of work into these masterpieces, I think I have an obligation as a journalist to bring some light to their efforts.
The historic value and research value that goes into a build like this one, and others, make these kinds of story features a win-win-win. Please contact me if you’d like to feature a model in this section. Many thanks go out to Steve Evans for his cooperation in helping me put this together. I think there’s a good chance you will be seeing more from Steve.
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