I finally got to buy the Yakovlev Yak-18 kit from Mikro Mir in 1:48 scale. These days it is hard to find this kit on the market. I didn’t buy it when it was first released because I thought there was no hurry, and I had other models to finish, such as Yak-11, Yak-52, Yak-23 and Yak-23DC. Now it’s in my hands, so let’s look at what’s in the box. The box its self-it could be a lot sturdier. But all in all, it arrived safe. Inside the box, you get everything you need to build the model: plastic parts, photo-etched parts, transparent film for the dashboard, masking tape for painting the canopy, decals, and an instruction sheet.
Yak-18. Plastic and photo-etched parts
There are sixty grey plastic parts delivered on four frames. Everything you need for the engine, cockpit, fuselage, and landing gear. The canopy can only be fit in the closed position. Besides the canopy, you get two more transparent parts. So a total of three. Most of the photo-etched parts are for improving the cockpit. So you get the board panel parts that are supposed to be used together with the transparent film. Seatbelts are also included, as are some other minor cockpit details. Two pieces will be used for the wheels and one for the engine.
Yak-18. Decals and instruction sheet
Eight different markings. That is what you get. Four U.S.S.R., one Austrian Air Force, one Polish Air Force, one G.D.R. (German Democratic Republic) Air Force, and one from China. This last one is also a U.S.S.R. marking, but the Yak-18 belongs to a private collector in China. As for the instruction sheet, it’s very short. Four small A5 pages, out of which one contains a brief history of the plane and three for assembling. The fourth page is in color, the only one, and offers instructions for painting and registration.
Yak-18. Buy it or not?
The kit looks good. It’s not my first kit from Mikro Mir. I am working on a Lavockin La-9 in 1:48 scale, and I know that assembling will not be as smooth as I hope. But it’s a plane I like, and there are not many other variants on the market in 1:48 scale. So it will have to do.
