History Brief

The Yakovlev Yak-1 was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings. It was extremely maneuverable, fast and well armed plus it was reliable and easy to maintain. The Yak-1 was truly the epitome of a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft. The Yak-1b featured a new bubble canopy with lowered rear fuselage, increased armor, ShKAS machine guns replaced with a single 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Berezin UBS, electrical and pneumatic firing of the weapons instead of the mechanical system, new control stick based on the Messerschmitt Bf 109 design, new gunsight, airtight fuselage, retractable tailwheel, improved engine cooling, and a Klimov M-105PF engine with better low-altitude performance. The "b" was an unofficial designation. After October 1942, all Yak-1s were built to this standard. The first flight (aircraft No.3560) took place in June 1942, with aircraft entering production in August. A total of 4,188 were built.

The Jawbreaker Dragster is a Round 2 Models reissue of the old MPC kit. Round2models has recently purchased the rights to a number of old favorite models from the past. Names like MPC, AMT, Hawk, Lindburg, and Polar Lights all live again under this banner. All are friendly reminders of days past, and all share in a certain level of nostalgia. How many times have I said “Gee, I’d love to build that kit again.” Thanks to Round2Models, it’s now possible to build some of these classic kits once again.

The Jawbreaker Dragster is one of those kits. Originally produced by powerhouse MPC back in the day, this kit is a front engine slingshot dragster with a coupe body on the rear. A wing mounted on the roll bar and body work covering the front frame comes from a time when breaking the 200 mile per hour barrier on the dragstrip was considered a major milestone.

Hasegawa continues to add to their excellent WWII Japanese line with a re-boxing of the Mid-Wing “George”. This limited edition kit (#07378) of the Kawanishi N1K1-Jb Shiden Type 11 Otsu “GENZAN Flying Group” is only the second boxing of the George which allows the builder to do the later variant (Jb) of the aircraft with twin cannons housed in each wing. Earlier Ja versions had the second cannon housed in an underwing tub slung under each wing.