The Yak-1 kit originally manufactured by Accurate Miniatures and now re-boxed by Eduard is a fine little kit but could certainly use a bit of aftermarket sparkle with this Quickboost exhaust kit. The original kit parts are ok but lack the bored out exhaust stubs.

The Quickboost kit contains a pair of well molded exhaust parts in grey colored resin. Removal from the pour stub is easy by simply making a few scores with your favorite sharp hobby knife. Please be careful - it is easy to score through the part (ask me how I know), and slice the part in half. Once separated from the pour stubs, a few scrapes with my hobby blade cleaned up the part and I was able to place it relatively easily in the fuselage opening. These two parts have a good fit and it looks good when installed.

The Vixen was originally developed for the RAF, but was turned down in favor of the Javelin for a missile-armed interceptor. The Fleet Air Arm picked it up and it was tailored to their needs, replacing the Sea Venom. The later versions, the FAW 2 (FAW=Fighter, All Weather) had saddle tanks added to the two booms to increase fuel capacity and thus range as well as better electronics. At the time, it was the heaviest aircraft ever operated by the FAA and was twice the size of the Venom it replaced. Due to all that weight, it only managed to be about 75 mph faster than the Venom, but it did carry the Red Top missile for air-to-air combat, which the Venom could not, as well as the Bull Pup air-to-ground missile. It served with the FAA from 1959 'til 1974.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941, Hitler expected the whole country to fold quickly after the magnificent show of force of the German War Machine. But it was the Russian winter that slowed the German advance and forced them to go on the defensive. Unable to capture key cities like Mosow and Leningrad, and clad in their summer uniforms, the Germans faltered as the Soviets took the offensive, and served up Hitler’s first major defeat.