Background

The Yakovlev Yak-28 (Яковлев Як-28) was a multi-role aircraft that was an outgrowth of the Yak-25 that featured a shoulder mounted swept wing to reduce foreign object damage (FOD) from unimproved runways. Like its predecessor the Yak-25, it was produced as a tactical bomber role as well as in the reconnaissance, electronic warfare, interceptor, and trainer versions. The Yak-28 was known under the NATO reporting names Brewer, Firebar, and Maestro respectively.

The dedicated long-range interceptor version, the Yak-28P was developed from 1960 and deployed operationally from 1964. It omitted the internal weapons bay in favor of additional fuselage tanks and added a new 'Oriol-D' interception radar compatible with the R-98 (AA-3 'Anab') air-to-air missile. An upgraded Yak-28P was produced later in the production run had a longer radome of pure conical shape and enhanced armament. The Yak-28P was produced until 1967, with some 435-443 built depending on your references. The Firebar served only with the Soviet Air Force, was never exported, and rarely ventured outside of the Soviet Union before being retired in favor of the Su-27 and MiG-31.

This is the first kit out under the Bobcat Hobby Model Kits label, but you may know them under their former company label, Xuntong, that produced the 1/48 Tu-2S, Tu-2VS, Tu-2T and the Il-4 kits in 1/48. My understanding is that the Yak-28P used homegrown designed and built ejection seats. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any clear views of the cockpit outside of the ejection seat headrest and a partial instrument panel that is visible above the canopy rail.

The Detail Set

This set is one of the latest in Eduard’s color photo-etch line. It is composed of two frets, The first mostly in color and is focused on the cockpit instrumentation and controls. A second fret is not in color and consists mainly of new cockpit side panels and pedals. The set comes in a re-sealable package with a cardboard insert to protect the etched parts and instructions. This set will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin or photoetch. You will need to use your favorite photo-etch folding tools. I used two single-sided razor blades and the Small Shops’ photo-etch bending tool.

Construction

First up are the improvements to the ejection seats. I had already used the Eduard “Steel” seatbelt set for the ejection seats (see my review at firebar seatbelts). I’m surprised these weren’t included in the seatbelt set, but here we are. You get two-foot restraints for each seat. This means you get to cut off the kit supplied set and replace with a folded up Eduard set. The Eduard foot restraints look like a huge improvement over what is provided in the kit, however, however, they are wider than the kit provided parts and the gap between them is too tight to fit around the instrument panel/control stick mount. I thinned the instrument panel/control stick mount significantly to allow the seat to sit properly (Test fit, test fit, test fit.)The other ejection seat part provided is a D-Handle that is fitted to the port side of the headrest. You will need to fold this part in half to produce a finished part with red on both sides. I’ve only found a few reference photos and it appears that this D-Handle sits at an outward (possibly 45o) angle to the headrest. You will still need to touch up the bend with matching red paint. I managed to lose one of the D-Handles while test fitting the cockpit assembly into the fuselage. My recommendation is that once you test fit the ejection seats, save them for last. My understanding is that the Yak-28P used K-7MN ejection seats with the later Yak-28PM possibly retrofitting the KK-2 ejection seat. The reference pictures I have seen for the KK-2 do not resemble what is provided in the kit or the Eduard sets so I’m guessing they depict the K-7MN seat.

The instrument panels are the standard two-ply panels in color (although primarily black). First, you have to sand down all of the beautiful raised detail on the kit supplied instrument panels (Bobcat does not supply instrument decals, nor side panel decals). Both the front and rear panels will require a ~ 45o bend for the lower panel. The second layer that has appropriate openings for the instrument dials is then super glued over the first panel. The front instrument panel requires Part 20 to be folded up along with Part 11 which folded up nicely. Finally, two knobs, Part 32 and Part 17, were applied to their respective instrument panels. I will caution you, Part 32 is very small and is quite easy to lose.

The rear seat radar scope (Part B34) requires a bit of detail shaving on the front face of the scope. You get to do some fancy folding with Part 34 to wrap the exterior of the scope, but it really is not too bad. The last item is affixing the scope front screen (Part 33). I showed the scope hood folded up and over to display the radar scope front screen.

The rudder pedals are up next. You will need to cut away the existing representations on the cockpit floor (Parts E6 and E7). I used some side snips followed by a #11 scalpel blade. All four photo-etch parts (31, 38, and 39) will require multiple folds. The rudder pedals are not pre-painted, so you will need to break out your slush fund of grey paints to appropriately blend the colors to make them stand-out. Otherwise, they will be hard to see in the completed cockpit.

Attention centers on the front cockpit next. Again, you will need to shave away all the injected detail for the side control panels. I also elected to shave away some of the cockpit sidewalls to allow the extra room needed for the addition of the brass sidewalls (Parts 28 and 29). You will need to fold up the sides of the map pocket (Part 33) which proceeded with no issues. Up next are the side control panels (Parts 3 and 4). Each of these needs a few bends to fit the contour of the plastic. The last item is Part 9 which will need several 90o folds before it’s placed on the starboard control panel. The starboard side of the cockpit wall (Part D 46) will require the removal of the rear cockpit box, a fairly simple task. Two instrument boxes (Parts 18 and 19) can then be folded up and glued to the cockpit wall. A placard (Part 24) finishes up the starboard side of the cockpit.

The rear cockpit follows a similar process. I shaved away all of the injected side control panel detail and then shaved some of the cockpit walls to ease the installation of the ejections seats. Otherwise, the rear cockpit is similar with the exception of two recessed panels, one for each side. This focuses on Parts 36 and 37 where you will need to do a 90o fold and then roll the ends to follow the plan of the base part. The fun part here is making sure that the side instrument panels align with the cockpit side panel along with the recessed panels that you just finished folding up. The rear cockpit then is finished up with Part 16 on the port side and the map pocket on the starboard side.

The front instrument shroud is up with some minor detail shaving. The instrument faces that are mounted on this coaming are then replaced with Parts 12, 13, 15, and 22. An instrument that hangs from the top of the windscreen requires similar shaving where you then can place on Part 14. A placard (Part 21) is placed on the side of the cockpit, just below the canopy rail – no shaving required. The last step is gluing Part 30 to the front end of the transparent canopy. The Bobcat kit includes two different canopies, but the Eduard instructions only refer to only one of them. I would think this part would work well on either.

Overall Evaluation

I am quite pleased with the overall look of the Yak-28P Firebar cockpit set and feel that it is well worth the cost and effort. I don’t have very much documentation as to what the cockpit actually look like, so I am going to defer to Bobcat and Eduard on the accuracy of this set. I do consider this set to be essential to building this kit as this set adds considerable detail to the existing kit. You can see in the comparison photographs below the difference this set makes and with the large canopy, most of this set will be quite visible. Highly Recommended

My thanks to Eduard and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great kit.