I agree this is certainly one of the nicest and most authentic looking of the new build Yaks. Having said that I must confess that my favorite is the Planes of Fame example seen below. The rebuilders worked very diligently to keep the nose of this one as authentic as possible considering the Allison powerplant and I think the attention to detail really paid off.

At the risk of thread drift – wow! I’d not seen a new-build with gun troughs. Very nice! Thanks, Chad – another reason to visit PoF.

Fascinating stuff, and many thanks to John for joining and posting with your memories!

As an aside the link to the CASA restoration in Germany is a great read with lots of detail photos, it’s just disappointing it seems to end halfway through the project?

I bet a P-51Buchon on the airshow scene would get some folk REALLY riled up!!

That Yak is one of the finest I’ve ever seen – the finish is superb! Not too “warbird” glossy and not too “scale model” weathered! Congrats Will 🙂

She looks superb! I’m so happy to see her looking like a Vb again. Great photo too!

Low back = I’d suggest TE288?

I’m more interested in saving the shots for when I build a model of her (still need to get that Beaufort kit, too”.

Great work and I only wish I was on the right side of the Tasman to help out. Thanks for sharing, especially the before and after shots!

I, along with many others, was excited to see a 1/72 Shackleton MR.2 in Airfix’s 2015 product range launched today and found very quickly that the Trust has been very involved with this kit’s development. On the Airfix site it says: “With special permission and help from the Shackleton Preservation Trust, Airfix have been granted exclusive access to the original aircraft as well as the original drawings to produce the high detail CAD imagery for this model.”

On Facebook the kit’s designer, Matt Whiting, said WR963 will be the “A” scheme in the kit’s decals and the box art will be of her in “her original” 224 Sqn marks. A lovely touch!

I’m guessing this could easily be in the Models section of the forum but, on behalf of the many out there who have been dreaming of an Airfix Shack kit, I’d like to say a big Thank You to the SPT for their involvement 🙂

I’ve already made it the first item on my 2015 Christmas wish list…to be finished as G-SKTN, of course :eagerness:

Wow Mark, this Peter Arnold character seems to rival you for his knowledge of Supermarine’s finest! 😉

I do hope the aircraft will reappear in RAAF colours as I imagine such an “exotic” variation would be welcomed on the UK scene.