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Amodel 1/72 Yak-18 M-12

By Stephen Tontoni

I'll be the first to confess that I don't know that much about this aircraft, so I'm learning on the fly. The prototype flew in 1946, and the kit allows you to build one of two types: a tail dragger or an experimental tricycle landing gear model. It appears that both would have been 1950 types although this plane flew for years after that. Actually, I'm sure it's still on the airshow circuit somewhere.

With the experimental tricycle landing gear model, Amodel also included a second propeller option. It's more of a scythe shaped prop. They appear to be doing their homework.

There are two types in the kit, as I just mentioned, yet the marking options are very limited with the kit, which is a little disappointing. A raid to the decal stores box will remedy that in a hurry.

Molding is a little rough and ready, but is quite acceptable. There are recessed lines throughout and they are fairly consistent; no need to rescribe (hate that). There are two seats, floor, instrument panel, etc, as one would expect and then some sidewall detail is molded into the fuselage. Some added detail would have been nice since there's a huge greenhouse canopy. With the narrowness of the canopy, I'd say it's not a big deal.

One nice touch that Amodel thought to include was relaxed elevators. They molded the elevators in the down position, and the trim tabs in the up position. That's pretty unusual and adds some life to the model.

All of the color call-outs are in Humbrol colors, English equivalents, and in Cyrillic. They're trying to get some standard colors and not leave the modeler hanging there.

Looking at the kit, it's a little bit rough, and the detail isn't astounding, but after I examined it for this review I found that I wanted to start working on it. I think in the end, that may be the hallmark of a good kit; it gets the modeler interested and not turned off. The next review that I'm writing is exactly the opposite; I started off interested in the subject and by the time I had sketched out the review, I had no interest in building it all!

So the conclusion is this; it's not a shake and bake, but you can make something very cool from this. You want a Yak-18? Go for it. You'll work, yes, and you'll want some other decals, but it'll be worth it in the end.

Many thanks to Scale Model Kits for the opportunity to review it; now when will I have time to put it together?