[leeG]

Here is a picture of the Yak-9 with an EasyModel Yak-3 behind it. As with all IXO, the panel lines are heavy. The top of both wings as well as plastic main landing gear had oil on them. There is also oil in the wing/fuselage and horizontal tailplane/fuselage joints. The canopy does not seat completely down on the fuselage, but the gap is not too obvious.

I was again pleasantly surprised to have no problem attaching the landing gear. This is a positive trend first noted on the Il-2. Plus the pitot tube was also correctly aligned with the wing leading edge!

[mikeb1958]

Good ole "Quality control" still going on in China...NOT! Bent cannon tubes, machine guns, antennee, over-done panel lines, etc. Sucks. They could be really good if they get their act together since they put out some cool types that know one else has or will probablye every make too!

[ZS-VAN]

Originally Posted by mikeb1958

Good ole "Quality control" still going on in China...NOT! Bent cannon tubes, machine guns, antennee, over-done panel lines, etc. Sucks. They could be really good if they get their act together since they put out some cool types that know one else has or will probablye every make too!

So it sucks but no-one else is making the stuff IXO do. For me the customer service was also very good. Thing is, when I counted how many IXOs I had I was very surprised. The Jap fighters are nice. The Russian ones don't seem as good though. Still, I'd get them. Who else is going to do it any time soon? Corgi just brought out a Spit in Russian colours but it just is not the same as a Russian aircraft.

[mhackl]

Honestly, I'd like to see someone else produce the Yak-9 for better quality and more paint schemes.

[Epapazian]

I recently redid an IXO Yak-9 into a Baltic front machine, with a red and white striped spinner and two shades of gray on the upper surfaces ( sorry, I can't post pictures at this point ). Since I couldn't find any documentation for that thing sticking out from the right wing, I deleted it and filled the empty space with a glue and putty mix. Does anyone know what that was intended to represent? Perhaps it was some sort of can opener for Kamikaze-style attacks on German bombers, but at this stage of the war ( 1944-45 )the Russians weren't that desperate. Or maybe it's a giant chopstick? Hmmm.

[leeG]

Originally Posted by Epapazian

Since I couldn't find any documentation for that thing sticking out from the right wing, I deleted it and filled the empty space with a glue and putty mix. Does anyone know what that was intended to represent?

I have no idea what it is, and I've gone through three of my Soviet fighter references. A mistake?

If anyone is interested, the livery of the IXO Yak-9 is of Snr Lt Ivan Nikiforovich Stepanenko, 4 IAP, Bryansk, July 1943. This plane is featured on the cover of Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces 64, "Yakovlev Aces of World War 2."