This is the Yak1b of Sergey Lugansky, who was one of those lucky individuals to fight almost the entire war and survive. Joining the Red Army in 1936, he would fly various aircraft starting in the 1939/40 Winter War. In the Summer of 1943 he was presented with this Yak 1, which was built with money raised by the city of Alma-ata. He would end the war at the Air Force Academy in Moscow, after flying 390 combat missions and gaining 34 victories. He was also twice awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war he held various high ranking Air Force posts until retiring in 1968. He passed away in 1977.
The kit itself is nicely molded with good decals, although you only get one decal option. Detail is nice, the fit on the other hand does require some patience. The wing fit in particular requires some work, but it is not beyond the skills of the average modeller. It did make me feel a bit better reading that the Yak 1, especially early production aircraft suffered from poor quality control, requiring modification on the production line meaning that parts between individual aircraft were not interchangeable. Paints used were Vallejo Air range; AMT 11, 12 and 7.
