The Yugo Project

In a previous post I discussed the indigenous Yugoslavian fighter known as the Rogožarski IKZ or IK-3. I have finally gotten around to pulling the planes from their baggies, mounting magnets, and getting a coat of Vallejo primer on them. While I have ten of these Leading Edge IKZs, some of them are rather pitted and as the Yugoslavians started the war with only six operational IKZs I selected the six best to work with. The thin coat of primer filled in a few of the pits a bit, and I imagine that the pits will become even less noticeable once the main colors have been applied (after a second coat of primer).

With a coat of primer in place.

Paint scheme for the IKZ will be a three color camouflage on the upper surfaces and a factory gray green undersurfaces. My previous post gave some specific RAL and FS color codes, but in doing deeper research, some of those colors are difficult to source within the various hobby paint ranges. Also, there is much confusion on just what tones were used, the prime example being the undersurface color. I have seen light gray, light blue gray, and gray green on various models and illustrations. The Rogožarski factory used gray green, so light gray and light blue gray are not accurate. As I use Vallejo Model Air for most of my painting, I am going with the following:

Brown - 71.041 Tank Brown. Green - 71.092 Medium Olive. Yellow Ochre - 71.031 Middlestone. Gray Green - 71.305 Interior Grey Green.

I will be striving for this look

And now for a scenario - I was able to create a much scaled down version of the IKZs first action of the April 1941 invasion of Yugoslavia, and I believe I can create a two additional smaller scenarios of subsequent actions. The first scenario, entitled The Punishment Begins, can be located on the Downloads page. It features five IKZs facing off against Bf 109s, Ju 87s, and He 111s. While I have the IKZs and Messerschmitts, I will need to pick up the German bombers, something I am going to need in the long run anyway as I expand the collection into some early war actions.

I'll add the other pair of scenarios in the coming days.