Description
The first trans-atmospheric military transport, the Yánlì still remains the workhorse of the Sino-Mongolian Superstate and to pilot one is considered a singular honour. Yánlì is a heavily armoured Orbital Drop Personel Carrier from Jiuweihu Corporation.
This model contains two variants of landing gear, one in flight mode, and another one in open state ready to land.
The model is based on the original design by Stéphane Chasseloup.
Converted, detailed and optimized for production by Strato Minis Studio.
The card image is prepared to be printed on a standard printer.
Image size is 3,5″ x 2,5″ / 89mm x 63mm (600DPI) when printed in 1:1 scale.
headlesshorseman (verified owner) –
This is a great miniature from Strato Miniature Studios. I was expecting the mini to be a little larger than it turned out to be especially after working on the L13 Assault Drop Ship. However, it is still a good-sized miniature. It is hard to judge size from a picture on the website. As always, the detailing is exquisite. I know I use that word a lot, but Strato minis definitely deserve the honorific.
Assembly is fairly straight forward except for the rudder/elevator component. The picture on the website shows the rudder and elevator canted down at about a 45-degree angle. However, the slot/tab alignment setup tends to orient the rudder vertically and the elevator horizontal. This does not detract from the mini but I like the canted look better, so it took a little manipulation to get it like the picture. The rational for this downward cant is so that the engine exhaust doesn’t burn up the control surfaces during flight.
If you are building with the landing gear in the down position, be sure to study the website pictures carefully. The “down position” gear piece has a cross bracing pattern and needs to go flat INSIDE the wheel well. I got this wrong the first time and it took a while to figure out what I was doing wrong. Again, refer to the website pictures.
One difference between the pictures and what I received was the external armament. The picture shows a pair of rocket canasters and a pair of three-tube rocket launchers. These look like the type of rocket tubes that were used on WWII fighter-bombers. The kit I received did not have the rocket tubes, but instead had four guns. Frankly I like the gun option much better. The wings have four hard-point mounting positions. As such, you can mount the rocket canisters and two guns, mount four guns, or of course any combination of some or none. I really like the flexibility that Strato provides. I chose the canisters and guns combo. A quick note, mount your weapons BEFORE you glue the outboard wing/engine panels to the inboard wing root panels. It is much easier that way. One more point about weapons. I was almost finished the mini when I finally noticed that there was a double-barreled chin turret molded into the fuselage. It’s a nice touch. If you like to paint the barrels or flash suppressors in a metallic color, don’t overlook the chin turret.
The Yanli does suffer from the dreaded Tail Dragger Droop, but not nearly to the extent that the L13 does. The main landing gear is large enough and situated in such a way that the nose gear is just barely off the surface. The gap is so small, that I am simply saying to anyone who might ask, that the ship has just landed on the main gear and the nose will drop in another second. In the landed configuration the out-board wing/engine panels can be assembled in a turned down position which makes for a very interesting look.
One last point. On both the L13 Assault Drop Ship and the Hellbent V there was a pilot hole in the underside of the aircraft. This was obviously for inserting the wire of a flight stand. The Yanli doesn’t have this hole. Since I’m using it in the landed posture, this doesn’t matter. However, if you want to mount the Yanli on a flight stand, it is well balanced and both the CL and CG (just aft of the main gear) are easy to locate so you can position and drill the hole.
Again, the Yanli ODPC is another winner from Strato Miniature Studios. Glad to have it in my collection.