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Found 23 results

  1. Source: https://www.facebook.com/Sabrekits.cz/posts/pfbid0UCx2zLpSp5tPFnD6nYD39Ukg6HuZd1UhicFvzu9a6gnR2R53cS9nSUxDnzv8XDMul V.P.
  2. Stransky Kits is working on a 1/144th Lavochkin La-7 kit - ref. Source: https://www.facebook.com/stransky.kits/posts/1015152925300525 V.P.
  3. Hi all - This is the old Eduard La-7 in 1/48 - I struggled a fair bit with this one - I think it's been my longest build to date, not helped by my attempted modifications - adding extended landing flaps and few others additions. I had a few fitting problems which required many hours of filling and sanding, especially around the wing roots. I attempted to create a fabric wing effect with paint and weathering which I'm more or less happy with. I also needed to grind down the sides of the canopy to allow an open cockpit which I'd never attempted before - this came out quite nicely I think. I also tried a few new weathering techniques and feel like I'm getting better with oil paint weathering. Areas where I failed was a few ghost seams making appearances in a few places - also I mucked up on the decals with some visible silvering and carrier film. But all up, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for looking John
  4. Fly is to re-release the Gavia 1/48th Lavochkin La-7 kit. Source: https://www.facebook.com/208070375871052/photos/a.208144655863624/3069904713020923/ V.P.
  5. The latest off the bench as I continue to attempt to clear out the shelf of doom. This one had a MASSIVE wing root gap that got it shelved for years, but I got it sorted and I'm so glad I did. Not a huge fan of the Russian stuff, but the La-7 is pretty sleek! Lavochkin La-7 "White 97" 523rd IAP, 15th VA 2nd Baltic Front, Spring 1945 Neomega cockpit BarracudaCast seat BarracudaCast wheels RobTaurus vac canopy Scratch details added Metal panels riveted Custom paint masks AK Real Colors paints
  6. Hi everyone, Very hot here in Spain, hard to modelling if you not have air conditioner, or at least a beer 🍻! Here are my last two builds. Two commission works for two different collectors. A Lavochkin La-7 1/48 from Gavia with Eduard PE parts, and a Sukhoi Su-24 1/72 from Zvezda. I hope you like them. Thanks and cheers Ricardo
  7. Hi, Here is a selection of photos of my latest completion. Its built using the 2014 weekend edition of Eduard's kit. The kit is one of Eduard's older tools so not up to their current standard. Unfortunately as a weekend kit it lacks the Photoetch which presumably came with previous boxings, resulting it a lack of cockpit detail and in particular the main gear door actuators. These issues were remedied with a bit of scratch building using plasticard and albion alloys micro tubing. The kit does come with a set of Eduard's Superfabric seat harnesses. These work alright but are a bit flat because the buckles are printed the same as the straps. I prefer their Photoetch belts in general or making my own. The model is mainly airbrushed using Hataka red line paints for the camouflage scheme. It was my first time using these acrylic paints. I found they worked well with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner with Vallejo Flow Improver although there was still an occasional issue with tip dry. The star on the cowling is supplied in the kit as decals but I decided to spray it instead to better match the forward part of the cowling and spinner. I also had to touch up the white wing stripes as the decals were too short as I positioned them. To weather the model I used a combination of Ammo by Mig Panel line washes, Tamiya weathering sets and chalk pastel dust. I used Ammo by Mig Lucky matt varnish to give it its final coat. The aerial is made from Uschi van der Rosten rigging thread, painted aluminium. The Canopy was dipped in AK Interactive's Gauzy Glass Coat to improve its clarity. I had trouble in the past with this stuff drying to quickly and not allowing it to level out. That's until I decided to put the bottle in the fridge for ten minutes before using it. It may sound weird but it seems to make it slightly less viscous so it levels out before drying. Here is the cockpit precariously posed before the fuselage got closed up. Everything behind the seat bulkhead is scratch built apart from the yellow bottle and so is some of the detail on the cockpit side walls. This kit was originally designed to use photoetch for detail so it lacks moulded alternatives unlike more modern Eduard kits. I think it predates Eduard's Profipack/weekend edition philosophy. Accuracy wise the kit seems to match reasonably well to the references I could find online. Although I did reshape the wing tips and extend the tail wheel opening rearwards to better match the real aircraft. Hope you enjoy! Mark.
  8. I will be building the 1:48 Eduard Lavochkin La-7 in the scheme of Soviet Ace Lt. Col. S. F. Dolgushin. This should be a relatively quick build as it is a weekend edition which means a low amount of parts and no photo etch, i will be building from the box so will use no after market parts. My plan for the finished model is to have a lightly weathered scheme with canopy open and gear down. Hope everyone enjoys the build as it progresses, i hope to add an update every few days if all goes to plan.
  9. Hi, everybody! This time I present you the model of an ordinary airplane. I used additional etched set from Eduard, propeller from Quickbust and vacuum formed canopy from Rob Taurus. I made the antennas macht from copper bar, replaced all shock absorber plastic rods on metal rods, added navigation lights, made new Pitot tube, rolled riveting and etc.
  10. I'm offering up my Eduard Lavochkin La-7 for inspection. It has been a tricky build all in all, my first Eduard kit, first experience of working with Mr.Hobby acrylics, and photo etch parts. I have discovered brush painting with Mr.Hobby paints can be difficult, and that using a primer is vital on these kits. That said, it's a fantastic kit that went together easily, I especially enjoyed working with the decals supplied in the kit, which were extremely thin. I am pleased with the end result I've achieved, and grown fond of the angry looking Russian aircraft.
  11. Decided to start work on building my Eduard Lavochkin La-7 profi pack kit, while waiting for the Vampire to dry. This is my first Eduard kit, first glimpse at photo etch, and first Soviet aircraft. The box and contents are perfectly presented, only one (very shiny) sprue, along with photo etched parts, masking and a detailed sheet of decals. Makes me think attention to detail is important here. I'm considering finishing the aircraft in the colours of Lt.Col. S. F. Dolgushin, having achieved over 500 missions and was regarded as a fighter ace of WWII.
  12. Probably time I get these photos up. Here is my recently completed build of the Eduard 1/72 scale La-7 Profipack kit. The kit was built mostly out of the box but I indulged in a few additional bits 'n' bobs in the cockpit (not that they're in any way visible). The kit went together reasonably well though I encountered a difficult wing to fuselage fit, and had a bit of trouble with it's DIY undercarriage alignment. The comically thick clear parts were also a bit disappointing. The plane is finished as Sergei Dolgushin's aircraft using the provided decals. Out of all the grey on grey schemes it jumped out at me with it's striking red nose and striped tail. Plus it didn't involve any camo masking . Due to some odd printing glitch my decal sheet had large amounts of excess carrier film Luckily the markings themselves were printed properly and went on well enough once cut out carefully. Feel free to take a look at my WIP thread for all my trials and tribulations. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235012308-172-eduard-la-7-profipack-oob-but-not-really-build/& Can't say it's been the best build I've done but it is my first Soviet warbird and I'm quite pleased with it. Excuse the number of photos, I think I went a bit overboard
  13. Time to get the next kit out of my tiny stash. The Eduard Profipack release of the 1/72 La-7. My first Soviet aircraft and I've heard really good things about this kit. My previous experience with Eduard (their excellent Hellcat) has been very positive and I'm really looking forward to this one. The kit comes on 1 sprue which is refreshing and is molded in dark grey hard, slightly glossy plastic with immaculate fine panel lines and details. It also comes with a nice set of tiny prepainted (and unpainted) PE bits that should be hours of fiddly fun to install. The clear bits are a bit thick but nice and clear and well molded. Hopefully it'll go together well. I'll just be building this one OOB, as it looks a cracking kit. Hope some of you stick around to watch.
  14. Lavochkin La-7 1:72 Eduard ProfiPACK Edition The Kit The Eduard La-7 kit is fairly new dating back from 2007, whilst this is a good kit after just reviewing the new tool Fw 190's from Eduard, it is surprising to see how much mould technology has moved on since then. The kit arrives on one sprue of grey plastic, with a clear sprue, sheet of photo-etch, a sheet of masks; and a comprehensive decal sheet. The parts are well moulded with no issues or flash. Construction starts in the cockpit with various parts of Photo-etch being added to each side consol. Next up the exhaust parts are fitted into each fuselage half. Once these parts are in the fuselage can be joined up not forgetting to insert a blanking pate in the tail wheel well. Next up the wings are put together; these are a one part upper & one part lower. The top of the upper wing forms the base of the cockpit and the control column and rudder pedals are added. The instrument panel and pilots seat complete with rear bulkhead are then made up and added through the bottom of the fuselage; once these are in fuselage can be added to the wings. The canopy (one piece or three piece) can be added along with the tail planes, rudder, engine cowling, propeller and top gun parts. Lastly the landing gear is made up and added along with the gear bay doors, and the large ventral radiator. Decals The decal sheet is in house printed by Eduard and is in register, colour dense and should pose no issues. Decal options are provided for eight aircraft: Maj. IN Kozhedub, 176th IAP, Germany Spring 1945 (Mask provided for nose painting this option). Maj. AV Alelyukhin, 9th GIAP, Berlin Operation 1945. Maj Amet Khan Sultan, 9th GIAP, Germany 1945. Lt. Col SF Dolgushin Co. of 156th IAP, Kluzov airfield, April 1945. Flt Sgt Stefan Ocvirk, 2nd Fighter Air Regiment, 1945. Unknown unit, Soviet Union late 1945. 2nd GIAP, 2 Sqn "Mongolsky Arat", Spring 1945. Co. of 4th GIAP, Lt. Col Vasily F Golubyev, Spring 1945. Conclusion This is a great kit from Eduard and it is good to see it re-released. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  15. I spot something in the Hasegawa's Nuremberg pictures from Thomas Voigt. Two 1/48th kits announced for March-June 2015: a Lavochkin La-7 "156.IAP" and a LaGG-3 "Finnish Air Force". Hasegawa being now more a decals editor than a 1/48th aircraft new tool producer these must be repop. Origin of these two kits? Source: http://www.primeportal.net/models/thomas_voigt9/hasegawa/index.php?Page=2 V.P.
  16. It is a well-known fact that I *never* finish anything, mainly because I'm waiting for the opportunity to use my airbrush, but the Hobbycraft Lavochkins have a particularly troubled history with me... the first one went straight into the bin because it would not look right. A couple of years later and with more reference (remember the days before the Internet?) the second one was made into a passable resemblance of Kozhedub's plane, only to mess up the finish. What's left to do but to try, try again? I started this project when the Hobbycraft kits were the only game in town in 1/48, not only for La-7, but for GPW Soviet fighters aircrafts in general! (Remember their I-16?) The weak points of the kit are well-known by now: tail fin, canopy, fuselage, gun bulges, Karman, wheel wells, surface detail in general. In the meanwhile the Gavia kit had become available, but their 3-gun version costs like a mortgage (for an extra bit of resin), so I converted mine since I was going to perform surgery on the cowling anyway. So nya-nya-nya-nyaaa-nyah to them. This is where I am now... Whoops. I made the reinforcement strips by eye and by memory, and they're too wide. The interior is not terrible, and the control stick is even right for this version, but the Legend set was so cheap... My first attempt was not so great, however. I ripped the parts off the fuselage (that's why the starboard one has a hairline crack), sanded them MUCH thinner, as in i-can-see-my-thumb-on-the-other-side thinner, put them back. Lots better. This is the point that's stalling the build... I've corrected the wheel well outline (see the white bits at the back?) but making the vanes has escaped me so far. (It's also the reason why the companion of this kit, a razorback La-5, is slowly decomposing in the loft). I've seen Milliput being used to make rather complex shapes, and I'm going to try that next. Bit of work done today... remedying the fuselage shape:
  17. Lavochkin La-5FN and La-7 Limited Edition Eduard 1:48 History The history of the La-5 and La-7 are inextricably linked and they became the ultimate wartime designs of a line of fighters that began with the LaGG-3 in 1941. The LaGG-3 suffered from a heavy structure due to its designers unfamiliarity with modern aircraft design and the fact that the state of the Soviet aircraft industry forced them to use wood throughout instead of the lighter aluminium structures being developed in the west, and the lack of a engine of suitable power other than the M-105 1,000 h.p. license-built derivative of the Hispano-Suiza 12-Y series. The LaGG-3 was forced into service due to a lack of alternative, and gained the nickname among its pilots of “varnished guaranteed coffin.” The design team was not unaware of the problems of the LaGG-3. The appearance of the Fw-190 on the Eastern Front was enough for them to obtain official permission to explore the possibility of developing a radial-engined fighter, the result of which was the La-5 series which appeared in 1943, with 150% more power than the LaGG-3 and a worthwhile armament of two 20mm cannon. The ultimate development of this series – the La-5FN – was the first Soviet fighter that could really hold its own against the Fw-190 in combat and was superior to the Bf-109G at low altitude; it was widely produced. While the La-5 could at least confer equality on Soviet pilots, the designers wanted superiority. A more powerful Shvetsov radial was developed, but it was unreliable; there would be no possibility of increasing engine power past the 1,850 h.p. of the ASh-82FN engine used in the La-5FN. Thus, the designers engaged in a program to further lighten the airframe by the substitution of aluminium structures for the main spar and other parts of the design wherever possible, as well as a general cleaning-up of the airframe. The result was the La-7, which first appeared in prototype form in January, 1944. With the airframe gaps sealed, a different propeller, and the engine oil cooler removed from the drag-producing position atop the engine cowling to a neat scoop under the fuselage, the wheel wells covered completely, and a different exhaust cover, maximum speed was increased to 407 m.p.h at 15,000 ft. – over 40 m.p.h. faster than the La-5FN – making the La-7 the fastest of all Soviet fighters to see service during the war. Interestingly, the control stick changed from the spade grip of the La-5 to an American-style stick almost exactly the same as the P-39 Airacobra. It had been originally planned to arm the La-7 with three Berezin B-20 lightweight 20-mm cannon; however, delivery delays required that the majority of the La-7s that saw combat were armed with the two ShVAK 20mm cannon used by the La-5; only 368 3-cannon La-7s were delivered to combat units before the end of the war, compared with more than 3,000 of the 2-cannon variety. In combat, the standard La-7 was 44 mph faster than the Fw-190 at sea level, was 22 mph faster than the Butcher-bird at 20,000 feet, and out climbed it at all altitudes below 20,000 ft. The La-7 was more than 2,000 pounds lighter than its German opponent, which translated into manoeuvrability the Focke-Wulf could not match in close manoeuvring combat at any altitude. The first La-7s to reach an operational unit were delivered in July 1944, to the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, of which Ivan Kozhedub – the leading V-VS ace – was deputy commander. Kozhedub would score 17 of his 62 kills in the La-7, including a Me-262 shot down on February 15, 1945. Between September 15 and October 15, 1944, the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment scored 55 victories – 52 Fw-190s and 3 Bf-109Gs – for the loss of only seven La-7s. The new Lavochkin fighter was clearly a winner where it mattered. The aircraft did not survive long in service after the war lasting only until 1947 The Model Both of the kits contained in the large box with a very nice artists impression of the two aircraft flying over a Russian mountain have been released before, but this special edition package also provides a fabulous book, some resin, etch, masks and a large decal sheet. The downside is that the book and historical notes in the instructions are only in Czech, but at least the book has a great selection of period photographs to help the modeller. The La-5FN is from the Zvezda moulds, whilst the La-7 was originally from Gavia. Even though they are re-pops the quality of the moulding is still good, with no sign of flash or imperfections. Detail is pretty good with fine panel lines where required along with the rivets, vents and other details well represented. Since the aircraft were mostly made of wood there are large areas without surface detail. The clear parts aren’t the best I’ve seen as there is some slight distortion, but they are eminently useable. Whilst the Zvezda derived kit is definitely the more detailed the Gavia kit is more of a weekend build, even with the addition of the etch. Each kit has its own build section within the instruction booklet, while the painting and decal placement guide requires a completely separate booklet almost the thickness of the instruction booklet. La-5FN Build As stated above the La-5FN is the more detailed of the two kits and construction starts with the assembly of the two nose mounted ammunition boxes followed by the fitting of the instrument panel backing pa plate to the top framework structure. The rear bulkhead is then added to the underside of this framework along with the side frames, which include the engine bearers, the ammunition boxes and the engine mounting ring. The cockpit assembly includes a floor, joystick, rudder pedals with PE straps and floor mounted PE switch and its backing plate. The wings are then assembled with the fitting of what looks like a fuel tank fitted to the lower wing, just behind the wheel wells, four ring ribs which are fitted, two per side along with the rear spar parts over the outer wheel wells. The inner wing sections are then glued into position, followed by the outer sections, which have clear navigation lights fitted on top of each wing tip. The cockpit and internal framework assemblies are then fitted to the wing centre section along with additional bulkheads above, below the structure and to the rear of the structure. The radio shelf is then assembled and glued into position. The engine is really highly detailed and comes as two halves for each cylinder bank, which when assembled are joined together with the valve rods fitted to the front bank. The two piece accessory drive cover is then fitted to the rear bank. Each of the intake and exhaust pipes are separate and will need a bit of care to fit correctly as there is a specific route for each pipe. The instrument panels are fitted to the cockpit, and this is where the pre-painted PE really comes into its own, producing a nice clear panel. Also fitted to the panel are the forward machine gun cocking levers and I presume a canopy jettison handle. More PE parts are fitted to either side of the internal framework and the seat is fitted out with a set of etched straps and belts. The seat is then fitted into position and the gunsight is fitted on the front coaming. Before the fuselage sides are added there are even more detail parts to be attached, items such as the trim wheels, placards, throttle quadrant, landing gear lever, and flap lever. The i internal engine cooling flap bays and tail wheel, made up of the oleo, wheel and attached to the tail bulkhead, also need to be fitted to one side before the fuselage is closed up. The engine assembly is now affixed to the support ring, whilst on the wings the ailerons and slats are attached. There is now plenty of panel work to be added, with the upper fuselage, engine cooling flaps, engine side cowling panels and the nose cowling. Alternatively the model can be posed with the upper fuselage panel removed, showing off the two machine guns complete with ammunition belt guides and link ejector guides. The horizontal tailplane with its separate elevators are now fitted along with the separate rudder, followed by the three piece canopy of which the centre piece can be posed open or closed. The main undercarriage is pretty much the last major assembly of the build with each unit being assembled from the main oleo, resin wheel/tyre and the undercarriage door. The tail wheel doors are also fitted. These necessitate the separation of each door from the single piece part which can be used as is for the retracted tail wheel. Whilst the model is upside down the radiator, complete with two radiator blocks is fitted into position. Lastly the propeller, assembled from a single piece propeller, backing plate and spinner is attached and the radio mast. La-7 Build This is a much simpler kit as mentioned above, but with the addition of the etch there is still quite a bit of detail, particularly in the cockpit where you need it. The seat if fitted out with an etched height adjustment lever and the obligatory seatbelts and straps, while the instrument panel needs to have the raised detail removed before the etched panel can be fitted, also with the cocking levers and canopy handle. The seat is then fixed to the rear bulkhead, but before fitting to one side of the fuselage there are lots of small details to add to the fuselage sections. These include both etched and styrene parts and make up the throttle quadrant, trim wheels, flap and undercarriage levers, auxiliary instruments, document pocket and canopy opening lever. The radio shelf, complete with radios is also assembled ready to fit into the fuselage. Before closing the fuselage up the tailwheel assembly is constructed from a single piece wheel, oleo, complete with yoke and the retraction jack. The subassemblies are fitted to one half of the fuselage along with the forward bulkhead and seat head armour after which the fuselage is closed up. The wing is constructed from single piece upper and lower halves but before joining the main undercarriage bays are fitted to the lower section. Once the wing parts are assembled the rudder pedals and joystick are added to the centre section and the pitot probe fitted to the starboard wing. The completed wing is then attached to the fuselage assembly followed by the forward upper panel front cowling with added cooling fan, the horizontal tailplanes, each produced as upper and lower halves, the propeller, assembled from the backing plate, to which the single blades are fitted before the spinner is added to finish it off. Each main undercarriage is assembled using the main oleo, PE scissor link outer door and resin wheel. These are then fitted into position and completed with the addition of the retraction jack. The inner doors are then attached along with their retraction arms. The oil cooler and radiator, assembled from a two part “bathtub” styrene radiator and PE grilles, are fitted along the centreline between and just aft of the wheel wells. The build is completed with fitting of the gunsight, three piece canopy and aerial mast. Decals The decal sheet is quite large and contains markings for twenty two different La-5FNs and five La-7s. The camouflage is pretty samey for the La-5FNs, with the exception of one example and all serving with the Russian Air Force . The same goes for the La-7s, although these are all with the Czech Air Force, but at least they have some interesting markings and slogans painted on them. I would normally list the units and locations for each of the markings provided, but it’s all in Czech, so haven’t a clue what they say, which is a shame. Conclusion Overall this is a very nicely produced boxing and with the number of decal options should result in a pair of very nicely models being built, particularly with the help of the etched parts, resin wheels and masks. The addition of the book will help with the research and there are some very nice photographs, but I would have like to have seen an English translation to have been included as well. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  18. Lavochkin La-7 “Russian Ace” Academy 1:48 History Lavochkins La-7 aircraft were the ultimate development in the Lavochkin series of fighters during World War II. Their stopgap predecessors were made almost entirely of wood, and were easy prey to Luftwaffe fighters. In 1941 development started on upgrading the fighter's airframe to accommodate a 14 cylinder engine, replacing the formerly used V-12. The goal of designing the Lavochkin La-7 was to achieve longer range and higher overall performance. The resulting La-7 was an excellent thoroughbred fighter. The aircraft featured the most powerful engine put into Lavochkin fighters, the Shvetsov ASH-82FN that produced 1,850 hp. In addition to greater engine power, the new aircraft used metal wing spars in place of its predecessors wooden ones, was lower in weight, and had much improved streamlining. The pilot was protected with thicker cockpit armour and later models of the aircraft reduced pilot workload by introducing single lever propeller pitch control. The La-7 was highly manoeuvrable, with a fast rate of climb and excellent high altitude performance. The aircraft quickly gained a reputation as an excellent fighter. It was extremely responsive to control and could outperform all other Soviet fighter aircraft. Its three 20 mm cannons delivered a deadly punch According to some records, Lavochkin La-7 aircraft downed some 3,100 Luftwaffe aircraft vs. only 115 of their own aircraft being lost. One is credited with a victory over a Me-262 jet fighter, the only Soviet aircraft to do so. Over 5,750 of the aircraft were produced. These aircraft continued to serve the Soviet Union through the mid 1950's. The Model Originally released in 1990 this kit has been re-popped a couple of times before this release including once by Hobbycraft. Although a relatively simple build, it does look fairly well detailed for its age. The kit is packaged in a top opening box with an artists impression of the aircraft in flight, unusually viewed from the underside. Inside there are just three sprues of blue-grey styrene, a small clear sprue and a sheet of decals. Even though the kit is getting on a bit, the moulds still seem pretty good as there is no sign of flash or other problems. There are some flow marks, particularly on the upper wings, but these will be invisible under a coat of paint. The finely engraved panel lines look pretty good as do the fasteners and rivets. The only real problem areas appears to be on the flight control surfaces, where the ribbing under, what I presume is fabric, is quite heavily done and could do with some rectification to lessen the effect. The build begins in the nicely detailed cockpit. The cockpit consists of the floor, front and rear bulkheads, separate instrument panel, joystick, seat and behind the seat armour panel, rear coaming, two black boxes, which I presume are for the radio and battery, and completed with the fitting of the clear gunsight. The completed cockpit is then sandwiched between the two fuselage halves The single piece lower wing has a number of holes that need to be opened up, should the provide bombs wish to be used. Once this is done the lower wing is fitted with the two upper parts, and then slotted into the fuselage recess. This is followed by the fitting of the single piece horizontal tailplanes and rudder. The forward cowling is fitted with the cooling fan, whilst the propeller is assembled from the spinner, which included the prop shaft, three separate blades and the back plate. The assembled propeller is then slid into the cowling hole and the styrene washer glued from the rear, allowing the prop to turn should you wish. Most modellers would probably leave the prop off until the aircraft has been painted and not worry if the prop turned or not. Once the prop and cowling have been attached to the nose the two exhaust gills can be fitted, one each side. The main undercarriage is now assembled, each unit made up of the main oleo, single piece wheel, which has some nicely moulded detail, and the main gear door. Before fitting the undercarriage, a keel beam needs to be added in the centre section of the wheel bays, followed by the inner doors and their retraction actuators. The main undercarriage can now be attached and each fitted out with the retraction jacks. The single piece tailwheel is then fitted along with the tail wheel bay doors, followed by the centrally mounted radiator housing and the separate intake lip. If the bombs are to be used then these need to be assembled from the main body, separate tail half, nose fuse and the two mounting crutches. The assembled bomb units are then attached to the respective positions. Finally the starboard wing mounted pitot is attached, followed by the three piece cockpit canopy, completing the build. Decals The decal sheet provided markings for four aircraft and are designed by Crossdelta for Academy and beautifully printed by Cartograf. The decals are sharp, in good register, nicely opaque and with minimal carrier film. The aircraft markings are for the following:- 9 Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, flown by Major Sultan Amet-Khan, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, East Germany, 1944-1945 9 Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, flown by the CO of the regiment, East Germany 1944-945 9 Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, flown by the Deputy CO of the regiment and twice Hero of the Soviet Union, East Germany 1944-1945 The same aircraft as that immediately above, but as it was allegedly repainted so that the pilot could fly over Berlin in a Red aircraft. Conclusion Although quite simple by todays standard, the real aircraft wasn’t exactly complex, this model would make a nice build for someone who has lost their mojo. There is scope for adding extra detail should you wish, but if not then it will still look good on the display shelf. My only real gripe would be that the painting instructions really should have been in colour. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  19. Source: http://www.hphmodels.cz/index.php?VypisKategorii=1&IdAktuality=325 Next 1/32nd HpH resin kit is a Lavoshkin La-7. V.P.
  20. Lavochkin La-7 Commander of the 156th IAP Lt.Col., Hero of the Soviet Union S.F. Dolgushin, 215th IAD, 8th IAK, 4th VA, Kluzow, Germany, April 1945 Kit: 1/72 Eduard ProfiPack Afermarket parts: Pavla vacuformed canopy The main problem areas of the kit (fixed in this build) were: Wrong shaped wing tips (actually beginning at approx. 1/3rd of the span from the tip) both in profile and frontal view. While fixing this error, the aileron surface detail (being originally in "shrink-wrap" style) was lost and a new, more correct representation of doped fabric tautened over the frame with rib tapes added was done. Almost empty main wheel-wells: very little detail was provided and the most of what was available was wrong anyway. So, they had to be almost completely reworked. Some detail was scratch built of plastic and some corrections were done using Mr. Surfacer as well. The correct “ceiling” of the wheel bay area being originally just the inner surface of the upper main wing half was cut off, given the accurate profile and then positioned on its correct place. Inaccurate propeller spinner. It was corrected with Mr. Surfacer. Very basic representation of the louvers mounted in front of the engine being originally just a disc with a relief detail, while there should actually be empty intervals between the separate blades as well as between the blade tips and the cowling inner surface visible. To achieve the desired result, the excess plastic was removed from the original part, the edges of the blades were sanded off and the part was positioned onto a plastic tube mounted in the cowling interior. Gun ports being just holes in the cowling front ring, while their lower surface should actually go through the entire cowling. This was corrected by adding plastic inserts to the appropriate areas. The same had to be done with the wing root air intakes. Cockpit interior behind the pilot’s seat/radio compartment - again, almost empty and what was available, was wrong. Eventually the entire interior was scratch built there. The cockpit itself, despite some etched parts provided, could also benefit from some improvements as otherwise it still looks somewhat toy-like. Some cables and instruments were added there for more realism as well. The cockpit borders were too thick and, in addition, not exactly parallel, therefore, some sanding was required here as well. Canopy. Although crystal-clear, it is (both 1-piece and 3-piece parts) unfortunately thick enough to be unusable for displaying in open position. On the other hand, if displayed in closed position, due to the thickness, the cockpit interior looks severely distorted. The kit part was eventually replaced with the vacu-canopy by Pavla. The joint of the wing and the fuselage resulted in some sort of a small “peak” in the lower fuselage line. While correcting this, some moderate re-shaping of the fuselage in this area was required. In addition, the landing gear flaps were thinned down, some missing access hatches were engraved and some small details (e.g., Venturi tube) were added. Almost all kit decals proved to be of little use due to their wrong shape or dimensions: white borders of the stars too narrow, the number “93” and the under-wing stars undersized. So, mostly spare markings were used instead. This particular La-7, before handing it over to Dolgushin as his personal a/c, was completely re-primed and repainted and the stencil data weren’t re-applied, so that no use for all those beautifully printed markings either...
  21. Good evening guys, i would like to share with you few shots of my last finished kit. It was built just OOB as kind of relax build and i had some problems during the process, but i thought i would share it anyway, as there are not many russian warbird kits on BM. As i said, it was ment as quick OOB build. Thanks to the time i was spending on it (like few mins/day when i had free time from my other projects), it took me pretty few weeks to build, but if we ll speak about the real time spent on it, it could be something like 6-8 hours (speaking about the build, not paint), where most of the time took the cockpit + everything about it and fuselage/wing fit. The Eduard kit is pretty nice - i got cheap dual combo profipack version (it was missing some not-so important parts, masks and all clear parts), bought Rob Taurus vacu canopy for it and decided to build one of these just as OOB quick build (also bcs it was missing the few parts). Only things i made new for it were : gunsight, some stuff behind seat (only poor part of the kit as there is one big hole), gear doors for the tail wheel and the metal strips around cowling(made from can). There were only two bigger problems with the kit : the fuselage/wing fit was not good, but a bit of sanding/cuting while dry fiting sorted this. Second was the decals.. the colours are off-set at stars and some symbols. As for the marking, this La-7 was originaly in the usual grey/grey russian late fighter camouflage, but based on the sources i did read, somewhere between april-may 1945 it was repainted red on the top surface. I thought i ll make the kit to look like from this time, so theres not much weathering as the paint was not so old yet. Though the front side of cowling was red also on the original look so i did a bit of chipping there and a bit of chipping on the most used parts - the canopy rails, plates covering the guns. The inside of cockpit and wheel bay is quite dirty as it was not repainted. Thanks to the problems with decals, i had to repaint some of the off-set white around stars and i needed to paint new lines around the cowling heart symbol. Thats the worst part and if you asked me to do it again, i would not.. would rather get some silver pencil for it or so.. painting thin line with acrylic white was realy pain for me and my shaking fingers, so try to close eyes when u look that way Also, around the number on fuselage is some mark, set+sol+12-15 layers of varnish didnt help to cover it So, here it is. Built for fun and to have something special between my kits Hope you ll like it at least a bit. The photos are in my usual "quality", the best i can make , sorry Thanks for watching and any feedback is welcome Do not worry, there is a lot to be criticised so go on if you have anything to say
  22. Evening guys, i know its quite late for posting this as WIP, i did not intend to make WIP thread about this, as it was just ment to be pure OOB build while i was working on some other more in-depth projects. The kit is Eduard´s 1/72 La-7 dual combo profipack. I got this cheap on auction - it was missing all clear parts, masks and few parts were broken (nothing important or ireplacable though). So i bought vacu canopy for it (Rob Taurus - realy nice, hard enough to not break but still thin enough and with nice raised lines) and started to work on one. There was no problems, the fit was generaly quite good, cockpit with very nice details (many little PE parts are there 2-3x, so if you manage to lose one, you have another go, good job Ed´s). I only added little bulkhead behind the seat along with some fuselage construction relief i made from evergreen profiles (though its almost impossible to see it now ), but didnt have good sources of the space there so that was all i did there (also keeping in mind it is just OOB build). The only little problem was with fiting fuselage and wing together - there was some "step" on top of the wing to which the fuselage should sit, but it didnt fit too good. So i simply did cut the fuselage a bit, to make the cutting for the "step" to fit better and then the problem was gone. The bottom of wing and fuselage needed a bit of sanding but nothing too bad. I did add some metal strips around the cowling (made from beer can - here how beer is helpful! ). Rest of the build was without any problems - i think the total time i spent building it could be like 6-7 hours and most of it was spent on painting/weathering the cockpit and fiting the fuselage/wing. Sadly i dont have any photos from the building, bcs as i siad, i didnt plan to make WIP from it. But now to the point, what made me to change my mind. I need a bit help with decision, what to do next. So first, here are few images, to see where i am. (If you ask about the camo, some sources says this is how the plane looked somewhere between april - may 1945, before it was wearing usual grey/grey+blue bottom pattern) So the thing is, i thought i wont do wash, bcs the plane was repainted and as that, it shouldnt be too dirty outside(maybe at bottom, proly a bit of chipping on cowling as the cowling was red originaly too, but who knows if they did repaint whole plane or only the non-red areas?). But now when i m looking on it, it looks somehow too flat. Ofc there ll be decals yet and some exhaust stains, but still. The thing is, on the plane generaly are not many details as it was made mostly from wood, so the panel lines are very rare on the plane. But the main problem is, what colour should i use for the wash? I dont know what would look good and i dont have red oil colour for wash, to mix some dark red. So i m not sure if i should use black, or maybe some darker brown as it could be closer to the red? Or leave it without wash and try to bring up the rivets and few panel lines just with some dusty pigments? I know it was ment just as fast build mainly for fun, but i love how the red fits to the plane and dont want to screw up, so if you have any tips (or anythinig you think i should add), let me know here please, i ll be happy for any tip thanks
  23. I am currently in the process of building an old Novo La-7/S-97 kit which I picked up for £2 at the Old Toy Museum at Bletchley Park a few weeks ago. Leaving aside that it has a few bits missing, being a lazy modeller I am slightly foxed by the paint colours given on the header card. For the version I am building, an S-97 of the Czech Mixed Air Division Czech Air Force,Slokavia 1945, it gives Matt White, Matt Black, Matt Dark Blue, Matt Red, Matt Dark Grey, Matt Light Blue, Matt Brownish-Green and "Stained Natural Metal". Is there any ready-reckoner I could use in order to relate these to my favoured Humbrol paints, or could some kind person suggest some acceptable matches/mixes? (It is particularly the last six I am after advice on.) Many thanks in advance. More on the kit here: http://www.novokits.ru/index.php/kits/11-novo-novoexport-kits/75-novo-1-72-lavochkin-la-7.html
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