One-Two Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) Hello Britmodellers. My first WIP here And my third build overall. I'm currently building the Eduard (ex-Gavia) 1/48 Lavochkin La-7. The weekend-edition boxing. Quite a remarcable fighter...although somehow spartan and not a very reliable machine, as far as I read. However, here's the content of the box. Being the weekend edition version, it means that there is only plastic in the box - no PE parts or other fancy stuff like these. I'll be using some AML seatbelts...otherwise I plan a pretty OOB build. Maybe I'll try to scratch a few things here and there - mostly in the cockpit, which is pretty spartan, I have to say. I have decals for only one marking - that of comrade Col. Dolgushin, spring 1945. The decals themselves are somehow strange...I think that something is wrong with the colors...it seems to me that they degraded through time. The red is not so red anymore...especially on the tail markings. I will try to avoid using some of them, by means of painting at least the white-red stripes on the tail. But long way until then Here's the box content... Edited July 8, 2014 by One-Two 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) First thing I did was to add some rivets...only on those few metal parts of the airframe : on the flaps and on the metal panels situated immediately after the exhaust tubes. Also a row of rivets was added on the fuselage sides, just above the wing insertion. I don't have much documentation for the La7, but I saw on some drawings that on tese places there were some rivets indeed. Edited July 7, 2014 by One-Two 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffe Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 following with interest With the decals you are right, they should be just red, not orange or something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) Hi One-Two, I take a seat and will read the next steps with interest If you are searching for AMT colors, have a look on AKAN acrylicspaintings (also written as AKAH) - exemples here : http://www.lindenhillimports.com/akan.htm They sell some "colors kits" at rather nice price (on the Net) and the colors are very close from the original VVS WWII colors. Have a nice day ! Edited July 7, 2014 by Dreamcatcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hi Guys! Thank you for your interest. @Dreamcatcher...thaks for the tip mate. For this build I intend to use whatever I have already in my posession. I'm thinking about the Model Master enamels range dedicated to Russian colors. I hope that they are ok also... Anyway, back on the build...I finished the instrument panel, the rudder pedals and the stick. The IP is the plastic part, painted with gloss white (over the dashboard only) and light gray on the upper part. Over the white gloss area came the decal with the instruments. Pretty stiff piece of decal, I have to say. Anyway, after some repeated treatment with Mr. Mark Softer it was ok - the nasty decal conformed well to the plastic part. After this stage, the red levers were added. Thise were, I suppose, the levers used in order to arm the cannons. First, these levers had to be hollowed out in the middle, because the plastic parts were just solid. Then painted in red and installed. The stick had received a lever made out of soldier (I think this lever was used in order to activate the wheel brakes) and then was painted. To the rudder pedals I just added some PE leftovers, representing the leather ties. All the best, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleet Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 It's nice to see some Russian planes being built rather than the droves of spitfire threads which inhabit this forum.. will be watching keenly. Keep up the great work!Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffe Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The panel looks nice and the straps bring a good extra detail. Additional i have two little remarks: First, the grey is too bright i think. It's difficult anyways....in the early period of the war they were often painted in a aluminium like color, but switched to a darker grey (a bit brighter than the german RLM66). Since the LA-7 was a late aircraft, i would prefer a darker grey. See here at 'interior colors': http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/colors/color-table.html Second is that i'm quite not sure about the handles. If you look at this picture http://scalemodels.ru/modules/photo/viewcat.php?id=3275&cid=142&min=24&orderby=dateA&show=12 there are just two smaller handles. The LAGG3 and the LA5 had these big handles, but maybe they sorted them out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) Hi there Thomas, and thanks a lot for your suggestions, mate. Now, regarding the red handels (for arming the guns)...I saw also that the La-7 from Monino is having a different style of levers. However...the Monino Lavochkin also has a different style of stick...a different gunsight...and somehow different radio compartment. So it's difficult to say which is correct - especially since the other (very few) La-7 pictures I have, this matter cannot be confirmed or infirmed. Although I don't have any PE for this project, I downloaded from Eduard's site the instructions for their PE sets destined for this kit. Both handle/lever variants are present and ofered for the modeller to choose. Under these circumstances...and given that in the box only these levers were present...my choice was not much of a choice Regarding the interior color...the gray...thanks for the link. I'll use it im my future builds, because now is too late. In the painting instructions provided by Eduard, all interior surfaces are to be painted with Gunze C097 "light gray". I don't have this one...so I opted for a replacement with a light gray from Model Master (light ghost gray). I knew that is only a guess, but since I was planing to close the canopy didn't bothered so much. However...is good to know, because at least 3 La-5's and 2 LaGG-3's are waitaing to be built. Not mentioning the Yak's... Only a small progress for today. I was busy watching Germany obliterating Brasil. I painted the pilot's seat, painted and intalled the seatbelts. The seat also received a small handle in the right side. Then the entire piece was installed on the rear bulkhead. The radio boxes were also painted and installed...although I'm not very happy with the result. I will add later some cables&stuff in this area, I think. The cockpit sides were paintred and the various pieces installed. This is all what's in the box. The various handles and levers were added by me (soldier). I have to try to scratch something, especially on the right hand side, because the cockpit is too spartan - even for a close canopy model. All the best, Edited July 9, 2014 by One-Two 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Small progreess. I installed the wing spar...and some cables that I saw (on pictures with the Monino Lavochkin) that were transiting the area. Much of these cables won't be seen anymore, after the rest of the pieces will be installed in the wheels bay. The air ducts coming from the leading edge air intakes are especially bulky. Also a little bit of work was done on the upper part of the wing...namely on the cockpit floor... some chipped paint and also some cables were installed. Wash and dirt will came in the later stages, before mating the fuselage and the wings. Dry fitting of the main parts looks promising. All the best, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffe Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 you dont't have to worry about the fitting i think, this is overall a great kit. Please have a look again on your exhaust panels. I think the front flap has to be mounted directly ontop the edge of the cowling, not inside it as it looks. The exhausts have to go between the flap and the fuselage panel. I've made the same mistake on my LA5 first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hi, my friend. The exhaust flap & exhaust tubes are not installed yet. You are referring to the area highlighted in the picture bellow...and it is only the bare semi-fuselage. The exhaust will go indeed between the flap and the fuselage panel. The flap it is not yet installed at this stage and it is going to be positioned exactly as you mentioned.. Thanks for watching and regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) All the pieces of the wheelweel were assembled and the upper and bottom part of the wings were mated together. The port side of the cockpit is almost ready. The wheel is borrowed from a Bf109...and is a little bit oversized, but once the canopy close it will not be so obvious I guess. The starboard side of the cockpit of the real thing was quite a busy aggIomeration of cables, tubing and all sort of small bits and pieces...which are completely missing on the Eduard scale replica. I start working on this area...and made some circuits. Other circuits/pieces will follow, I'm still working on them... Regards, Edited July 14, 2014 by One-Two 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Cockpit/fuselage sides mostly done. The right hand side especially needed some attention, because the kit was pretty bare in this area, whilst on the real thing it was quite a busy area. Soon I hope I can close the fuselage. All the best, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Stick and rudder pedals installed. Also started some bulkheads in the tailwheel bay area. Regards, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Hello One-Two ! Nicely built ! The scratch parts are adding a lot to the LA 7 best regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) Thank you for you interest Dreamcatcher. In the meantime, I made some progress with the cockpit. Next step is to take care of the tailwheel bay, in order to be able to close the fuselage. Regards, Edited July 23, 2014 by One-Two 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Hello all. Only modest progress. Made some additions to the tail wheel...installed it into the tail wheel compartment...then close the fuselage halves. Good fit. After I clean up the fuselage, hope I can move forward with the fuselage-wing connection, which I suspect it will be a little more difficult. All the best, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.k.a. thom Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Love your work in the cockpit, looks nice and busy now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Hi Guys. Back in business after quite a long pause. So I installed the gun cowling. Poor fit. After lots of trimming and preparation I just glued the damn thing in place...than again sanding, because of course the profile of the gun cowling was not matching the profile of the rest of the airframe. After sanding, a bit of rescribing was neccesary...because some of the panel lines were lost while sanding. Nevertheless, now I think it's ok. I also installed the tail planes, arranging them to be as horizontal as possible (Mk1 eyeball, of course). Then I istalled some spreaders inside the fuselaje, in front of the cockpit - because while testfitting I discovered the fuselage-wing fit was not looking very encouraging also. Now with those spreaders installed it lloks better and suun I hope I can continue with intalling the whing. All the best, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Hi there, Wings were mated with the fuselage. I applied the glue in separate stages/steps...first only to the rear and to the front-end of the assembly, in order to make all the neccesary adjusments. Then, after these areas were rock solid, I applied the glue also to the cockpit sides/wing joint. The fit was pretty much ok. Some sanding will follow, in order to improve the joint. Also some rescribing will be neccesary, because on the real thing the wing to fuselage joint was not exactly as on the model. Now it's starting to look like a real airplane (the front-end of the engine cowling is not yet glued in place). Time to run with the model in hand throughout the house, making aircraft noises... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 Hy there. I've been out of business for a long time. Trying now to return with a small update. I had to rescribe the panel lines from the wing-to-fuselage joint. Especially those from the back of the wing/middle fuselage were wrong. Not very easy job for me, because the surface is quite complex there and the new panel lines are not just straight lines. Also I am trying to reproduce the very heavy armoured windscreen which was evident at La5/7 models and which is absent from Eduard's/Gavia offering. I intend to use some lightly coloured transparent plastic sheet...to simulate a different shade for the armoured glass. The effect will be most probbably exagerated, but I like the ideea. The 2 pieces of the armoured glass will be glued toghether with future...then the frames will be added to the glass (the frames are mare from plastic strips)...and hopefully the whole assembly will be added to the kit's windscreed. Regards, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Frames were mounted on the "armoured glass" and then the whole assembly was installed on the windscreen, using future as glue. Previously, all transparencies were diped in future. Hmmm...I guess that the armoured galass is kinda too dark...but anyway I'll go on with that... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 Some work on the engine cowling. The kit's gun barrels were discarded and replaced with 0.6 syringe tubing. The cowling itself was painted MM Russian Red, The engine ventilator should have been painted flat black acording to intructions, but I geve it a coat of Gunze burnt iron and then a silver drybrush. Hope that tonight I can find some time to install the cowling on the airframe. All the best, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-Two Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Hello Guys. Engine cowling installed. I expirienced some fitting problems due to syringe needles (gun barrels), but nothing unsolvable. The underwing radiator intake was also installed. The undercarriage legs are only dry-fitted. Now I have to turn my attention to the transparenceis... All the best, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubster72 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 This is a really great build! Can't wait to see more! Cheers Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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