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Zvezda 1/48 La-5 FN


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With my D.520 winding down in the GB, and having a hankering for prop planes, decided to pull this one out for a spin. My first Zvezda kit ever! 

 

Box art:

 

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Sprue shot: 

 

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And another first, Quinta 3D decal thingamabobs. Must admit, they appeal to my lazy side so been dying to try them out. Pitchforks are in aisle 2 for those of the  puritanical persuasion. 

 

 

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Now, there is currently a rather spicy discussion going on in the WW2 section about V.V.S colours used during the G.P.W. (I hope they don't find this WIP. Please don't let them find this...)

 

Anyway, the kit instructions tell me to use Dark Gunship Grey (H125) and Light Gull Grey (H129) for the upper camo. That is surely wrong, what I need is AMT-7 lower, and AMT- 11 & 12 uppers. So, been digging through my VMA stash and will try mixing something from the following that will prevent this comrade going to model gulag. 

 

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So. The plan. 

 

AMT-7 - Going to mix up 71.109 Faded PRU Blue & 71.124 USAF Green and see what happens. Maybe some Dk/Lt Gray if needed? 

 

AMT- 11 & 12 - Going to futz around with 71.314 Seaplane Gray AKA FS 36081, 71.097 Med Gunship Grey and 71.277 Dk Gull Gray until I get something that resembles the colours on Massimo Tessitori's page HERE

 

Well. This should be fun! 

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Got cracking. So far it's interesting. Lots of cleanup so far, mold seams and slight flash on the parts. Started on the engine, looks a bit fiddly but decided already to button up the front. (Doing this to align exhausts and possibly use as a base for supporting the cowl panels if needed.)

 

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On a side note, it looks like Vallejo makes AMT-7/11/12 in their Air range, and it's available locally, so strongly thinking about getting some to save myself effort. Refer to lazy statement above 😝...

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Slowly plodding along with all the internals. Must admit, when I saw the flash and mould seams I thought this was going to be a "bite the pillow and think of England" build, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Fit has been good, if slightly "looser" than I would like, compared to other kits I've built. 

 

Where I am right now. 

 

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Also bought myself VMA A-14 (71.336) for the internal primer colour (useful for post WW2 stuff too if memory serves) and the AMT-7 (71.318) to save myself some headaches. Still think I can pull off the 2 camouflage greys with what I have available. 

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Following along, if you don’t mind. I recently added the earlier model to my stash, and I’m curious to see how you crack on! I “cheated” and bought the AK paints for the Soviet VVS colors. 
 

Thanks for sharing!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 26/08/2021 at 05:44, RadMax8 said:

Following along, if you don’t mind.

 

Feel free to, just don't expect awesomeness to follow 😁

 

Anyway, been a week of plodding on, futzing with the D.520 and this kit. Finally got the interior painted up, used VMA 71.336 A-14 Steel Grey, so, PROGRESS! 

 

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Now, hit a pretty big razor blade in the candyfloss of life assembling the wings. The wheel well is molded on both top and bottom wing pieces, and for love or money couldn't get them lined up without a step. Tried filler, and ended up going through the side wall. Bugger. Ended up wrapping plasticard around the well circumference to form a new wall. Still looks like a pigs ear but will work on this when the fuselage is buttoned up. 

 

20210903_202621

 

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2 hours ago, Segursky said:

This fuselage seems very complex to fit, have you tried to attach them to cockpit?

 

following your assembly

Dry fitting everything showed the cockpit fitting fine. What's going to be problematic is fitting the fuselage halves to the wing, they rest on steps and it looks like some muscle and CA glue will be needed to bend them (slightly) so they conform. 

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