1/48 Gavia Lawotschkin La-7

 by Steffen "Little Airwolf" Tittmann

--------------------

 

History

Although the La-7 represented an advancement over the La-5.  The La-7 flew in November 1943 for the first time.  It was placed in service in May 1944  and 5753 machines were produced.  The La-7 possessed a Ash-82 FNV radial engine with an output of 1850 PS.  The machine reached a maximum speed of 761 km/h.  The armament consisted of 2 and/or later 3 20-mm automatic cannons.

 

The Model

 

The model comes from the Czech company Gavia.  The 69 injection molded parts are flash-free. The assembly followed the step by step instructions.  The cockpit could use some photo etch detailing.  I built the model from the box, with few changes of the details.  I weathered the cockpit and replaced the missing belts with photo etch from Extra Tech.

My machine represents the airplane of Lieutenant Colonel S.F. Dolguschin, commander of the 156. FAR.  He achieved 17 confirmed kills (alone) and 11 partial victories during the Great Patriotic (War World War 2).  S.F. Dolguschin flew 500 missions, of these 120 were ground attacks and 86 fighter sweep missions.  I found the the red/white tail unit and the red engine front with the emblem of a hero of the Soviet Union to be quite attractive.  The machine was otherwise overall bluish gray (Russian designation AMT 11) the lower surfaces were light blue (Russian designation AMT 7).  These colors were introduced in the summer 1943 and maintained until the end of war.

Steffen

Click on images below to see larger images

  

Photos  © by Steffen Tittmann and Text © by Nancy Proft