1/48 Academy Soviet La-7 Aleksey Alelyukhin

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

This is a kit I recieved for the Secret Santa GB. This is one very nice kit to put together. It is a trouble free kit with a fairly low parts count. It is very very similar in parts count and quality to the older Tamiya BF109F4/7 Trop kit.

The cockpit is simple but most of the Soviet planes had little eye candy and were very blah compared to other planes for the US, GB, or Ger. The IP is very nicely done and is the star of the pit for sure. Externally the kit is nice, but the panel lines in some spots are shallow and soft and don’t take a wash. I would recommend deepening those if you do one of these.

The kit assembles easily and fast. It’s fit is fantastic and was a nearly putty free build. Only needed a small bit at the lower fuselage wingroot area. No trouble spots anywhere. The kit is a pleasure to build. This is a kit that you could build in a weekend no problem. And it looks the part when done. I am pleased to add this one to my collection.

The color callouts were ones that I don’t have all of them on hand, but using iModelkit I was able to match the upper color to a German RLM 65, a very very close match. So, I went with that. According to VVS color info this is a color that was used on late war planes, so I hope its somewhat close to correct. Honestly, I was expecting a darker tone, but this is what I have based on the instructions. They probably did more research than me anyway.

I hope you like it.

BK

2

Really sharp job there! I like the clean and simple look. [Y]

3

Really exceptional build. If you don’t mind my asking. What did you use for a panel wash?

4

[dto:]

Very nice work BK! What did you use for the exhaust staining, looks really good. Always good to hear about a trouble free build! lol

5

Thanks Mang.

BK

6

Funny you should ask. I used “the detailer” but I had some issues with the soft and shallow panels and that made me use a #2 pencil to scribe them once done to get them to show up. Otherwise they were invisible. Thanks for the feedback.

BK

7

I used the Tamiya weathering kit with the orange and blue, followed by the soot to give it the heated and slighty stained finish. The kit is B and D from the Tamiya weathering line. Thanks for looking.

BK

8

That looks great. And it’s something different

9

I really like rhis. Very well done on a bird you don’t see too often. Sleek aircraft. Thanks for sharing.

10

Well done, Brandon.

11

Fantastic job on a unique aircraft!

Toshi

12

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

BK