Finished these two up for the Ostfront GB and figured I’d share them with the larger forum.
Plenty of human error along the way, as well as paint and other materials behaving in unexpected and infuriating ways, but they were great learning opportunities as I continue figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t.
La-5
Zvezda’s kit is a gem. The build process is a bit over the top, but if you take your time and test fit frequently, the result is a really solid looking kit. I had some paint and decal silvering issues that pretty much wrecked the port side, but that’s not the kit’s fault. Highly, highly recommend this one.
Yak-3
I was less enamored with Eduard’s Yak-3. The fit of the major pieces is solid, even without locator pins. Detail of the cockpit is adequate, and the forward fuselage is actually quite good. But detail on the upper wings feels a bit sloppy, and the landing gear has absolutely zero positive location, placement holes or anything. Make getting everything aligned far more difficult than necessary.
Both planes had some minor scratchbuilding. Main paint jobs were done with White Ensign colourcoats, and weathering was achieved with oil washes, as well as some pigments for the landing gear and epic exhaust stains (they seem a bit absurd…but a lot of reference photos I’ve found show absurd exhaust staining…).
Thanks for looking - and any comments, critiques etc are more than welcome! I promise to not get all pissy and leave…
No Doubt!!! The 190 I’m working on is so small compared to the B-17s I build. No wonder they were so dang hard for those waist, ball, top, nose and tail, gunners to hit.
Nicely done on both VVS birds![Y] If I may suggest, if the front face of the prop is heavily chipped, usually the rear face is more so. Otherwise some truly outstanding looking builds! Waht color did you use for the green on the LA-5?
Nicely done on both VVS birds![Y] If I may suggest, if the front face of the prop is heavily chipped, usually the rear face is more so. Otherwise some truly outstanding looking builds! Waht color did you use for the green on the LA-5?
Yeah, I chipped the rears of the props pretty heavily, but it didn’t show up well in the pics. I think due to the angle of the blades and the lighting. If you look at the overhead/rear shot of the Yak you can see the beating on one of the blades…
I used White Ensign’s AMT-4 Green for the La-5. Lovely color and, with the AMT-7 Blue, one of the White Ensign paints I enjoyed using. I’ll never touch the AMT black again, though…gave me nothing but headaches.
Really nice stuff - the weathering looks quite convincing without being overdone. The soft demarcation between the colors looks exceptional. Did you mask that or free-hand it?
Great job Doogs! You give me encouragement to build a VVS aircraft after staying away for some reason I’m not quite sure. The left side may be messed up as you say but the other areas on that La-5 look awesome! Once I finally get done with my Tamiya P-47 Razorback I may have to give a MiG -3 or La-5 a try. By the way don’t worry about the threat of Bf-109 Gustavs; unless, of course, Erich Hartmann’s flying it!
Both finished up very well DoogsATX. [Y] So that frees you up for the P-38 now right!! Yes, that Yak is indeed a small airframe, I built the Hasegawa 1/72 version a few years back - ti-ny next to most others in the same scale.
ruddratt - I masked it first, but had a series of mini-disasters with both builds. Had play-doh stick to the Yak, and the La-5’s black absorbed the wet-sand slurry like a sponge. Ended up going back and cleaning up both freehand.
This sight still gives me chills:
John - yeah the landing gear on the Yak is a mess all around. The bays have no locating holes of any kind. The struts themselves have a flat part that kind of seats in, but there’s still a lot of play. On the other end of the strut, there’s no mounting post for the wheels. Just a little nub. That was really annoying, especially with the resin wheels and their bulges. Had to redo one of them three times. But the kit wheels are so awful that I’d still recommend going resin anyway. The various hydraulics and support struts lack any locating holes, too, and the instructions do a terrible job of telling you where and how they fit. In the end, it’s all doable, but sloppy engineering like that just sets my teeth on edge.
mikeymize - DEFINITELY try your hand at the La-5. Had a lot of fun with it, even if the process of building out the internal structure seems like overkill. Also…if you plan to build it closed up, you can leave off all of the engine ductwork. I’d planned to use the exhausts, but once you build up the outside, you literally cannot see them.
Nice work Doogs [Y], your doing some top notch stuff, looking forward to more. shame about the silvering, I go at that problem with a pin and plenty of micro sol, seems to work nicely.
These Zvezda kits look really nice, I quite fancy the 109.
