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Eduard 1/72 Lavochkin La-7

October 27, 2014 · in Aviation · · 16 · 2.3K


Officially finished my 3rd model this year.

This is 's scale Lavochkin , initiated one year previously as a quick OOB project.

It is one of Eduard's early mainstream kits and I regrettably rank it as one of the company's lesser efforts.

The parts are all well moulded and adequately detailed for the scale, and the kit goes together easily enough, but the proportions of the cowling and the spinner are all wrong, making the model look a bit odd compared with the elegant shapes of the original.

I opted to leave the cowling as it was but replaced the dreadful kit spinner with another item from the spares box (a pointed Spitfire Mk. V spinner if I recall things correctly) in a late and rather desperate attempt to accurize the kit. It went about half-way in improving the looks.

That notwithstanding, I had fun with the freehand camouflage work and added some quick weathering, using mostly Tamiya's "makeup" sets.

Hope you like it!

Reader reactions:
8  Awesome

12 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. Looks cool Martin, nice on the eye.
    Well done mate.

  2. Absolutely awesome Martin. You did a stellar job on this one!

  3. I can readily see the difference in the cowling with the pic you provided. You'd think someone like Eduard would've gotten a little closer than they did, huh...? ...and a strange place (at least to me) to apply the "kill markings" as well. Nice work on the finish/weathering, though. Great pics...thanks.

  4. Great looking build, Martin. I always liked the metal plate behind the exhaust stacks, which sets off the otherwise low key scheme. The type is an underrated modelling subject, in my view.

    • Thanks Rob, I agree about the plate, think that I've gone a bit heavy about the exhaust stain on it (forgot NOT to weather with pure black), but hopefully the whole thing looks ok.

  5. Nice. I might try a Russian aircraft soon! Nate

  6. Nice La-7 Martin, good work on this mediocre kit, can the cowling be fixed with a lot of sanding to get the proper rounded shape? ( Not on this one!)
    It would be nice to show "unofficial" finished ones 😉

  7. Great finish on this one Martin. If the "unbuildable" kits didn't get bought we wouldn't get the better ones.

  8. Well done Martin, that makes us even when it comes to finished models this year! Even if you have pointed out the inaccuracies, I still think the model looks very good!

    Regards Magnus

  9. Great model Martin. It always intrigued me why the Russians posted a Russian star for a kill. Instead of a swastika or a image of a tank etc. More to learn for me. I have also noticed some of the stars are white instead of red in the center. OK it's Google time for Steve.
    I am liking these Russian aircraft. Yours looks great.
    California Steve

  10. Great job. Well done, and great to see something a little different. 🙂

  11. It's good that you always look at pictures of the real thing for inspiration, Martin, it's so easy to fall into the trap of copying other models, or the box art, and ending up with an inaccurate representation. Whatever, you've ended up with a fine model, beautifully finished, and great photographs.

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