Decal Sheet Review: VVS Fighters, Part XIII

[All decal sheet scans have been deliberately skewed and distorted at random angles to dissuade illegal reproduction or Copyright infringement by any such parties. The precise line and measurement of any specific marking, therefore, should not be taken literally from these illustrations.]

Travers    Sheet No. 72-036    "La-5/-7"
 
 

This is a very full sheet. There are six La-5s (including two -FNs), and two famous La-7s. The decals look to be sharp and in register, although this sheet seems to be rather old and a bit worn. There are enough decals for each aircraft - no sharing of stars on this sheet. The age of the sheet is also, however, reflected in the research available at the time these were created. Many of the ides on this sheet are quite dated. However, there are a lot of decals-- lets us see what one can do with them.
 

1. La-5 "Yellow 40", Evgenniy Tsiganov, 4 GIAP-KBF, ca. late 1943. The sheet decals are ok in shape, but unless one supports a white interpretation of the inscription and numeral (that would be difficult to substantiate), then they will not be of use. A profile of "40" is available on this site here.
2. La-5 "White 15", Georgiy Kostilev, 3 GIAP-KBF, ca. late 1943. Once again, decals for the Leningrad Defense Museum appearance of the aircraft, and not suitable for the War-time appearance. That said, the sharkmouth and numeral are very nice, and with a few other bits one could use these on a prpoer GPW Kostilev La-5. As usual, the sheet's colour guide should be discarded at once.
3. La-7 "White 23", Pavel Golovachev,  9 GIAP, ca. early 1945. Not a bad set for this aircraft; the eagle and bolt artwork looks convincing. A thin red border is provided for the arrow, but I do not agree with the interpretation of this aircraft placing a red border around this artwork, neither the national star. The decals for set, happily, allow for either interpretation, which is extremely useful.
4. La-7 "White 93", Sergeiy Dolgushin, 156 IAP, ca. early 1945. Again, a useful set of decals. One might have to search here for a good size match for the national markings, but the tail striping looks nice (if one does not wish to pint this). The numeral looks rather good, actually, and there appear to be white and red kill star markings as required.
5. La-5 "Black 20", pilot u/k, 113 GIAP, ca. winter 1943/44. It's a shame that the numeral has been rendered in red here, because the inscription and star decals are top drawer. Stll, painting over these, or replacing them, one can build a fine example of this aircraft.
6. La-5 "Eskadrilya Aleksandr Chekhalina", F. Merono-Pelicer, 960 IA-PVO, ca. 1943. The artwork for the inscription looks nice here, and this is probably one of the best sets of decals on the sheet.
7. La-5FN "White 15", P. Likholetov, 159 IAP, ca. 1944. Theis set was intended for Likholetov's famouse "15", but alas there is really nothing useable here. The numeral trim is too thick by, and rendered in black (red is required). The iscription "za Vaska i Shoru" is incorrectly in yellow, and not suitable at all.
8. La-5FN "White 01", Ivan Popkov, 5 GIAP, ca. 1944. This set of Popkov markings support the white bordered interpretation of "01", and they look perfectly usable. However, the oversized Guards Emblem and 'tiger head' are post-War items, and they do not correspond to the Wartime appearance of the rest of the decal set. These should be ignored, along with the sheet's recommendation of Victory type stars.