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La-7
La-7 ( Paul Flint ). "This is the Eastern Express re-issue of the old Frog kit and I found the kit-supplied decals so poor in quality that I replaced them with Superscale sheet 72-345. It appears that this is another plane that a correct set of decals does not exist for so please keep that in mind when you look at my model. I rate this kit as only slightly better than the old KP La-7, as this one also does not have fully enclosed wheel wells. Special thanks to Erik Pilawskii for providing some corrections for this model, unfortunately I was not able to make a correct set of decals for it. Aleksei Vasilyevich Alelyukhin was born in the Kalinin region on March 30 1920 and he joined the military in 1938. He was posted to the 69 IAP, that became the 9 GIAP on March 7 1942. During the war he saw action near Kharkov, Stalingrad, Rostov, Taganrog, Melitopol, Sevastopol, Odessa, East Prussia and Berlin. He flew this presentation La-7 from July 1944 to the end of the war when he had 40 personal victories and 17 assists. In 1948 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy and graduated from the General Staff Academy in 1954. He retired in 1985 with the rank of General-Major and passed away in October of 1990. (Biographical details from Stalin's Eagles by Hans D. Seidl)"
La-7 ( Libor Jekl ). "This is the La-7 from Eduard "Profipack" edition enhanced with set of photo etched flaps from the same company. I replaced the canopy with a new one made from clear foil using the kit part as a plug. I have also opened some fuel and compressed air filling ports to add some live. The kit is painted with White Ensign Models and Aeromaster paints and weathered with a mixture of oil paints. The kit represents famous "white 27" of I.N. Kozhedub in one of several possible schemes."
La-7 ( Edward Russell ). "Although I prefer my references to be backed up with photographs, I have modelled the 3 gun La-7 of Maj DM Sharov of 4 GvIAP from the colour profile on this site, as it is stated to be based on a photo and done by a reputable researcher! This is the Eduard kit with slightly reshaped wing tips, the radio deck added in the rear part of the cockpit and a little extra detail in the wheel wells. The kit decals have been used with a small Guards insignia from the spares box and an Alps-printed 22, white with black outline trim, as recommended. A new plane, so not much weathering."
La-7 ( Edward Russell ). "The Eduard kit built pretty much straight out of the box. There isn't much that needs improving but I re-shaped the wing tip profile minimally, added the radio equipment deck in the aft cockpit and a little extra in the wheel bays. I used Aeromaster decal set 72-036 to model Lt Col Dolgushin's White 93 of 165 IAP in Germany 1945 in overall AMT-11."
La-7 ( Edward Russell ). "The Frog kit was purchased cheaply some decades ago because it had a deformed cowling ring. Using Eduard kits both as inspiration and the donors of every spare part left, the aircraft was built with reshaped wings, new scratchbuilt cockpit interior and engine fan, new wheel bays and undercarriage and the canopy forward sections, wheels, cowling ring and upper decking were replaced with spare Eduard parts. It was finished as one of the decal options in the Eduard kit, that of Flt Sgt Stefan Ocvirk of the 2nd Fighter Air Regiment 1945. It would be fair to say this is an exercise in proving that a reasonable modeller can make something worthwhile out of very basic beginnings, provided that you think it is worth the effort!"
La-7 ( Larry Baldwin ). Eduard kit. Turned out to be a enjoyable build. Did a few extra things on it. Changed out the fan plate in front and put in two seperate fans attached to a 14 cylinder engine from the spares box. Added a radio shelf behind the pilot along with the ExtraTtech La-5FN photo etch cock pit and detail set. Add some wet tissue to the tail wheel opening and when dry I painted it leather to duplicate the leather boot. Added some extra details like a drop of gloss paint for the navigation lights, landing gear indicators on the wings and aerial wires. The kits canopys were OK but I used a Falcon center section so I could get it to fit over the back section so to have the cock-pit open. First time I had used the paint mask that came with the kit and had absolutly no problems. Saved me a lot of time and effort. Some thing that I hope catches on with the other manufactures because it seems to be a big plus. Used the Model Master Enamel paints along with some Metalizer on the side. Went gently on the weathering, figured that the a/c had not be in service that long. The decals were nice and thin and went on without any trouble. In fact I thought the decals were outstanding. Sharp, clear and could be gently moved into position.
La-7 ( Alex Ruchkovsky ). Lavochkin La-7, 482IAP, Major V.Kovalev, Poland 1944. The model is a result of kitbashing both KP products, La-5FN (rear fuselage, upper halves of outer wings, stabilizers, canopy) and La-7 (lower wing half, and upper parts of centerplane, radiator, side engine cowls, prop and spinner) as well as Frog/Novo La-7 front engine detail, Toko LaGG-3 rudder detail, and ELF wheel set (MOST RECOMMENDED!!!). Apart from putting all this together, I corrected the location and shape of the wheel wells, added all interiors and smaller details, and corrected the shape of prop and spinner. Applied markings are a combination of airbrushed elements and decal spares (national insignia and victory starlets). Main references: MBI Lavockin La-7 book by Milos Vestsik; misc. Soviet/Russian La-5 and La-7 publications; detail photos of preserved La-7s in Kbely/Prague and Monino/Moscow museums.
La-7 ( Václav Lomitzki ). KP kit.
La-7 ( Erik Pilawskii ). I built this model using the procedures laid out in our KP Lavochkin article. This model depicts the machine of Sultan Amet-Khan of the famous 9 GIAD in the Fall of 1944. The aircraft is a Moscow built two-gun model wearing a standard Medium Grey over Dark Sea Grey scheme [which, as we now know should be AMT lacquers; perhaps I'll refinish it soon...].
La-7 ( Ilya Grinberg ). Another ex-KP kit-bash combining the La-5FN and -7 kits, again per our KP article. Ilya modeled Sergei Dolgyushin's wonderful "White 93" machine from Spring 1945, wearing the Winter solid Dark Sea Gray scheme.