Vector 1/48th La-5 Razorback
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Background
La-5 was a major mid-war Soviet fighter plane design, one that practically
saved Lavochkin Bureau from extinction, and subsequently fathered the
most potent breed of radial engine air-superiority fighters. Aviators
were keen on these machines for their combination of flying characteristics,
robustness and firepower.
 In
2006 Vector company from Russia released 1/48 kits of the La-5 family
in resin. Simple in layout, well engineered and beautifully produced,
these kits are to date the best 3-D representations of Lavohckin fighters.
La-5 and La-5F are already available from Vector, and by the time you
are reading this La-5FN may be also making its premiere. For more information
about the La-5 “Razorback” kit, please refer to my in-box
review on the VVS
site.
Building the Kit
 Most
of the kit’s small parts are made for the interior. All that is
provided is authentic and accurate, so I added only few small control
levers on the port cockpit wall, from photo-etched leftovers, and back
end of cannon assemblies with handles for manual arming. Main instrument
panel was also replaced with Eduard photo-etch piece and acetate insert
for instruments.
Side glazing cutouts to the back of pilot’s seat were made from
clear acetate, cut to exact size, and super-glued in position with Olba
industrial CA glue. Olba, company from Holland, produces the best superglue
I’ve ever used. It is very fast, super-strong, and most importantly
there is virtually no frosting on the transparent parts when it cures.
 I
first sprayed inside fuselage surfaces with Surfacer 1000, then with “WUP”
(Wood Use Primer) from WEM line of VVS colors. Surfacer, among it’s
others advantages, helps with opacity of the subsequent layers of paint,
so that WUP can be sprayed very thin and therefore dries much faster.
WEM paints are otherwise known for long curing times.
I hand-painted most of the molded-on details, then dry brushed them.
Oil wash was the last step in producing a well-worn look. Same techniques
were used on the cockpit floor, and pilot’s seat. All the separate
small details were painted first and then attached in the appropriate
place.
 Light
sanding of mating surfaces on the two fuselage halves achieves better
alignment and bond. Before closing the fuselage, I made new tail wheel
mount out of bits of plastic and small metal tubing. Tail wheel strut
was also replaced with steel tubing.
 I
used slow curing two-component epoxy for the fuselage, as well as other
major components of this kit, to give enough time for alignment of resin
parts. Additional advantage is that any excess glue coming out of the
seam can be simply cleaned with moistened Q-tip.
To allow for spinning propeller, I constructed simple bearing system
for the propeller shaft. It consists of coaxial plastic tubing with wide
enough clearance to allow for the low friction rotation  and
two plastic plugs on both sides to close it off and prevent axial movement
of the shaft. Shaft itself was recruited from my syringe needle stash.
All this goes directly through a pre-drilled hole in the center of the
front fuselage bulkhead and into the spinner. Aligning everything along
the main fuselage axes is paramount.
Main antenna mast and Pitot-tube are missing in the kit, so I formed
them out of scraps of plastic and syringe tubing. I added a small antenna
connector on the tip of vertical fin. This is a photo-etched bit from
Eduard’s very useful “Wire Stretchers & Controlhorns”
set.
Two alternative vacu-formed windshields are supplied in the kit. La-5
variant that I wanted to model had the early “aerodynamic”
windshield, without front armored glass.
Wing is a beautifully cast in one piece, with all appropriate details,
correct dihedral, sharp and straight trailing edge. It goes together with
the fuselage in pleasant harmony.
 After
sanding the joint between wing and fuselage, I placed the chin oil-cooler.
Here I added a fine metal mesh to an otherwise faceless heat exchanger.
Rows of rivets around the cowling were made using compass needle in a
pin vise. Not wanting to clutter the model with every existing rivet of
the real plane, I opted for more elegant approach, only suggesting the
lines of rivets in appropriate places, to differentiate metal from wooden
parts of the airframe. For me this produces well-balanced final look of
the model in this scale.
Tail surfaces presented no problem at all. I was deliberating if to
cut and reposition the horizontal stabilizers. Many photos of the real
aircraft at rest show control surfaces without any offset, so I decided
to let them be.
 Main
landing gear was used without to many changes as well. I’ve only
replaced the actuator rod with a piece of steel wire. Main leg oleo was
covered in Bare Metal Foil. The upper part of the leg cover is far to
long as given in the kit. I think it was meant to go into the landing
gear bay recess, alongside the main leg, but there is simply no space
for this. I’ve cut the upper part of this cover until it allowed
for the wheel fairing to fit properly. Kit supplied Equipage rubber wheels
& resin hubs were used to their advantage. Despite shortcomings of
the rubber wheels, they lend themselves to weathering, and also offer
opportunity to work on the hubs separately. I like this concept.
Camouflage & Markings
Early box cover for Vector La-5 (the image was changed on newer kits)
shows profile of “White 55” from famous “Eskadrila Valerii
Chkalov”, 4th GIAP. Aircraft is wearing staple period camouflage
of green and black “meander pattern”, but the whole front
section of the fuselage and upper wing is covered in heavily weathered
white distemper for winter use. This one was my favorite from the start.
 After
priming the whole model with Surfacer 1000, I continued with selection
of WEM VVS enamels. For the black areas I used 50% mix of flat black and
RLM-70, black-green, to lower the contrast in scale. I wanted very little
diffusion between colors, but at the same time I didn’t want to
have absolutely sharp demarcation lines. For this purpose I used masks
made out of “plasteline”, a sort of reusable sculpting clay.
To achieve best possible consistency of color diffusion, I tried to always
spray perpendicular to the masked border.
After the basic camouflage of green, and black was fully dry, I sprayed
a coat of “Future” floor polish thinned with alcohol, to seal
everything before white distemper is applied. Ah yes, now was the time
to apply metal cowling rings as well, made from strips of “Bare
Metal Foil”.
 To
make partial, semi-opaque, and heavily weathered white winter distemper
I used the “salt technique”. Basically, a slush of fine salt
mixed with small amount of water is applied over the area where heavy
chipping should occur, and when this is dry, white distemper is sprayed,
taking care that coverage is not complete, and that underlying paint is
showing through in places. Instead of using pure white paint, I added
a drop of black, once more to lower the contrast. After paint dries to
the touch salt can be removed, exposing camouflage beneath. To break the
pattern of salt grains I followed with light sanding/polishing of the
white paint. This has to be done very subtly, so that only a minimal amount
of paint is taken away. I used 2500 and subsequently 6000 grit.
 Kit
supplied “Begemot” (“Hippo” in English) decals
performed very well. They are thin and, after a light application of Micro
Sol, conform to all the curves and crevices. On the negative side I noticed
slight lack of opacity in the national stars. They changed their red hue
depending on the surface color underneath. Further, the decal carrier
film is a bit yellowish and this can also show when applied over pale
base surface.
Another coat of Future followed, and after it was dry I applied wash
of oil paints (dark-gray/brown) diluted with turpentine.
 The
whole airframe received then a coat of Model Master Clear Matt. Exhaust
and cannon-blast stains were sprayed with thin mixture of black and brown
and then Tamiya Smoke.
Formation lights were made from small bits of stretched sprue and then
painted with “transparent” colors, red and green. There is
also one clear light on the ruder.
As The Fat Lady Sings...
 Overall,
this was a very smooth and enjoyable build. And it was my first full resin
kit! If I hadn’t use epoxy glue, and smelled some resin dust, I
wouldn’t even notice the difference. I must tip my hat once more
to Vector for producing this fine kit. Bravo Sergey, keep’em comin’!
And now, if you excuse me, I need to go back and work on one 1/32 Mosca
that I’ve started few seasons ago…
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