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Prop & Jet 1/72 Lavochkin La-176

By Matt Bittner

Introduction

The Lavochkin La-168 was designed to meet a request from the state for a transonic, swept-wing fighter. The La-176 was a derivative of the La-168 but had wings and horizontal tail pieces swept at 45 degress. In addition, it is thought to be the first Soviet design to exceed Mach 1.

The Kit

Prop & Jet's Lavochkin La-176 consists of 32 pieces of gray resin and one clear-resin canopy (it was decided to go with clear resin because of the shape of the canopy). This design flew with no national markings, so there are no decals provided. As with all Prop & Jet kits, the detail is amazing and really needs to be seen.

The review of this kit is very similar to the review of the La-168 since the only differences between the two are shapes of some of the parts.

Construction starts with cleaning some of the parts from the excess resin, usually found on kits of this type. There is some superfluous resin on the fuselage halves that needs to be removed including some resin "webbing" where the main landing gear go. Once that is all cleaned up then "normal" construction continues. The main landing gear well consists of two pieces, and when those are glued together it can be added to one fuselage-half. Add the cockpit tub, the intake trunking and the built-up exhaust to the same fuselage half, and before gluing the halves together be sure you add enough weight to keep the model on its nose gear. Once the fuselage halves are together, then add the separate nose.

Now the rest of the model can be built up. One thing to be aware of, though, is the wings had a slight anhedral, so pay attention to that as you glue them to the fuselage. Add the rudder/fin, and separate underside-fin, then add the horizontal tail pieces to the fin. The model is now ready for painting. However, if you want to close the canopy (it only comes as a one-piece affair, so you'll have to separate the windscreen from the sliding portion yourself if you plan on opening it) then add the seat and control stick to the cockpit, glue the canopy on and mask it.

Once painting is finished, then add the landing gear and gear doors, pitot tube and antenna wire. Except for some black around the gun openings, the overall finish of the La-176 was aluminum and there were no national markings, so it shouldn't be difficult to paint.

Conclusion

Like the La-168 before it, the Prop & Jet Lavochkin La-176 should not be a difficult build. Take your time, be aware of the instructions, and you'll have a finished La-176 in no time.

I definitely want to thank Prop & Jet for allowing me the opportunity to review these excellent pieces of modeling art.