Two La-5 questions

[Seawinder]

I'm close to the painting stage with the Zvezda 1-48 La-5 kit and have a couple of questions:

1. Were the two metal rings around the cowling always unpainted? Looking at period photos, it appears that some of them may have been painted over in the camouflage color(s), but it's a little hard to tell for sure.

2. The one disappointing thing for me in the Zvezda kit is the very thick transparencies -- almost to the point that I may do it with the canopy closed. Has anyone tried the Squadron (Falcon) vacuform canopy designed for the Hobbycraft kit? If the sliding canopy were a decent fit, that would at least be something.

Thanks!
Pip

[Saivila]

Rob Taurus got 1/48 canopy for la 7 on  Gavia / Eduard kit . Have no idea how does it might fit or at all?
Hobbycraft kit is anyway old and different than Svezda.  These Rob taurus canopies for1/48 Yak were good.
Very strong and vigorous. Easier to trim and quite cheap.

http://www.rob-taurus.cz/

Regards Saivila

[otto]

Hello Seawinder
Pavla has recently produced vacuform canopies for Zvezda La-5 and La-5 FN. See here (http://www.pavlamodels.cz/katalogy/katalog.php?katalog=vacucanopy&c=al&typ=nahled). I have them, and they seem good although I did not installed them yet.

[Seawinder]

Great! I'll check that out, thanks.

Anybody have any information re my first question?

Pip

[Walker]

The wall thickness of the canopy in this model is quite scale. But itself is worthless. Movable part in a plan is a trapezoid. And edges must be parallel.

[Seawinder]

The wall thickness of the canopy in this model is quite scale. But itself is worthless. Movable part in a plan is a trapezoid. And edges must be parallel.

Beg to differ. Regardless of any shape concerns, the wall thickness, especially that of the sliding section, is, to my eye at least, way out of scale.

PLEASE, does anybody have any light to shed on the painting or non-painting of the cowling rings?

Pip

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi,

Movable part in a plan is a trapezoid. And edges must be parallel.

Not necessarily. MiG-3 has a sliding canopy without parallel edges. This is because the guides must be parallel if seen from above, but are internal. The front end of the guide is turned down to allow the canopy to close. So, when it is pulled back, first the canopy raises, then moves backward. I've not studied the La-5 canopy, but it could well be the same thing.
Regards
Massimo

[Walker]

You may not agree as much as necessary   . But this does not mean that you will be right.

Massimo, the past three years, I carefully studied the La-5 and can answer for my words. The canopy, of all La-5 had the sliding part with parallel edges.

Clamping ring for the vast majority of the photos has a shiny unpainted look. But rarely come across and painted. You need to see photos of the  particular prototype, whose model building.

[4bogreen]

Hey there,

I would paint the clamping ring in alclad highly polished aluminium. For the canopies, the Rob Taurus La-7 canopy can be used on the
La-5F and La-5FN. I have the the Taurus for my Eduard La-7. The shape of the Eduard La-7 is wrong. To narrow. The Taurus canopy is based on the Gavia kit, who is (more) correct. If Pavla makes correct canopies, designed for Zvezda, you can go for that. But the Taurus canopy is not wrong...

[Troy Smith]

As far as I know the Eduard La-7 is a rebox of the Gavia kit [ Eduard also reboxed Gavia's Lysander] so the canopies are the same in both.

I have both kits so can check later.

I have meant to ask Rob Taurus if their canopy corrected the too narrow kit rear section, or is just a thinner but still inaccurate replacement.