top of page

16. Lavochkin La-7
Soviet Union - 1944

The La-7, a refined version of the La-5, debuted in early 1944.  It soon proved to be faster and more maneuverable than its chief adversary, the Luftwaffe's Fw 190.  Coupled with the Yak-9, the La-7 gave the Soviets a stable of fighters that were superior to anything the Germans had until the Me 262 arrived.
The highest scoring Allied ace of the war was Ivan Kozhedub, whose combat career didn’t begin until well into 1943. Flying different La-5s and later a La-7, he scored steadily and ended the war with 62 confirmed kills.  Build notes at the bottom.
Gavia #009/0062, 1/48 Lavochkin La-7

1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub
1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub
1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub
1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub
1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub
1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub
1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub
1/48 Gavia La-7 Kozhedub

-  The Gavia is over twenty years old now but is still a nice kit.  It comes with a full fret of photo etch details and a canopy mask sheet.  I added riveting to the various panels with a rivet wheel and replaced the kit's wheels with ResKit resin wheels.

- The decals were from an old Superscale sheet, plus others I had the decal stash.  

- I used primarily AK Real Colors paints, and also Alclad Aluminum for the metal areas.  My first time using Alclad - it worked really well.​​

bottom of page