Author Topic: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé  (Read 4107 times)

Offline Brian da Basher

  • He has an unnatural attraction to Spats...and a growing fascination with airships!
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While both the Mikoyan-Gurevich and Yakovlev bureaus had noteworthy first generation jets



Lavochkin's initial foray into jet power was somewhat less memorable.



Officially known as the La-13, the aircraft was comparable to other early Soviet jets since it was merely a production La-7 modified to accept a jet engine.



While far from an ideal aircraft, the La-13 was ground-breaking in being one of the first, if not the best, jet fighters.



Some might say the concept itself is wanting and this may be due to outside influences beyond the Lavochkin bureau's control.



Unfortunately, the La-13 had a propensity to catch fire in flight due to poor tailpipe placement.



This design fault would lead to its NATO reporting name Flambé.



Never fielded in any numbers, only 14 La-13s were ever built.



The example shown here, "White 75" was given that erroneuos Bort # in an attempt at deceiving the west into thinking there were over seventy of the things.



No La-13 Flambés survived past 1947. Those that didn't catch fire were destroyed by angry pilots and relatives of the barbequed.



The only kit of the La-13 was this 1/72 NoGo short-fun offering from 1991 of which only three were ever sold.



Practically nobody remembers the Flambé today and most aviation experts, citing a lack of documentary evidence, believe the type only to be the product of some flaming imagination.



Brian da Basher

« Last Edit: June 11, 2017, 02:01:28 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Brian da Basher

  • He has an unnatural attraction to Spats...and a growing fascination with airships!
  • Holding Pattern
  • *
  • Hulk smash, Brian bash
Re: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2017, 01:59:20 AM »
This all started with a rather vintage (and perhaps quite collectible!) 1/72 Novo Lavochkin La-7. Mine was bagged, so there's no box art as such, but the header card is rather nice.



It even comes with a helpful painting guide on the back that I once again totally ignored except for appreciating the drawings and surprising quality of collectivized printing.



The rest of the kit is simple like the packaging.



Just in case anyone doubts its commie credentials, this bit of sprue will put that to rest.



Of course there was no way I was going to build it straight. I wasn't sure what I was going to do and then I noticed a prop problem.



Probably not a hard fix, but it gave me the idea to convert this baby to jet power.





I started by swapping out the busted kit prop for a large spinner I found rattling around the spares box. Then I blanked off the fuselage exhaust carve-out with pieces of card.





Since the kit canopy fits a Monogram P-36 (with a bit of kludging), I replaced it with a drop tank half. A spare 1/144 U-2 nose was used for the tailpipe.





Here's how it all looked before paint.



I forgot to mention that I amputated a small belly radiator and covered it with another slice of card.



Speaking of paint, acrylics and the old hairy stick were used, Model Masters Medium Gray mostly.



The canopy was tinted with Flat Black and then a couple of coats of Liquitex Artists' Gloss Medium were used to get it nice and shiny.



A bit of Model Masters Aluminum was used on the fan blades up front.





Lastly the exhaust end was painted in Model Masters Jet Exhaust.



The decals were all swiped from an Encore Polikarpov R-5.



It only took me a week to build this model but it took a while to get it posted because things have been busy at work. I'd like to thank Bill for his kindness in sending me this little gem of a kit!



I hope you enjoyed the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé and reading about yet another aircraft that ended up in the ash heap of history.



Brian da Basher
« Last Edit: June 11, 2017, 02:23:24 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline AXOR

  • Our returned Monkey Box man
Re: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2017, 02:34:50 AM »
I hope you enjoyed the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé and reading about yet another aircraft that ended up in the ash heap of history.

Brian da Basher


Definitely yes,great job Brian
Alex

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2017, 10:22:20 AM »
Nice work! Looks like the pilot would get cooked sitting over that engine!

Offline elmayerle

  • Its about time there was an Avatar shown here...
  • Über Engineer...at least that is what he tells us.
Re: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2017, 10:26:19 AM »
Kerick, asbestos-lined stainless steel jockstrap for the pilot?

Beautiful piece of work, Brian.

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2017, 10:29:28 AM »
Heat shield for his heiny!

Offline pigflyer

  • If reality is real, give me whatif. Really?
Re: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2017, 10:40:14 PM »
So, thats how the thieving imperialist sky pirates got the idea for the Ryan Fireball!

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRg_1J-eLr3r9OkWJ-EZfC85twtRROot37DMWbvzjuU09moc8t5
If I don't plan it, it can't go wrong!

If it's great, I did it. If it's naff, I found it.

Offline andonio64

  • Fio Piccolo's understudy
Re: Brian da Basher's Bolshie Build #5 - the Lavochkin La-13 Flambé
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2017, 03:15:49 PM »
 ;)
Lovely!