Jet LaGG

[frank2056]

I bought a cheap 1/144 scale Lagg-3, made by Zvezda. It was made as a wargaming piece, but it still builds up (quickly) into a nice representation of the LaGG-3.
The main issue is that the plastic is very soft and rubbery, so any attempt to sand away flash results in a lot of little plastic "hairs" on the model.

I decided to turn the LaGG into a jet LaGG. There was a paper project by Mikhail I. Gudkov to put a Soviet designed jet engine into a LaGG-3 fuselage: the Gu-VRD. This isn't it.

I changed the tail (larger, more angular) and deepened the rear fuselage. I cut off the nose and flipped it upside down, then added a plastic rod for the jet engine pod. The intake and exhaust are both from a Gundam detailing set.  I added a fillet of CA and talc to the forward wing root.

This is with a first, light coat of primer:







Looks like a fair amount of PSR to go!

[Geoff]

Looks good.

[Pablo1965]

Great idea and nice plane.

[frank2056]

Thanks guys. It's too bad that the plastic on this kit is so soft. It adds another layer of annoyance to the usual PSR routine. I even had to paint the surface with liquid cement to control some of the sanding generated threads.

I'm thinking of color schemes. If I make this an experimental aircraft, it would be all metal (or wood/metal in the LaGG case) so it would be overall gray or NMF. The other option is to give it a camo pattern like the boxtop.

[Mossie]

Go for a hybrid scheme?  Metal on the jet parts, camo elswhere to suggest a hasty modification of an existing fuselage?

[frank2056]

Go for a hybrid scheme?  Metal on the jet parts, camo elswhere to suggest a hasty modification of an existing fuselage?

I was thinking just that this morning on my way in. I'll try it!

[philp]

Am I the only one that gets the Subject title?

[PR19_Kit]

Am I the only one that gets the Subject title?

Oh no, it makes me chuckle every time I see the thread. 

[Mossie]

Am I the only one that gets the Subject title?

I missed it.

[RussC]

Got it (the pun). Nice build of a real "challenge" kit. The concept is a bit like the later Yak-15. I had a bug once to build a Russian mixed propulsion type where the Standard La-5/7/9/11 kept its radial plant up front but put the jet in the tail like the Ryan FR1 fireball design.

[sequoiaranger]

....then here is "JetLaGGomorph"!

[RussC]

....then here is "JetLaGGomorph"!

Testing the new afterFURner.... 

[frank2056]

I finished the Jet Lagg. The shape and fit of this kit is really nice for the price, but its fatal flaw is the rubbery plastic. It is just impossible to remove the plastic fuzz from sanding, other than using cement to soften it, then scraping off the excess. But that ends up leaving ridges that have to be cut or sanded off, so you're back to square 1. Since this is sold as a gaming piece, I guess it had to be made resilient.

So with that as an excuse, here are the poor results:

[sequoiaranger]

Nice one--Looks "crude", like real Soviet aircraft did!!

If you don't mind, I photoshopped off the "shavings" around the cockpit and tailplane interface:

[Arc3371]

Very interesting concept