DONE +++ Lavochkin La-11 of the Vietnam People's Air Force, early 1966

Dizzyfugu · January 15, 2022, 01:06:53 AM

The kit and its assembly:
I have been wanting to build (and whif) a late Lavochkin piston-engine fighter for a while, and a first approach to this subject was a pimped La-7 with new laminar flow wings (from a P-51) in Korean markings a few years ago. The idea did not leave the back of my mind, though, even more so when I found a set of early VPAF markings (the simple yellow stars) on a MiG-15bis decal sheet. From this the idea of a VPAF La-11 was born.
The problem: there are not many La-11 IP kits in 1:72 out there. Gran, Siga and Interavia do AFAIK suitable kits with relatively new molds, but I have never seen any of them in real life or in a review. However, I was lucky to hunt down an affordable MPM La-9/11 model from 1989 (still marked with "Made in Czechoslovakia" and sold in an anonymous white box!) some time ago, a simple but very nice affair. But it took some more years until I got into the right mood to eventually build the model - and KiwiZac' recent 1:48 La-9 was an inspiring trigger.

The MPM kit was basically built OOB. Even though it looks a bit chunky on its sprue (it's just a single one, plus two vacu sheets for canopy and two small windows), it features very fine recessed panel lines. Surprisingly, the wings, which were designed as two complete halves sitting on each other, have pretty thin trailing edges, and details are good. However, fitting the wings to the fuselage took some tailoring at the wing roots, there are no locator pins, the kit calls for some PSR all around and the chocolate brown styrene was a bit brittle (might be blamed on age, though), so I'd recommend it only for an experienced builder. Despite these challenges, the resulting model looks better than expected, though.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The propeller received a metal axis with a respective adapter behind the cowling, and I replaced the OOB spinner - the only true poor part of the kit - with an alternative leftover from an Italeri He 111, which fits well in size and shape and onto the OOB propeller. I furthermore slightly modified the wheels with extra hub fairings, and because they both broke when I tried to remove them from the massive sprue, the oleo struts had to be replaced with scratched material. Masking tape seatbelts were added to the comfy pilot seat. The vacu canopy was cut into three pieces, so that the cockpit could be displayed open.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

More coming soon...

Old Wombat · January 15, 2022, 05:42:14 AM

scooter · January 15, 2022, 05:56:48 AM

Time to screw with the {sarcasm} "experts" {/sarcasm} over on the WarThunder forums

KiwiZac · January 15, 2022, 07:03:03 PM

Excellent! *applauds excitedly*

Wardukw · January 15, 2022, 08:20:17 PM

That is looking great so far Dizzy..looking forward to this one being done

The Rat · January 15, 2022, 09:48:38 PM

Man, do you ever take time to eat, drink, sleep, and use the toilet?

scooter · January 15, 2022, 11:39:45 PM

Quote from: The Rat on January 15, 2022, 09:48:38 PM
Man, do you ever take time to eat, drink, sleep, and use the toilet?

He's got a TARDIS in the spare room.

zenrat · January 16, 2022, 02:31:55 AM

Looking at chocolate styrene is making me hungry...

Dizzyfugu · January 17, 2022, 08:28:04 AM

Painting and markings:
The paint scheme for the fictional VPAF La-11 was inspired by the North Vietnamese MiG-17 "3020 red", which carried a rather shaggy two-tone camouflage consisting of a yellowish green base tone with bluish green mottles chaotically applied over it, plus probably NMF underwing surfaces. I wanted to adapt this livery to an overpainted former grey PLAAF aircraft, so that the model received an initial primer coat of medium grey (Revell 47) and aluminum (Revell 99) on the leading edges and areas like the cowling and the cockpit.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Once dry, a more or less opaque layer with thinned Humbrol 150 (Forest Green) was added, so that some of the grey and the metal would shine through, supported by a hard flat brush drenched with thinner.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

After another drying period the decals were applied: the pre-1965 VPAF yellow stars came from an Cutting Edge Productions limited edition MiG-15 sheet (CED72019) which primarily focusses on North Korean aircraft, the tactical code was created from single digits from a HAD Models Mi-24 sheet, from a Hungarian Hind.
Then the dark green mottles were added around the markings, with thinned Humbrol 195 (Chromium Oxide Green, RAL 6020). The undersides were painted in blue-grey, and for a good contrast with the yellow stars I used Tamiya XF-23. The kit received a light black ink washing and some post-shading, even though not much on the upper surfaces, due to the disruptive paint scheme.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

All interior surfaces were painted in medium grey (again Revell 47), with a dark grey middle section of the dashboard. The louvres in front of the engine became a darker grey (Humbrol 27). As a visual contrast I painted the wheel hubs in bright green (Humbrol 101), and the spinner was painted in red (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60). After consulting pictures of museum PLAAF La-11s and old pictures in trustworthy literature, the propeller blades became simply painted black with yellow tips.

Finally, the kit was sealed with matt actrylic varnish, and as a final step the position lights were added and he wire antennae were created with heated black sprue material. And instead of the clear vacu bits for the landing light and the star navigation system window beind the cockpit I rather used Clearfix.

Pepsi Concorde · January 17, 2022, 08:42:27 AM

KiwiZac · January 17, 2022, 05:12:11 PM

I like it, I like it a lot!

Wardukw · January 17, 2022, 05:49:52 PM

Thomas your doing a wonderful wiffy here mate..looking great

63cpe · January 17, 2022, 09:16:12 PM

This is looking very much OK to me. Always likes the Fang, maybe because it's obscure. I didn't know there was a model of it.

QuoteLooking at chocolate styrene is making me hungry

. I guess it's made of Chocolade...melts in the hand thought...

David aka 63CPE

Dizzyfugu · January 18, 2022, 06:15:44 AM

Photo session finished.

Dizzyfugu · January 20, 2022, 12:35:23 AM

Last days have been busy, so editing the pictures took a while. But here it is, a VPAF Fang that never was.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Lavochkin La-11 was an early post-World War II Soviet long-range piston-engine fighter aircraft. One of the recommendations from the government testing of the Lavochkin La-130 (the Lavochkin La-9 prototype) was to further develop the all-metal design into a long-range escort fighter. The resultant La-134 prototype (also sometimes referred to as La-9M) featured increased fuel and oil capacity, and armament was reduced from four to three 23 mm cannons to save weight and improve performance.
The first prototype flew in May 1947, the second prototype, called La-134D, had its fuel capacity increased even further by an additional 275 l (73 US gal) with wing and external fuel tanks. The aircraft was fitted with larger tires to accommodate the increased weight and amenities for long flights such as increased padding in the seat, armrests, and a urinal – missions of seven hours and more were realistic. In addition, a full radio navigation suite was installed.
Not surprisingly, combat performance with a full fuel load suffered. But as the fuel load approached that of the original La-9 during flight, so did the performance. Nevertheless, the aircraft was found to be poorly suited for combat above 7,000 m (23,000 ft). Despite these flaws the new fighter, officially designated La-11 (OKB designation La-140), entered production in 1947, and by the end of production in 1951, a total of 1,182 aircraft were built.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The first documented combat use of a La-11 took place on April 8, 1950, when four Soviet pilots shot down a United States Navy Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer over the Baltic Sea. From February 1950, Soviet La-11 moved to Shanghai (carrying PLAAF markings) to defend the city against bombing by the ROCAF during the Korea War, and the type was frequently used in escort missions. On April 2, 1950, two P-51s were claimed by (probably Soviet) La-11 pilots over Shanghai. After that, brand new MiG-15 jet fighters took over the air defense role, the ROCAF stopped bombing Shanghai that June and the Soviet units left in October 1950. Many La-11s were then handed over to Chinese troops.

By July 1950, Chinese La-11s were flying combat air patrol missions over North Korea, with frequent clashes with jet fighters. The main target of La-11 pilots during the Korean War, however, was the Douglas A-26 Invader night bomber, although numerous skirmishes with P-51s also took place. Attempts to intercept Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers proved fruitless, because the La-11 required 26 minutes to reach the B-29's cruising altitude, and, once there, had a marginal speed advantage of only 20 km/h (12 mph).

During 1954–55, after the Korean War, La-11 fighters of the PLAAF took part in the Battle of Yijiangshan Islands escorting the ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy and Tu-2 bombers. However, at that time the La-11 had become obsolete as an interceptor, even though its good range and handling at medium altitude still made it a viable escort fighter. During this period and with more and more jet fighters available, the PLAAF passed some of its surplus aircraft on to other countries, including Indonesia, Mongolia and North Vietnam.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) had been founded after WWII, but further development of its capabilities only began in 1956, when a number of trainees were sent to the USSR and China for pilot training. The first unit of the VPAF was the No. 919 Transport Regiment (Trung đoàn Không quân Vận tải 919), organized on 1 May 1959, with An-2, Li-2, Il-14 aircraft, followed by the No. 910 Training Regiment (Trung đoàn Không quân 910) with Yak-18 trainers.

The first North Vietnamese combat plane was a T-28 Trojan trainer, whose pilot defected from the Royal Lao Air Force. Serialled '963' in memory of the month and the year in which it was 'delivered', it was refurbished and actively utilized from early 1964 by the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) as a night fighter and became the first North Vietnamese aircraft to shoot down a US aircraft, a C-123, on 15 February 1964.
To boost the VPAF's rather poor offensive capabilities, ex PLAAF La-11s were delivered in late 1963 to the VPAF, followed by the first jet fighter aircraft, the MiG-17, even though the latter were initially stationed at air bases on Mainland China, while their pilots were being trained. Exact numbers are uncertain, but around sixty La-11 fighters were transferred and put into service until late 1964.
The aircraft arrived in Vietnam in standard PLAAF liveries, either carrying all-over light grey, greyish-green/blue or medium grey/blue camouflage. These were rather unsuited for the jungle environment of the Indochina peninsula, and to make the aircraft more difficult to spot both in the air and on the ground, almost all machines were subsequently sprayed in individual dark green camouflage, over which brown, grey or dark olive drab paint was liberally applied to break up the outlines. La-11s from early deliveries carried the VPAF's original emblem, a simple yellow star edged in red on wings and fin. In 1965, however, this simple national marking was modified with a red bar, but this was soon replaced with the definite red and yellow "stars and bars" emblem on fuselage and wings that offered better contrast and difference from USAF markings to avoid confusion. Many VPAF La-11s received these markings in the course of 1965, too.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

On 3 February 1964, the VPAF's first fighter regiment No. 921 (Trung đoàn Không quân Tiêm kích 921), a.k.a. "Sao Do (Red Star) Squadron", was formed and initially equipped with La-11s. On 6 August the first MiG-17s arrived with their pilots from China in North Vietnam, and gradually replaced the La-11s. Furthermore, a small number of Chinese J-2s (Soviet-built MiG-15bis in PLAAF service) were delivered to the VPAF, too. With more and more jets operational, the La-11s were primarily used as conversion trainers and liaison aircraft, but, thanks to their high endurance, they also conducted flying combat air patrol missions along the borders, occasionally engaging slow transport and reconnaissance aircraft or helicopters.
On 7 September, a second unit, the No. 923 fighter regiment, a.k.a. "Yen The Squadron" was formed as a pure jet fighter unit. In May 1965, No. 16 bomber company (Đại đội Không quân Ném bom 16) was formed with Il-28 twin engine bombers. Only one Il-28 sortie was ever flown in 1972 against Royal Laotian forces, which was escorted by La-11s, and this probably marked the end of La-11 operations by the VPAF. The aircraft had reached the end of their service life and had become totally outdated.

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.62 m (28 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Height: 3.47 m (11 ft 5 in)
Wing area: 17.6 m² (189 sq ft)
Airfoil: TsAGI Laminar Airfoil
Empty weight: 2,770 kg (6,107 lb)
Gross weight: 3,730 kg (8,223 lb)
Max, take-off weight: 3,996 kg (8,810 lb)

Powerplant:
1× Shvetsov ASh-82FN 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with 2-stage supercharger and fuel injection, 1,380 kW (1,850 hp), driving a 3-bladed constant-speed propeller

Performance:
Maximum speed: 674 km/h (419 mph, 364 kn) at altitude
Range: 2,235 km (1,389 mi, 1,207 nmi)
Service ceiling: 10,250 m (33,630 ft)
Rate of climb: 12.63 m/s (2,486 ft/min)
Wing loading: 212 kg/m² (43 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.37 kW/kg (0.23 hp/lb)

Armament:
3× 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon with 75 rpg

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name: "Fang"); aircraft "1709" of the Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People's Air Force/VPAF) 921st Fighter Regiment "Sao Do"; Kép Air Base (Bắc Giang province, North Vietnam), early 1966 (What-if/MPM kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Well, a simple build, realized in just two days (plus painting, though) - but not without challenges on the hardware and livery side. However, for a short-run IP kit with almost 35 years on the clock the result looks better than expected, and the exotic pre-1965 VPAF markings add a confusing touch to this what-f model. Together with the bright green jungle camouflage this La-11 even looks quite pretty, despite its worn appearance?