Lavochkin LA-15 Fantail - Hobby Model Nr. 54 in 1/33 scale

[Isaac]

Lavochkin LA-15 Fantail - Hobby Model Nr. 54 in 1/33 scale


I got this old kit of a unique first generation jet aircraft while visiting Poland a few years ago. I stoped at this hobby shop next to Pawiak prison ( historic site ) that had many kits and models hanging ( see pics of this old plane here ) I also purchased the vacuformed canopy for it.







History

It is one of the last designs of the famous WW2 Lavochkin design bureau. As can be seen the aircraft design drew upon the German Focke Wulf TA 183 Huckebein with a similar layout. Also the engine used were the British Derwint and later a version of the Nene. Lavochkin design competed with the Mig-15 which ultimately won out and became a standard fighter of the USSR. The LA-15 was the last production aircraft of Lavochkin house and the later prototypes and other designs really did not go any further and were simply relegated to the pages of aviation history.

A great reference book is Yefim Gordon’s “ Lavochkin last jets” ( British midland publishing ).




The kit itself is really very simple and somewhat crude and could use a repaint. However, it is printed in silver color, so it is somewhat different. I am not really fond of silver color prints due to their delicate nature and prefer the method today of medium gray such as the Hobby Model SU-9 I just finished to represent metalic finish.





So here we go.

Building the kit:

I started by cutting as many parts as I could and started on small sub assemblies. Cockpit, gear bays, wings, aileron and fuselage sections.




Cheers


Isaac

[Tim Crowe]

Looking good, Isaac

Any problems with folding the metalic paper?

Tim

[Isaac]

Tim


Actually, the metalic paper parts are softer and I have to be careful with them. Also, this kit is old and the paper is much more sensitive.

My issue is that everything sticks to this paper, so the gluing should be done carefully as well.

Other than that, not a big deal. I have built quite a few models with this material.

Also, if there are wrinkles or creases, it will show ( my kit is old and has a few of these ).


Isaac

Originally Posted by Tim Crowe

Looking good, Isaac

Any problems with folding the metalic paper?

Tim

[Leif Ohlsson]

Isaac,

thank you for introducing this aircraft. I did not know the historic background, and thought that it was a Mig-15 when glancing at the photos.

It is also interesting to see an old, yet seemingly high-quality, kit being built.

Leif

[charleswlkr54]

I seem to remeber it was a competitor to the Mig 15 but lost out to the Mig, not sre it it ever went into production or not.

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by charleswlkr54

I seem to remeber it was a competitor to the Mig 15 but lost out to the Mig, not sre it it ever went into production or not.

The La-15 production reached 235 aircraft and stopped in 1949 primarily due to political and personality issues of the Soviets at the time ( politics always trumps design ). The reality is that at that early phase of jets they decided to have a single fighter and the Mig 15 was selected. Lavochkin really ended manned aviation in the mid 1950's with the LA-250 interceptor prototype failures.

A personal observation:
Some people talk about the Luft 46 concept aircraft as if that was the solution for the ultimate aviation concepts. However , puting theory into practice and then production and it's ability to operate in real condition was a great challenge and required lots of effort and a whole new set of skills.

My interest in early jet aviation is to explore all these developments and their challenges.

Cheers

Isaac

[Isaac]

As I stated, this silver paper is very soft and sensitive. If I try to round it, it tends to burnish and show the outline of the glue tabs. When I fit it over any spars or frames, it will show a crease. So I tried to glue some card stock on the edges. However, it still burnished it. Anyhow, I did the best I could with this pesky material.

As far as the glue smudges, those will come off later when I apply the Tamiya low tack tape and gently pull them off. I also used this tape to attach the sections together while the glue is drying.

The fit on the parts is poor. Again, this is an old design and could used a major update.

Since the plane is tail heavy, I attached some weight to the nose. I use fishing weights and glue in place ( see picture ).


Progress so far here in pictures.


Isaac

[Yale]

Originally Posted by Isaac

The La-15 production reached 235 aircraft and stopped in 1949 primarily due to political and personality issues of the Soviets at the time ( politics always trumps design ). The reality is that at that early phase of jets they decided to have a single fighter and the Mig 15 was selected. Lavochkin really ended manned aviation in the mid 1950's with the LA-250 interceptor prototype failures. ...

My impression was that the La-15's practical failure in contrast to the MiG-15 was the end of the Lavochkin design bureau. But the Virtual Aircraft Museum, History of Titanic, lists many additional designs before the end came. Another impression was that the La-15 was like a MiG, but with shoulder-mounted wings and a T tail. The museum's illustrations show that this is not quite accurate -- the tail was high, but not really a T, and the fuselage seems longer and more slender than that of the MiG. And perhaps it's a goofy idea, but the color side view struck me as a combination of a MiG-15 and a Saab J-29.

Whatever the pros and cons of the real aircraft's history, it's a wonderful subject for a model, and I'm enjoying this build thread very much.

[Yale]

Sorry, folks, something went wring with the link. Try this one, instead:

Lavochkin La-15 - fighter

[Isaac]

The LA-15 actually went into production (short lived), while none of the other later Lavochkun designs did. Only flight test prototypes.

The Mig and the Lavochkin designs based their aircraft on the German TA 183 as a starting point but realized the many technical issues. One of the prime ones was a lack of suitable engine. The Jumo 004 and the other jets from WW2 were very low thrust and had a short impracticle life of 25 hours. Thus they got the Nene and Derwint engines from the UK. Those engines were radial flow compressors which had a larger diameter than axial flow compressor engines and that added to the chubby look.

SAAB Tunan also is a direct development of TA 183 as well as the Me 1101 design. There was one aircraft designed by Kurt Tank ( the TA stands for his name ) that was a direct continuation of his TA 183 and that was the Pulqui II built in Argentina in the 50's. It too failed for a variety of reasons including the politics of the time with the Juan Peron regime.
As for the Lavochkin house, he did not have enough friends in high places like Mikoyan did.
Ultimately Mig delivered a good design for a second generation jet

The rest is history

Isaac