Armory Models Group 1/144 La-15 "Fantail"
By Matt Bittner
Overview
The Lavochkin La-15, NATO-code named "Fantail", was designed and developed at the same time as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. While there were around 235 aircraft made - and it was better in most ways than the MiG-15 - it was the ease of manufacturing and durability that the USSR decided to push the MiG-15 to the forefront. This kit by Armory Models Group is the first 1/144 injected kit of the type.
The Kit
The Armory Models Group 1/144 La-15 consists of 26 pieces of gray, injected plastic; a sprue of two injected clear parts (the canopy and the intake landing light); and a photoetch frame with 17 pieces of brass. Couple this with two kits in the box and you have the possibility to make two 1/144 La-15s. The decal sheet consist of seven La-15s, all of which are all-over aluminum while some of these included red "chevrons" on their forward fuselage:
- La-15 "Red 01" (s/n 0103), Saratov plant, GK NII VVS USSR, Chkalovskaya AFB, December 1949
- La-15 "White 108" (s/n 52210108), early production, Gorkiy plant, 196th fighter regiment, Kubinka AFB, August 1949
- La-15 "White 202" (s/n 52210202), 196th fighter regiment, Kubinka AFB, 1949
- La-15 "White 201" (s/n unknown), 196th fighter regiment, Kubinka AFB, 1949
- La-15 "Blue 415" (s/n 52210415) used for aerodynamics research LII, Zhukovskiy, crashed on 17th April, 1950
- La-15 "Blue 317" (s/n 52210317), 196th fighter regiment, Kubinka AFB, August 1949
- La-17 "Red 457" (s/n 52210457), late production, Gorkiy plant, 1950
Naturally construction starts with the cockpit. Glue the seat "cushion" to the seat back, then glue it, the instrument panel plastic part and the photoetch control stick to the cockpit floor. Also add the decal instrument panel after painting. Next you glue the intake splitter to the landing gear well then glue the main landing gear well pieces together. Once those are all cured then they are all added to the port side of the fuselage half - along with the blanking plate for the rear exhaust - prior to gluing the fuselage halves together. Note that Armory does not mention any type of nose weight, but I would be surprised if it doesn't need any. So find the space (probably above the nose gear well piece) and add weight until you think it's enough for the kit to sit on its nose gear correctly.
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Now that the fuselage halves are together, the flying surfaces can be added. Once those are cured, then the photoetch wing fences can be added (which don't exist in plastic). The instructions then have you turn the model over and start adding the landing gear.
Note that you have the option of adding the (thick) plastic landing gear doors or the ones provided on the photoetch fret. For me this is a no-brainer and I will opt for the photoetch. However, I will add all this after painting and decaling so I don't run the risk of knocking these off while painting. Be that as it may, you may want to add the underside photoetch fin prior to painting, though. There is one other option; Armory provides an intake cover on the photoetch fret if you don't want to deal with the intake trunking at all.
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The fuselage-top antenna mast is also photoetch, and after all is said and done an aerial wire is strung between it, the fin and the fuselage.
Conclusion
This is an excellent addition to the world of 1/144 modeling, a kit I'm looking forward to finishing and displaying next to my UTI MiG-15 and I will definitely be using the Kaleido paints on this one, too. While the colors are similar I think the shapes will provide an interesting comparison when sitting on your modeling shelf. Huge thanks to Armory Models Group for supplying the review kit.