Username: Vic Balshaw
First name: Vic
Category: 1 Advanced
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Zvezda Kit No 4801 La-5FN Soviet Fighter
Model Type: La-5FN 'White 01' as flown by Captain Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov, 5.Gv.IAP, 11 Gv.IAD, 2 Gv.Shak, 1st Ukranian Front, 1;43.
Extras: Eduard Photo Etched Detail 49386. Eduard Mask EX225.
References: Soviet Aces of World War 2 Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 15 by Hugh Morgan.
After my GB8 build, I thought I'd best slow the pace a little and keep it nice and simple. This will also be the first time I've used a masking set and pre coloured etched detail.
1 May 1922 - 6 February 2010. Popkov was a Soviet dighter pilot in the World War II and became an ace credited with 41 victories, twice awarded the 'Hero of the Soviet Union'.
Popkov joined the Soviet Army in 1940 and graduated from The Chuguevskaya Military-aviation School of Pilots in 1941. He was the Squad Commander of the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of 207th Fighter Aviation Division of the 3rd Mixed Aviation Corps of 17th Air Army of the South-Western Front. He became the Fighter Squadron Commander (comesqa) of the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of 11th Fighter Aviation Division of 2nd Guards Assault Aviation Corps of 2nd Air Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front in 1943 and a Lieutenant General of Aviation in 1968.
For proven merit in combat Popkov was awarded the 'Order of Lenin' and in the summer of 1943 in the Battle of Kursk he downed 3 Luftwaffe in a single combat encounter. By August 1943 he had achieved 168 combat missions and was involved in 45 air battles which accounted for 17 victories. On 8th September 1943 Popkov was awarded his first 'Hero of the Soviet Union', just prior to taking command of the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. His second 'Hero of the Soviet Union' award was made on 27th June 1945.
His record for the 2nd World War was 475 missions which incorporated 117 air battles and a victory tally of 41 planes. He also received the 'Order of Lenin' three times (26 August 1942, 9 August 1943 and 28 September 1956), the 'Order of the Red Banner' twice (30 July 1943 and 6 April 1955), the 'Order of Alexander Nevsky' (17 August 1944), the 'Order of the Patriotic War 1st Degree twice (23 May 1943 and 4 June 1985) and the 'Order of the Red Star' twice (30 December 1956 and 27 December 1982) as well as a number of campaign medals including the 'Battle of Merit', the 'Battle of Kφnigsberg' and the 'Battle of Berlin'.
Popkov continued in the military after the war and in 1951 graduated from the Military Aviation Academy and then the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR in 1964. In 1968 he was promoted to Lieutenant General of Aviation and taught at the Military Air Technical college between 1980 and 1989 when he retired from military life.
He becoming an Honorary Citizen of Moscow on 13 September 2000 and a film titled 'Only Old Men Are Going to Battle' based on his biography was made in 1973. There is also a commemorative bronze bust of Popkov in Moscow's Samotechnava Square which was erected in 1953.
Popkov was also made an Honorary Citizen of numerous other cities across Russia and Europe, namely Magadan, Sochi, Kiev, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Gagry, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Parndorfa and Krasnika.
Last edited by Wurger; 05-18-2011 at 06:35 AM.
Reason: Too long title of the thread
Hello,
I'm going to look at this post with interest... This model is in my futur projects and there is lots of versions regarding the camo scheme of this aircraft...
Regards
Steph
Nice one Vic. I will be doing one of these in 1/72.
I was having a mooch on the net and found a review of this kit that stated it was best to join the fuselage halves before fitting the wings to ensure a good joint at the wing root.
From the pics I saw it looks to be a good kit but there is a lot of inerior detail that will never be seen.
According to my source the La-5FN wore a non-standard tri-colour camo scheme. What is more the outline of red stars was yellow but not white, I think. If you have a look at the image where the red star and the white strip is in, you might notice a difference between these colours.
Thanks for that Wojetk, it seems I'll have to do a bit of hunting myself at I have conflicting references with regard to camo colours and also the star. One refers to a two tone grey upper surface with light blue underside and has the star with a white inner edge boxed in by a thin red outer edge. The other reference depicts a three tone camo of a green, grey and light brown and a light blue underside and the star having a greyish outer edge without the thin red outline...............a pondering delama.
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