Wow! Rowan I envy you to have those 2 kits ... while Sergei may not be the most diplomatic person in the world he does an outstanding job with his products! Sadly I do not have the money to buy those models ... and that is the only down side of the kits ... the price Hopefully Zvezda will issue the La-5 FN this year so at least I'll have some kind of substitute I am looking forward to your build report when you are back from holidays! best wishes Steffen

Hi Steffen I think you've summed it up perfectly; while some of Sergei's comments have certainly been controversial, his reputation for his own products is enviable. The Lavochkin's aren't cheap! Neomega distribute the kits in the UK for £49.95, while Buffie's Best market them in the USA for $85.00. Hence my choosing one or the other! :-) Another Lavochkin to look out for on the horizon is South Front's LaGG-3. I'm still unclear as to whether this is ICM's kit (which had disappeared from their release schedule last time I looked) - but it's an exciting prospect... All the best Rowan

Hi Rowan I know the 2 distributors, but as I said 50 Pound Sterling (plus p&p) is a bit steep for me... As for the LaGG-3 ... well I have a Ltd. models kit with the TD cockpit (La-5) and a built model which I planned to restore ... maybe not now as the new kits are there (or in sight) ... I do believe in a Zvezda kit as it was a whole site in the Russian catalog (I am also waiting for the Bf 109 and the 2 new figure sets .. one German and one Soviet WW2) but maybe it will be a reissue of the other kit. Sergei (or however you like his name to be transcribed into latin letters) already did a review over at HS forum ... can't remember the full content, but it was someting like "I'm rethinking to issue my kit ..." :-) :-) .. seriously not much good words (no interior ...) but IIRC the shape was not too much off and he smashed the eduard I-16, which I think is not too bad Also the Zvezda La-5FN was only on a list I got .. nothing on their site or catalogue ... fingers crossed have a nice time cheers Steffen