Thank you very much for the kind words, everyone!
the kit looks extremely basic and received great improvements.
I was surprised at how basic it is, but the inclusion of the Quinta Studios 3D decals immediately elevates it. This kit is very much a case of "you get what you pay for" as it was much cheaper than an Airfix or Italeri model in the same scale, but the lack of detail is still surprising for a modern kit.
Looks like a fun little build. Nice job.
It really has been! The scratchbuilt additions have been fun and an interesting challenge - trying to give the impression of a "busy" wheelwell rather than faithfully replicate every pipe, for example. The fact that it's a personal favourite helps too!
I should point out that this isn't the first time I've build a model of this aircraft. As soon as I saw ZK-LIX fly once I knew I needed a model of her. I scoured all the vendors tents at the airshow, we stopped at every hobby shop on our family tour around the lower and eastern South Island, all to no avail. Dad (understandbly getting exasperated with all this running around) said "It looks like a Focke-Wulf 190, why don't you try and make it out of one?" I wouldn't have any of that!
It wasn't until our ship took us back to the North Island that the proprietors of Modelcrafts & Hobbies in Wellington - one of whom would become a pivotal figure in Wingnut Wings - said he could order in a 1/72 Eastern European kit of this very unknown aircraft for me. A month or two later it arrived and 17yo Zac very excitedly tackled his first short-run kit. This is the result, and I'm so glad it's survived the intervening years!! And yes, I now want to put the missing markings in place!
1/72 by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
1/72 and 1/48 La-9s by
Zac Yates, on Flickr