LaGG-3 Baltic Sea Fleet "Blue (?silver?) 71"

A quick holiday project. I chose as my subject a Lagg-3, variously described as blue 71 or silver 71, which was shot down over the Karelian isthmus during offensive operations against the Finns. Whilst doing a little background research on colours, I found that there was some dispute about the colour of this aircraft. Older profiles suggested that it had a brown/green topside, whereas a more recent profile by Massimo Tessitori(sp?), backed up by a good black and white photograph side view, suggested a three-tone scheme of two greens and a black. On balance, and in light of the general consensus about Soviet use of green and black in their fighter schemes, I went for the latter. Interior, in line with the general consensus of information I could find, was Hu11 silver with the odd touch of interior green, wheel wells and gear were Hu106 (probably too dark), and underside was Hu64. For topside colours I eventually went for Hu116 for the darker green, Hu226 (in default of anything better in the stash) for the lighter, and Hu33 for the black. Most sources seem to agree that the aircraft was coated with a thick coat of gloss polish (presumably to improve performance) and so I replicated this with a coat of Hu35 gloss varnish. All in all an enjoyable build, and one that looks better than I had anticipated.