Big D Builds A Fighter With A Big Nose.

   That's right folks; it's time for one of my awkward forays into the world of scale-modelling. A hobby that requires patience, good eyesight, nimble fingers and painstaking attention to detail. 

   I have none of these things. I also lack the ability to not drop tiny parts on the bastard floor.

                                            I do wonder about my choices sometimes. 

  Anyway the latest kit to get my hamfisted attentions is something special. I was passing by the Crys charity shop on Southsea's Osborne Road when my attention was immediately snagged by a window display of plastic model kits. And right away this one caught my eye. 

 

A&A Models Lavochkin LA-200B. Cost me £15.

  You have to agree that it's an unusual design.  Correction, it's a normal-looking 1950s jet fighter from the tailpipe up to about 18 inches forward of the cockpit when things get a bit weird. 

   After I got it home I did a bit of research because I was wondering if this was a real machine or something that never got past the  drawing board. 

   The Blog "Soviet Hammer" has a nice little article on this oddity.

 https://soviethammer.blogspot.com/2015/03/lavochkin-aircraft-200b.html

 To paraphrase slightly the Soviet Air Force wanted an all-weather fighter so the Lavochkin  bureau took their existing LA-200 design and fitted a massive radar into the nose. This meant redesigning the intakes which is why the LA200 went from this:

 Source: https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/323878-la-200/

 ... to this.

 

Source; https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/7rbzrb/lavochkin_la200b/

    After some testing the Lavochkin design was abandoned in favour of something a little less peculiar-looking but clearly somebody liked the LA200B enough to do a model kit of it.

  So after doing my homework, it was time to open the box. It's fair to say I got a bit of a surprise. 

    Look at all those tiny, tiny parts. 

Then I read the instructions and discovered that just the pilots' seats have 5 pieces each.

 Have I mentioned that I'm neither dextrous, sharp-eyed or patient?

So at this point I carefully put everthing back in the box and went away to have a bit of a whimper.

 I may have bitten off more than I can chew here.  

Oh dear.