L-29 Delfin
ProfiPACK

Eduard, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Eduard's 1/48 scale Bf 109 E-3 is available on sale from Squadron.com for only $21.99!

The Aero L-29 Delfín (English: Dolphin, NATO reporting name: Maya) is a military jet trainer developed and manufactured by Czechoslovakian aviation manufacturer Aero Vodochody. It holds the distinction of being the nations' first locally designed and constructed jet aircraft, as well as likely being the biggest aircraft industrial programme to take place in any of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) nations except Russia itself.

In response to a sizable requirement for a common jet-propelled trainer to be adopted across the diverse nations of the Eastern Block, Aero decided to embark upon their own design project with a view to suitably satisfying this demand. On 5 April 1959, an initial prototype, designated as the XL-29, performed its maiden flight. The L-29 was selected to become the standard trainer for the air forces of Warsaw Pact nations, for which it was delivered from the 1960s onwards. During the early 1970s, the type was succeeded in the principal trainer role by another Aero-built aircraft, the L-39 Albatros, heavily contributing to a decline in demand for the earlier L-29 and the end of its production during 1974.

During the course of the programme, in excess of 3,000 L-29 Delfin trainers were produced. Of these, around 2,000 were reported to have been delivered to Russia, where it was used as the standard trainer for the Soviet Air Force. Of the others, which included both armed and unarmed models, many aircraft were delivered to the various COMECON countries while others were exported to various overseas nations, including Egypt, Syria, Indonesia, Nigeria and Uganda. Reportedly, the L-29 has been used in active combat during several instances, perhaps the most high-profile being the use of Nigerian aircraft during the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s and of Egyptian L-29s against Israeli tanks during the brief Yom Kippur War of 1973.

 
When I first heard about this kit, I skimmed the title and somehow misunderstood it to be a re-release the Eduard L-39 Albatros, an older but still respectable kit.

Upon opening the box I was therefore very pleasantly surprised to see state-of-the plastic that was most definitely not an old Eduard Albatros.

In fact, the plastic sprues are AMK's 1/48 scale L-29 Delfin, originally released in 2013. Eduard has done its usual magic here, adding three colour photo-etched frets, new decals and masks to enhance the excellent plastic parts.

Eduard's 1/48 scale Aero L-29 Delfin comprises 103 parts in grey plastic, nine parts in clear, three colour photo-etched frets, a set of self-adhesive canopy and wheel masks and markings for five varied aircraft.

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Thumbnail panels:

The plastic parts look great. Sprue attachment points are narrow. Surface textures are good. The recessed panel lines are a little heavier than Eduard's current generation of kits but still perfectly acceptable.

Construction begins in the cockpit with the ejection seats and Eduard has really lifted these into a different universe of detail. Each seat receives the benefit of a full colour photo-etched fret, providing three layers of cushions and harness straps. The printing on the straps includes shading either side of the buckles and on the seat cushion - very impressive.

The main colour photo-etched fret supplies the instrument panels (separate layers for the dials and the front panel), side consoles and other details. The kit side consoles feature nice raised details that will need to be sanded flat before the photo-etched consoles are glued in place. I'll be tempted to simply paint the plastic consoles and omit the photo-etched parts in this case.

I'll definitely use the instrument panels though.

The nose is detailed with oxygen bottles and other equipment. There is a note to add nose weight, so you may decide to ditch the nose detail and replace it with sinkers.

The exhaust is quite deep and includes a one-piece tail pipe.

Crew steps are included.

The wings are presented as upper and lower, left and right halves with the undercarriage bay detail moulded on the inside of the upper halves. Flap bay structural detail is moulded in place too.

The curved intakes are moulded as separate parts that are glued between upper and lower the wing halves. These then feed into the sides of the fuselage.

The flaps may be posed raised or lowered, although the instructions don't mention the lowered option. If you want to depict the flaps as dropped, just don't cut off the long angled locating pins.

The rear fuselage speed brakes may be posed open. Underwing fuel tanks are included.

The clear parts are free from distortion and may also be posed open or closed.

Markings

Markings are supplied for five varied schemes:

• 4902, 11. Fighter Regiment, Žatec, Czech Republic, 1993

• 1597, Egyptian Air Force, Bilbais, Arab Republic of Egypt, Late Eighties

• 3246, 3rd Flight, 1. Fighter Regiment, Planá Air Base, Czechoslovakia, 1969-1970

• N179EP, Reno AFB, United States of America, 2009

• 3250, International Fighter Pilots Academy , Košice, Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, 1993

Stencil decals are supplied on a separate sheet.

A second stencil sheet is included specifically for Option C.

All the three decal sheets are printed by Eduard and are flat in finish.

Eduard's 1/48 scale L-29 Delfin ProfiPACK is a lovely package. The three colour photo-etched frets add significant detail to the seats and the cockpit, the five new schemes are varied and interesting, and the inclusion of masks will be welcomed by modellers too.

The modest parts count should mean a fast build, and reports suggest that fit is very good.

This should be a fast and enjoyable build.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2018 by Brett Green
Page Created 25 January, 2018
Last updated 26 January, 2018

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