Well
after a while I would like to present you with the two-seat brother of the AERO
L159A ALCA. The L159B has received the name ALBATROSS II as a successor of the
original world’s famous jet trainer AERO L39 ALBATROSS. The aircraft is
manufactured by Aero Vodochody in the Czech
Republic. As you can see it is keeping the sleek lines of the Aero trainer family. The
L159B is a lead-in advanced trainer featuring large MFD´s, HOTAS and other
controls found in the modern fighters of today. The weapons range can vary from
air-air to ground support roles.
The
model itself is from the same gentleman that sold me the “raw” material for
the L159A ALCA aircraft that I have posted few years back. So it is basically is
a fiberglass body with a bag full of resin accessories. The build is straight
forward and presents no surprises. I would not recommend it for a beginner
though. The model features engraved panel lines, even though they are a bit on
the rough side, but this model is destined as a stand display model so it does
not feature all the gadgets you would expect in a kit this size in today’s
standards. Anyway, it builds into a true representation of the L159B and that is
what matters to me.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The
most difficult part of the whole model was the painting. Since I was able to be
work on the L159B project, this aircraft has grown really close to my heart.
This paint scheme is the first one in which it appeared for the first time at
Farnborough 2002. The first attempt to paint my model ended up in having to
strip the paint job. The advantage of fiberglass is that is inert to acetone, so
the stripping was quite fast, but I was feeling quite “happy” after my paint
stripping session inhaling all the fumes :-))) The second attempt was much
better, as I used the decals for the red stripes. This paint scheme is a real
eye-catcher. Unfortunately, the L159B now has a different paint scheme (Gloss
Black/GOLD) which I personally do not like. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the
model, thank you for taking a look and feedback is welcome.
Jarda
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