1/72 KP L-29 Delfin

Gallery Article by Zsolt Polonyi on Jan 21 2015

 

      

L-29 Delfin Egypt Air Force

In the late 50's the Soviet Union issued an requirement for a new jet powered training aircraft. The Aero Vodochody applied for this with L-29 Delfin against the Yakovlev's jet and Iskra from Poland. The construction of the Delfin was simple and easy to handle and operate. In 1961 the Delfin emerged as the winner. The story of the most successful jet trainer had begun.....

In the 60's the Egyptian Air Force was searching for new trainers to replace the Yak-11 and Gomhuria and provide up to date training facility for the students who later go to the advanced jets such as MiG-21F and PF and Su-7s. The gap was wide between the old piston engined trainers and the new Mach 2 fighters.... in that time came the L-29 Delfin out to the weapon market in the Eastern Block. Nasser's Egypt has a very tight connection with the Soviet Union so eventually the decision was simple.... the L-29 Delfin. The aircraft started her carrier at the Air Force Academy in Bilbais.

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War the L-29 revealed his success in the CAS role, the Egyptian Air Force pilots made professional attacks against Israeli targets near the canal zone and as far as I know none of them were lost....

In the late 70's and early 80's the entire fleet underwent heavy maintenance at the Vodochody in Trencin, Czechoslovakia. They got their disruptive camouflage sand-green-chocolate on the upper surface and light blue on the under surface.... (some sources claim red under surfaces but I cant find any photo evidence about this)

 

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The kit was horrible from the 70's, this was the KP's first plastic kit! Raised panel lines, no cockpit at all, missing wheel wells and following those days made lots of rivets everywhere. I started the building with sanding.... sanded all the outer surface removing the raised panel lines and rivets... During these days I collected the photos and walkarounds about the Delfin. I purchased Pavla's resin cockpit and vacuformed canopy. The installation wasn't so easy and required much dry fitting. I rescribed the panel lines and redid the wheel wells from plastic sheet and copper wires. I realized the kit's landing gear leg is totally wrong, so I collected many photos about this part of the aircraft and measured the dimensions of the legs. I used also plastic sheet to build the legs. The Pavla resin wheels were used. 

For painting I choose the Vallejo Model Air product as usually, because its pigments very tiny and easy to handle. Pre- and post-shading painting technics were applied.  I wanted an aircraft from the 80's after applying the new stile camouflage but the paints faded by the searing sun of Egypt. After the coloring a layer Future was sprayed to protect the surface and give the smooth surface for the decals and weathering. Decals came from various stock. I sealed the surface with satin varnish and only a few steps were left. I installed the antennas, small indicator pins above the landing gears (those were painted in red or red-white stripes. The task of them is to give mechanical indication about the attitude of the legs if any electrical failure occur and the electrical indicator goes dark).....

After almost one and a half year the Delfin declared ready.... not perfect, not the best of the show but its mine and I love it. If someone asked me about the kit, I would tell the truth....never never think about it again. The Bilek may have problems with the accuracy but the KP has problem with almost everything.... instead of accuracy. The basic shape is OK but you need to build all details and small parts on your own...

"Polo"

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Photos and text © by Polo