The L-29 Delfin was a jet-powered trainer airplane that was designed by Aero of Czechoslovakia. It was developed to provide the Warsaw Pact nations with a jet-powered replacement for their propeller driven trainers. The aircraft was in production from 1963 until 1974 with over 3,500 produced. In addition to the Warsaw Pact nations, the L-29 has been used by many other countries and in fact, a number are still in use in civilian hands. These can be seen in air shows around the world.

In spite of the wide usage of the L-29 and the associated interesting paint schemes, it has not been well produced as a model. Until recently, the only 1/72 scale kit of the L-29 was from KP of the Czech Republic. Recently, however, a new kit of the L-29 has been issued by AMK.

Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white-metal replacement parts, now including the 1/48 Hobby Boss Saab J-29 Tunnan.

The set includes 10 parts with the following breakdown:

• Nose gear main strut
• Nose gear wheel housing halve
• Main gear struts (2)
• Main gear retraction scissor struts (2)

These parts are little more than drop-in replacements; the white metal parts actually are the equivalent to several plastic parts, and are interchangeable as they fit the plastic parts almost perfectly.

The main gear retraction struts are molded to their runners with a rather thick base at the pinion point. It took quite a bit of careful sawing to free the part. This resulted in deformed pins with not much "pin" left over even after I had removed the runner. The main gear legs are very thick (which is to scale), and seemed very stable when simply snapped into place.

While this cabinet may be small and easily overlooked, it can bring a sense of realism to a 1/32 display or diorama. As a retired C-130 Crew Chief, I have personally used (and abused!) roll around cabinets such as this.

The kit comes with 9 cast resin parts on three runners. One part, the handle on the top of the box, was broken in my sample. Being fragile, it is easily broken, and I suspect that it was broken in transit. My intent was to repair the handle and install it as intended. However, the hungry carpet monster ate both pieces, so I had to create a new handle from brass rod.