The Czechoslovakian Aero Vodochody L-29 Delfin (NATO code Maya) became the standard jet trainer for the Warsaw Pact Air Forces. First flight was on April 5, 1959. Two-thirds of the over 3,000 aircraft manufactured have served with the Soviet Air Force as its standard basic, intermediate, and weapons platform trainer. The L-29 has seen combat in several wars, notably the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the Nigerian Civil War in the sixties. Many have been sold to the private sector with some performing in airshows and air races.

This set is specifically designed for the AMK 1/48 L-29 kit. Of course it will work in the Eduard kit as well since Eduard used the AMK molds for the enhanced release. I don’t have the earlier Planet Models resin kit, but I’m sure these wheels will dress it up as well.

This set is in Eduard’s Brassin series but there is no photo-etched brass. The set comes in a re-sealable clamshell package with a black foam insert to protect the resin parts. Eduard’s wheel mask and detailed instructions with paint callouts (Gunze and Mr Color) are also included. You can find the instructions at Eduard’s website above and download as a pdf. You get the nose wheel and the main wheels in a grey resin. The three tires have a subtle flattening where they attach to the resin sprue, simulating the weight of the aircraft. What this means is that when you separate the resin sprue attachment, it will be to a flat area. The tire sidewalls display the tire manufacturer information and the wheel hubs are nicely detailed. The nose wheel has improved wheel hub and tire sidewall detail as well mating to the new nose wheel gear fork that is out of a cream colored resin. This nose gear fork is more refined than the one provided in the kit and fits to the main nose gear strut well, My only concern would be how this resin fork will stand up over time. I have use Scale Aircraft Conversions (48277) metal landing gear on a previous build to make sure the nose gear does not buckle with the weight added to the nose of this kit to keep the aircraft from being a tail-sitter. This set will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin.

I test fitted everything first to see what I was getting into. The nose wheel to yoke mating is slightly different than in the AMK kit, but it looks good. Mating the resin fork to the injected plastic nose gear was tight and required a tiny bit of sanding (polishing really) to get both nose gear pins to fit well into the resin fork. The main wheels fit onto the main landing gear perfectly, better than the kit wheels. There is a small bit of sprue on the main wheels on each side of the main sprue that I cleaned up with a swipe of a scalpel.

Next, I painted the resin wheels black (Vallejo), still on the resin sprue and let set over night. Using the Eduard wheel mask, I placed, and then pressed down with a toothpick the wheel mask to get a good seal. I added some additional Tamiya masking tape to cover the rest of the tire up and sprayed a coat of white (Vallejo). I got just a tad of overspray, probably my fault, but a bit of Tamiya Black panel line Accent took care of that. The final addition was painting the line that emerges from the wheel hub to the face of the wheel hub with Panzer Grey (Vallejo).

I am quite pleased with the overall look of the L-29 wheel set and feel that they are well worth the cost and effort. While this set may not be absolutely essential to building this kit, it does add detail to the kit parts that will help your completed model apart from the crowd. I know I will be using this set. Highly Recommended

My thanks to Eduard and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great kit.