Search the Community

First time I hear about a 1/48th Il-28 "Beagle" project by AMK/AvantGarde Model Kits. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946328-mig-31bm-avantgarde-model-148/?p=2021098 AMK rumours recap: - AMD-BA Super Etendard was announced a loooonnng time ago. In de meantime Kinetic has also announced one... - Aero L-39 Albatros: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234981743-148-aero-l-39-albatros-avantgarde-model-kits-2017/ - Mil Mi-24 "Hind": http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234981741-148-mil-mi-24-hind-avantgarde-model-kits - Mil Mi-8 "Hip": http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234981742-148-mil-mi-8-hip-avantgarde-model-kits/ - Considering the current strong AMK Czech connections, a 1/48th Ilyushin Il-28 "Beagle" make sense. It's noted that Xuntong Model is also working on a 1/48th "Beagle" family: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234980747-148-ilyushin-il-28-beagle-by-xuntong-model-cads/ V.P.

Hello chaps This is a very nice 1:48 delfin kit by AMK. The only aftermarket is the Eduard interior PE and the SyAAF decals. Enough has been said about the model and how it goes together in the WIP thread. For more pictures, please check my blog http://militaryaviation148.blogspot.com/2015/06/l-29-delfin-syaaf-130.html Thanks for looking and do not hesitate to comment. cheers, Vasko

Hello once again Besides my freshly started Iraqi Hunter, I decided to post some build photos of this wonderful kit I started earlier - the AMK L-29 This is a special build for a friend, the author of the Luftwaffe A.S blog. That said you already know it's gonna be in livery of one of them rare Syrian birds. The plane was in NMF carrying the flag with the eagle of Saladin on the tail with nose and tail painted in red. Besides some decals I also acquired the Eduard PE interior. But enough with the talk let's skip to the photos. The AMK kit -highly recommended, excellent details, great fitting, smooth surface, hard plastic, some PE included, nice boxing... The aftermarket... The only shortcoming of this PE set is the most common problem of all pre-painted Eduard sets and that is you can't switch the color. The Delfin's cockpit might also be grey, but judging by the photos of Syrian examples that could be blue too. So blue it is... I enjoyed working with PE The structure behind the flaps is nicely detailed with the PE included in the kit The fitting of the kit is great and can be comparable to Tamiya models more to come cheers

Fouga CM.170 Magister 1:48 AMK AvantGarde Model Kits The Magister is probably Fouga's most well know design even though they had been producing aircraft since 1936. Post war the company was working on sailplanes and the heritage from this can be seen in the Magister design. In 1948 the French Air Force were looking for a jet powered aircraft to replace the then piston engine trainers. Fouga's original design the CM130 was underpowered with two Turbomeca Palas engines. Fouga then re-designed their aircraft to incorporate the more powerful Marbore engines, et voilà the CM170 Magister. The distinctive V tail, and slender wings bear testament to Fouga's sailplane designs. The prototype Magister flew in 1952 with an order for the first 10 being placed in 1953. The Magister was the worlds purpose designed/built jet powered trainer. It is also worthy to note the Magister made it into carrier aviation. With a few changes to the structure and undercarriage, the addition of an arrestor hook, and sliding canopies the CM175 Zephyr was born. Interestingly carrier trials took place on HMS Bulwark and HMS Eagle. The French aircraft industry in parallel with the UK went through many mergers with the aircraft being known as the Fouga Magister, Potez Magister, Sud Aviation Magister; and finally The Aerospatile Magister; though always actually being called The "Fouga" Magister. Development of the aircraft continued right up until the French selected its replacement, the Alpha Jet. Overseas sales proved popular were made to primarily to Germany, Belgium, Finland, and Israel; with Germany, Finland & Israel building them under licence. Of a total of 929 aircraft built, 286 were built under license. The basic jet was very affordable to operate for smaller Air Forces. Other users would include, Algeria, Austria, Bangladesh, Biafra, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, El Salvador, Gabon, Katanga, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda. Many counties including Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Finland; and Israel would use the aircraft for their National Aerobatic display teams. Even though primarily a trainer many of these smaller nations would use the aircraft for its light strike capacity as well. Israel would use them in combat during the 6 day war, El Salvador saw them used during its civil war, and aircraft used by The Katangese Air Force were used against the UN during the Congo crisis in 1961. The Kit Many of us have been waiting for this kit since AMK announced they would be making it. On opening the box you are not disappointed. You are presented with 6 sprues of dark grey plastic, two clear plastic sprues, a small sheet of photo-etched parts; and plastic case containing die cast metal parts. Be careful how you open the case as the metal parts have a tendency to ping out! As well as the box of metal parts, the other item to stand out from the box is that you get the complete fuselage sprue in clear plastic. This will enable the modeller to build this kit with the insides on show. The idea of a "visible" kit has been done by a few companies over the years and AMK seem to wish to carry this on. As you get this clear option you also get two complete engines, main wing spar (in metal), the centre line fuel tank, the secondary oil tank, electronics bay, pressure bay, and the nose electronics/gun bay. This kit will be a super detailers dream with all these parts to show off. There is no surprise though that construction starts with the cockpit. Each seat is made up from five plastic parts. These are installed into the one part cockpit tub. There are then a total of 16 small parts for the cockpit which will give it a really busy look. Two oxygen bottles are installed behind the front seat , followed by instrument panels and control columns. Two metal weights are supplied to attach under the cockpit to stop the model from being a tail sitter. The secondary fuel tank then needs to be assembled. Even if you are not doing the visible model this item needs to be constructed as it forms the rear cockpit bulkhead. The next stages build the internal parts which need to be built for the visible model, and can be skipped if the modeller is not doing this. The main/primary fuel tank is built. The forward face of this can be either the plastic part, or the main white metal part which looks to be the main wing spar. The main tank is made from two sides, the rear bulkhead and the front main spar part. Three additional stiffening ribs are added to each side. Next step is the rear electronics bay which sits behind the main fuel tank. This is very detailed comprising of a total of 22 parts. Even though the instructions call this an electronics bay in reality an hydraulic pump and generator. Two separate equipment racks are constructed and joined. The final internal section for the main fuselage is what the instructions call the Pressure Bay, this is in the location indicated as an equipment bay. Correctly painted and detailed all of the parts should look very good when installed in the clear fuselage. Next construction moves onto the fuselage and is the same if you are making the visible or solid version. A support is installed in each side at the rear of the V tail-planes. A plastic part can be used, or replaced by a white metal part. The cockpit is installed with the secondary fuel tank behind it. If using the visible fuselage then the main fuel tank, equipment bay, and pressure bay are installed. If the modeller is using the solid fuselage then only the wing spar part need to be installed behind the secondary fuel tank. The next stage is to close up the main fuselage. Once this is closed up the main fuselage panel is installed on the underside. Construction then moves to the top of the fuselage. The radio equipment which is mounted under the rearmost canopy section is assembled. Once the main fuselage is finished construction moves to the outside of it. The intakes and engines need to be assembled as these are not internal to the main fuselage. A full length intake is provided for each engine. This is a two part intake with an outer cover. These parts can be constructed in clear or solid plastic. Once the intakes are complete attention moves to the engines and exhausts. Two full engines are included. Each is made up from eleven parts. Once installed the exhausts are installed. Again these are supplied as plastic parts and white metal parts. Rear engine covers are then installed. These are supplied as clear and solid plastic so the full engines can be visible. Once the main fuselage is complete the canopies are added (I suspect most modellers will leave this until the end though). Some of the decal options have a solid read canopy and this is supplied as a separate solid plastic part. The distinctive periscope for the rear seater which is on the centre canopy section between the two cockpits is added. Construction then switches to the wings. The wings are of a conventional upper & lower configuration. The internal bulkheads of the wheel wells will need to be added before closing up the wings. If installing wing pylons the holes for these will need to be drilled out. Separate flaps are supplied, and there are options for these to be in the deployed position. Photo-etched parts are supplied for the wing mounted air/dive brakes. These can be modelled in either the in, or out positions. Separate automatic balance tabs are added to the wings along with linkages which are supplied as photo-etched parts. Both types of wing tip tanks fitted to The Magister are supplied. The modeller will need to research which were fitted to the aircraft which is being modelled. Three part wheel are made up and attached to the legs. Even though strangely missing from the instructions the legs are supplied as both metal and plastic parts. Landing gear doors are attached with photo-etched hinges. The gear retraction arms are again supplied in both metal and plastic (though again missed of the instructions). The V tail-planes are assembled with the distinctive control linkages available again in metal or plastic. The last major construction step is the nose landing gear and its compartment. In The Magister the front gear is attached by a frame to the main forward bulkhead. This is accurately modelled in the kit. The main frames are available as metal or plastic mats, as is the nose wheel leg. Machine guns (if fitted) are supplied for the compartment over the nose gear. The distinctive hoop VOR antenna on the nose are supplied as metal parts. Finally it is up to the modeller to fit all the sub-assemblies together. The wings and tail-planes are added, followed by the nose section. Covers are then fitted to the nose section. Again these are in clear plastic if wanted to show off all the detail on the nose. Fuselage access hatches and antenna will be added at this point. These did change and the instructions show which need to be added for the decal options. If modelling another aircraft the modeller will need to research the aircraft antenna configuration used. For those countries which used their Magisters in the light strike role a small selection of armament is included in the kit. There are small bombs, double stacked rockets, flat faced rocket pods, and what appear to be Matra F2 rocket pods. Metal and Photo-etched Parts A small fret of photo-etched parts is supplied. The main parts on here are for the wing mounted air/dive brakes which can be modelled in either the open or closed positions. Control linkages are also supplied along with a five point harness for each cockpit. The brass will need to be annealed for these as its thicker than other photo-etch I have seen. The white metal zinc cast parts are supplied in their own plastic box. As mentioned be careful when opening this as they tend to ping out and you don't want them lost to the dreaded carpet monster. The metal parts supplied are for The Main Wing Spar, tail-plane mounting spars, exhausts, nose weights, front landing gear frame & leg, main landing gear legs, machine guns; and some control linkages. The casting on these parts is very good and minimal clean up will be needed. Decals Decals are provided for five aircraft. There is no manufacture listed on the decal sheet. The decals do look glossy, well printed and have minimal carrier film. The colours are bright and the density looks good. Its a little disappointing that the options do not include some of the smaller countries that used the Magister. The markings supplied are; Luftwaffe camouflaged aircraft. Belgian Air Force trainer. Belgian Air Force trainer - Marked "The Last Of Many". Belgian Air Force "Red Devils" Aerobatic Team. French Air Force "Patrouille de France" Aerobatic Team. Conclusion This kit is certainly a step up from other kits I have seen, and is certainly not for the novice modeller. Even though its only AMK's forth model, if they continue in this vein we should be seeing more from them. Overall highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Avantgarde Model kits AMK Kfir C2 the new and very comprehensive Kfir decals sheets " Dazzling Kings I & II" with lots of stencils in English, Spanisch, etc, to build nearly any Kfir that is not operated by the Israeli AF/DF It will be a Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) C2 with very spartan markings with the Pre 2008? roundels Interestingly SLAF Kfirs are equiped with the newer (MK10?) ejection seat (according to all pics I found on the net) which cockpit would the informed one use in this Kfir? the C2 or the C7 version? These kfirs seem to be a hybrid... :~ now the AMK kit: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234925006-148th-iai-kfir-c2c7-by-avantgarde-model-kits-released/page-3?hl=kfir The kit is very nice! Close to Tamiya quality in my opinion! Very clear panel lines, superb fit, it nearly falls together! thanks for looking and thanks as well for any kind of criticism and ideas !

IAI Kfir C2/C7 1:48 AvantGarde Model Kits The Kfir is an Israeli development of the successful Mirage III, which was used by the Israelis successfully as a Mach 2 all-weather interceptor with success, but they felt it lacked the loiter time that would be needed if a ground-attack role was to be added its task list. As a result of an arms embargo, Israel built the Nesher, an unlicensed Mirage 5, which was then improved further and was suitably different to be renamed as the Kfir. It entered service in 1975, and was almost immediately superseded in the air superiority role when the first F-15s arrived from America. The C2 variant added more swept canards, dog-tooth leading edges to the wings and strakes under the nose, while the C7 had more hardpoints added under the air intakes, a new engine with more thrust, in-flight refuelling probe, plus many upgrades to the avionics, which includes HOTAS capabilities. It continued in service into the late 90s, after which it was replaced by more modern aircraft, but many are still on strength, whilst being offered for sale to potential purchasers that included Argentina. The Kit This was the first release from newcomers AdvantGarde Models, and was the second Kfir to be released in this scale in 2013. It arrives in a nicely presented box that is perhaps a little flimsy to be placed at the bottom of a pile of heavy kits for any length of time. Inside are a bunch of small and large sprues carefully packed into resealable bags that will please those of us that like to peruse our kits but keep them safe from damage and loss of parts. There are three large sprues, a separate lower wing sprue, plus twelve smaller sprues, all of which are moulded in a mid-grey styrene. Clear parts are bagged separately, as are the decals, and the instruction booklet is taller than A4, printed on glossy paper, which includes the painting and decaling guide at the rear. First impressions? Pretty good for a first kit, and apart from a few inconveniently placed ejector pin marks here and there, there really isn't much to complain about. It would appear that the ideal mould pressure and temperature have been dialled in now, resulting in the mild flash present on early injections of the kit being absent on my sample. The instructions are of good quality, making construction straight forward, and the inclusion of plenty of munitions for the pylons is a lesson to some companies. Construction starts naturally enough with the cockpit, which has a single part tub with a chunky looking rear bulkhead added to the rear. The coaming and a choice of two instrument panels are added to the front, forcing you to select either C2 or C7 variants, which had upgraded avionics, as evidenced by the MFD in the bottom left of the panel. The control column is added to a slot in the floor, but you might want to sand that floor a little before you start, as it has a few feint ejector pin marks present that may or may not be seen once the seat is installed. The rudder pedals are moulded into the front bulkhead in a simplified way, which may bring out the scratch-builder in you, or make you wait until the Eduard sets arrive, which I'll be reviewing soon. The ejector seat is made up from two clamshell halves, plus seat pad, drogue-chute pack and top-box for the earlier Martin Baker JM6 seat, and integrated top box for the later Mk.IN10LH seat. The overhead pull-handles for the C2 are moulded into the drogue pack, while they aren't used on the C7 seat, but both have the pull-handle between the pilot's knees. Turning over the cockpit, the nose gear bay is then built into the underside rear of the cockpit tub, from four separate panels that form the bay, with plenty of detail on each side due to the part count. After these two steps are complete, you can close up the fuselage, after removing a couple of sensor bumps that aren't appropriate to these marks. Whether that suggests other versions is entirely up to you! The wings are next on the agenda, and the same method for construction of the main wheel bays is used, namely individual panels that make up the shallow bays, which are then glued to the inside of the full width inner wing. The narrow outer sections of the bay walls are moulded into the wings, so don't forget to paint these and the inner skin of the upper wings, which are moulded with some nice detail. Cannon muzzles, a pair of clear lights near the wing tips, flap actuator fairings and a belly insert are added before the assembly is offered up to the large hole in the underside of the fuselage. The splitter plates with moulded in shock-cones are added, and to them are added the outer surfaces of the intake trunking, with the small canards mounted on small fairings at the upper sides of the intakes. There is no trunking behind this area, and frankly you wouldn't see it even if there was, because of the shock cones that take up a large portion of the space within. A profusion of auxiliary intakes and sensors are added to the spine of the fuselage, and later to the undersides, as well as a large pair of two-part intakes just aft of the main gear bays. At this stage the instructions would have you fit the landing gear and their doors, but these are probably best left until later, to avoid damage during handling. The main gear legs are made up from the main leg, plus a two-part oleo scissor-link, and a jack that runs up the leg, which then fix to the outer sides of the gear bay, plus another retraction jack that stretches toward the centreline. The bay doors have moulded in detail, plus a set of hinges, and location points for the single captive door that attaches to the leg itself. A scrap diagram shows the correct orientation of the doors from a forward view, which will be very useful for setting the angle of the large central doors. The nose gear leg has the retraction jack moulded in, but half of the Y-shaped base is a separate part, as is half of the yoke that holds the small nose wheel in position. The main wheels are made up from two part tyres with separate hubs, while the nose gear wheel is a single moulded part, and all have good detail. More choices lie ahead depending on whether you are building the earlier C2 or later C7, with the C2 having a blanking plate that fits to a hole under the nose, while the C7 has a Pave Penny laser designator pod semi-recessed into the plate, and a separate clear lens part to improve the look. The nose cone is separate and made from two parts, with different parts either removed or added, depending on which variant you have chosen, and this locates on a large peg into the front of the fuselage. At the rear of the airframe, the large hole is filled by a nicely detailed exhaust trunk, which includes a very nicely moulded set of petals, a two-part trunking section that has difficult to remove ejector pin marks in the fluted walls, which is topped off with the afterburner ring, and the rear face of the engine. This is simply slotted into the hole in the rear of the fuselage, held steady on a pair of C-shaped guides moulded into the insides of the fuselage that locate on the rail running down the sides of the exhaust trunking. The rear section of the belly insert is also added at this stage to complete the area, unless you are building the C2, which has a pair of small bomb racks added under the rear of the belly. The rudder is moulded into the fuselage halves, but a small insert containing an instrument pack is added late in the build, which again suggests other variants, plus the tip to the pen-nib above the exhaust. The two-part canopy and ejector seats are added last along with the HUD glass, two rear-view mirrors, pull-handle for the canopy and pitot probe on its mount just below the tip of the nose. The rest of the build process revolves around the construction of the munitions and their pylons, of which there are quite a choice in the box, as follows: 2 x Python-3 AAM 6 x Mk.82 Iron "dumb" bombs 2 x TER 2 x TER adaptor pylon 1 x centreline bomb pylon 1 x Napgach centreline MER pylon 2 x Griffin LGB with pylon 2 x GBU-12 LGB with pylon 1 x Centreline supersonic tank 2 x wing mounted subsonic tank Painting and decaling instructions for all the weapons are included using Gunze call-outs. A suggested load-out for both decal options is also given on the last page of the instructions, which is helpful for folks like myself that aren't yet 100% fluent in "bomb speak". Markings There are two choices of markings in the box, but only one per variant, which seems a little short on choice, but there are plenty of aftermarket decals out there if you feel the urge to be more individual. From the box you can build one of the following: C2 #874 1st Fighter Squadron 1979 - FS36320 over FS36375 (two shades of light grey) with a red/white striped rudder and desert camouflaged wing tanks. C7 #555 The Arava Guardians Squadron 1990 – Three tone sand/brown/pale green over grey with a red/yellow motif on the upper tail. The C7's pale green colour is given as FS34424 and a mix of 60% Gunze 312 and 40% 314 is suggested in order to achieve this unusual shade. A separate page on the inside rear cover for the booklet is used to show where the myriad of stencils are placed, in order not to over-complicate the main painting and markings guide. Conclusion An excellent first outing for new company AvantGarde Models, and a worthy addition to the stash. Detail is good throughout, and the inclusion of plenty of weapons makes for a well-rounded package. Highly recommended. Available from all good model shops online and in the high street. Review sample courtesy of

Aero L-29 Delfín 1:48 AdvantGarde Model Kits Designed in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, the Delfín was a two-seat military jet trainer used by the Warsaw Pact countries that is still in operation with some countries and in private hands today. It is simple in construction and cheap to operate, with a good safety record due to its pleasant handling characteristics, which endears it to the cost conscious and anyone wishing to stay alive. Over 3,600 were made, and due to their use by the Soviet Air Force, they were dubbed "Maya" under the NATO reporting coding. As well as flight training, the Delfín is equipped with hard points to allow it to be used in weapons training, which has inevitably led to it being used in action on occasion most notably during the Yom Kippur war, but also in other "low level" conflicts over time. It has been gradually replaced by the L-39 Albatros, but still finds use with private operators for air racing, experimental flights as well as joy-rides. The Sasol Tigers in South Africa fly the L-29 as an acrobatic team, and the low cost of ownership has made it a popular entry into jet-powered flying. The Kit AMK are a relatively new company, and this is only their second kit to be released with more on the horizon. It arrives in a compact top-opening box that has a premium feel to it, and inside this continues with a pair of card inserts that help prevent the contents of the box from spilling out. Under these are five sprues of medium grey styrene, a small sprue of clear parts, a Photo-Etch (PE) brass sheet, square decal sheet and a glossy instruction manual with painting instructions on the rear pages. The quality feel extended to the sprues, which are individually bagged in resealable clear foil bags, with the exception of the weapons sprues, which share a small bag. The tooling is good quality, with perhaps only the engraved panel lines appearing a shade wider than I would have liked, although by the time they are primed and painted, it probably won't notice. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, using isometric line drawings to convey the assembly process, with colour call-outs in black boxes, using the Gunze Sangyo paint range which is popular in the Far East, and gaining ground in the UK. Construction starts with the cockpit, and a pair of ejection seats are built up from a two-piece frame to which the seat cushion and back cushions are added. The rear-seat has the canopy breaker framework removed, so make sure you place it in the rear cockpit once you're ready. The copckpit is a single tub into which the central bulkhead and instrument panels fit, along with the front coaming and two control columns that reflect its trainer status. Decals are supplied for the instrument panels, which is always useful to improve the look of your cockpit, and a pair of ejection seat rails are added to the back of each cockpit area, the rear set being cut shorter and adding a pair of shrouds around the rear-seater's shoulders. The nose gear bay has to be built up next along with the single engine exhaust, as both of them are trapped inside the fuselage with the cockpit. The exhausts have a fine pen-nib tip to them, which is well moulded, with the exhaust trunking made from two halves and a rear-face to the engine itself at the end. The cockpit sidewalls are moulded into the fuselage halves, and are well done with a single extra part added to each side before the cockpit is installed. The nose-gear bay is also detailed with ribbing, plus various pressure bottle that add some extra interest and colour, as they are painted light blue. The fuselage closes around the three assemblies, with the cockpit rear having an insert behind the rear seat, and the engine supported by moulded in bulkheads with cut-outs that ensure it is correctly seated. You are advised to put 15g of weight under the cockpit to prevent a tail-sitter, but if you plan on leaving the nose bay closed, you can add more there too. A clear blast-screen fits between the two cockpits, framed by a very delicate hoop that is built into the fuselage halves. I suspect some of those might end up broken or bent due to us ham-fisted modellers, so take care handling the fuselage, won't you? The wings have the flap sections removed, and if you plan on modelling them retracted, all you need to do is remove the actuator rods from them and glue them in place. If you plan on having them deployed, leave the rods on, and add ten PE rib-ends to the bays on each side. It's a shame the ailerons weren't separate too though, but you can't have everything! The intakes on the Delfín are in the wing roots and are simply curved into a central tunnel to feed the engine. The intake lips are moulded into the wing roots, and a curved part with splitter is then added into the gap behind them. The splitter plate is added to the sides of the fuselage, and a shield-shaped hole in the side of the fuselage allows the intake trunking to disappear into the darkness never to be seen again. Pitot probes are moulded into the wing halves, and I'm probably going to knock those off with my clumsiness too. A clear landing light is added to the underside of the port wing and formation lights are added to both wing tips, after which the wings are glued to the fuselage, with surprisingly short tabs but a large mating surface that make it wise to check everything it aligned properly before you leave the wings to set up. The main gear bays are moulded into upper wing skins, and detail is good, although some additional wiring would probably add more life. The mouldings are quite large, but there don't seem to have been any sink-marks on the upper surface, which is nice to see. There are a few shallow sink marks on the flaps though, but as they're on a flat surface, that shouldn't take more than a few minutes to resolve. The L-29 has a T-tail, which has a single full-width elevator, which is represented as a separate part, as is the rudder, which is made up from separate halves. This gives plenty of options for offset surfaces that give the aircraft a more candid look once complete. The landing gear parts are well detailed, with twin brake hoses running down the main legs, separate hubs to the main wheels, and retraction jacks that key neatly into both gear legs and the bays. The nose gear has a Y-shaped location/pivot point, plus a long retraction jack that extends high up into the nose, so a scrap diagram shows its correct placement, protruding into the top half of the nose, where it would be seen if you plan on leaving the nose open. Gear bay doors are also well detailed, with the outer mains captive to the gear legs and inner doors hingeing toward the centreline with retraction jacks added. The nose gear bay has a sliding rear door that sits flush with the underside of the fuselage, and a front door that hinges forward to deploy the gear, and then closes behind it. The Delfín has scabbed-on air-brakes that sit on the fuselage skin, and hinge out to slow the aircraft down using retraction jacks that sit within a small bay on the side of the fuselage. This is represented well by a pair of styrene parts with moulded in lightening holes on the inner face that sneakily hide some well-placed ejector pin marks. There is a bit of flash here on my example, which I will cut off using a new blade on my scalpel, so nothing untoward. The hinges are PE parts that affix to the leading edge of the brakes, and slot into two small depressions on the side of the fuselage. A pair of drop-tanks are provided for the underwing plyons, but if you have some references that show weapons mounted, you could always add your own pylons and munitions to spice things up a little. The canopy and nose bay cover can be posed open or closed, with the nose bay cover hingeing forward on a substantial tab. The canopy is supplied as a three-part arrangement, with a fixed windscreen glued to the front, a side-opening front canopy with optional retaining strap if you pose it open, and a sliding rear canopy with a small bulkhead behind the cockpit opening. All parts are well moulded with defined framework, and are crystal clear, so with careful masking and painting should perform well. Markings The L-29 was used by a wide variety of operators, so the choice of marking is quite wide. AMK have elected to offer eight choices from the box, which is pretty generous, and these cover 6 different operators, as follows: USSR Air Force Blue 38 or Red 07 – silver with red wing & tail tips and fuselage band. Czech Republic 1996 – 3401 silver with red wing & tail tips. Czech Air Force – 1420 silver with red wing & tail tips. Slovak Air Force – White 2 2846, sand/brown/green camouflage over grey undersides. Red nose and wingtips. German Democratic Republic Air Force – 338 green/brown camouflage over light blue undersides. Iraqi Air Force - silver with red nose stripe, wing & tail tips. Indonesian Air Force – LL-2902 pale grey with red nose, wing & tail tips and fuselage band. The decals are well printed with good register, although the black seems to be a little heavy in places, and there is stepping evident on curves and diagonals under magnification. Overall though, the sheet is nicely done, with plenty of colour, a decal for the anti-glare panel, and four instrument panel decals in case you make a mess of one set. Conclusion A nice release that looks like it should build up well. I made a start on it the day after writing this, and you can see my build thread here. For a relatively new company, the quality is there, although the decals are lagging behind a little. I'm looking forward to their new Fouga Magister though, as it looks even more detailed. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of