Eduard 1/35
MH-60G Pave Hawk Exterior

Eduard from the Czech Republic is easily the most prolific producer of aftermarket details. Period. Their series of photo-etched detail sets have brought additional fidelity to otherwise bland subjects, and have taken even the best-produced models and kicked them up a notch or two with details that cannot be produced with injection-molded plastic.

This release tackles the huge Academy 1/35 MH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter with details that are difficult to replicate in styrene. By virtue of the injection molding process, there are simply areas that cannot get very detailed and still have the parts removable from their molds.

This set starts off with the main rotor and swash plate, providing more detailed linkage arms and blade mount brackets. The tail rotor gets similar treatment with its on control linkages.

Next, the set provides an array of external wiring and hydraulic plumbing for the gear struts, air refueling boom, and the external chaff/flare dispensers. Oh yes, four sets of dispensers are also provided in photo-etch.

There are LOTS of tiny brackets, plates, handles, and stiffeners to be added to the airframe. When you look at the instructions, you wonder why Academy didn't have these as part of the model, but if they had, chances are that you would have not recognized most of the resulting 'bumps' and might have simply sanded them away while removing seams.

As you can see in the instructions, each step is nicely laid out to show where the new parts go and, when applicable, where a little surgery is required.

While this set will really enhance the look of the MH-60G kit, this detail set is not for the beginning modeler. You will need to be able to remove the photo-etch parts from their frets (simple once you know how) and then be able to apply these details using cyano adhesives without gluing yourself to the kit parts. It isn't difficult, or else these sets wouldn't be so popular.

You should be able to find this detail set at your local hobby retailer or one of the many online hobby shops. Trust me, this is worth looking for!

Recommended for experienced modelers!

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!