Eduard 1/48
P-39/P-400 Airacobra Detail Set

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.

When Eduard first introduced the acetate-printed instrument faces that go behind their photo-etched instrument panels, this raised the bar on model cockpit reality as you could almost read the time on the aircraft clock. How could they top that?

It took a number of years, but the answer is color photo-etch. Somehow Eduard has developed a process for printing color directly on their photo-etched parts such that now you not only can read the instrument faces, you can now see the color warning arcs around airspeed indicators and color reference circles around Luftwaffe flight and engine instruments.

In this release, Eduard has produced a set of photo-etched details for Hasegawa's 1/48 P-39/P-400 Airacobra kits.

This set consists of two frets of photo-etched details, one of which is printed in color. You can browse through the high resolution images to the right (click on one to see the large image) to see how fine the color printing has become.

The details include new instrument panel (properly sized for this kit), center console, throttle quadrant (you can read the printing!), seatbelts, harness, rudder pedals, and more, and thats just in the cockpit.

In addition, the set provides radiator flaps, landing gear details (including brake lines), nose gear doors, replacement bomb fins and fuses, and even plumbing on the drop tank. Take a look at the color instructions for more information.

While this set will really set off the detail in the Hasegawa 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!