Eduard 1/35 CH-47A Chinook Exterior First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

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 Trumpeter 1/35 CH-47A Chinook helicopter with an enhancement that cannot (yet) be replicated in styrene - intake and vent screens. Sure, the kit tries to represent these details with patterns molded into the surface of the parts, but you cannot see daylight out the other side of the screens as you would on the full-scale aircraft. This set replaces the molded-on screens with photo-etched parts that will fill the bill. The only downside to an enhancement like this is that you may also have to replicate any details inside the airframe that may also be seen through the screens. For that, you'll have to check your references.

This set consists of a fret of screens and grilles, and where applicable, their support frames. A number of smaller parts are also provided to dress up some missing details on the twin rotor hubs as well.

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 CH-47A 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'tdifficult, 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!

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!