Eduard 1/35 CH-47D Interior Detail Set 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.

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 the Trumpeter 1/35 CH-47D Chinook kit. This set focuses on the cockpit and the rear loading ramp area.

This set consists of three frets of photo-etched details, two of which have color printing on them. 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 a beautiful new instrument panel, center console, overhead console, and the various circuit breaker panels. Seat belts and harnesses are also included in the set for the two pilots' seats. The pre-printed color on the consoles and panel really make the cockpit come to life!

In the rear of the aircraft, this detail set adds additional detailing around the loading ramp and its support structure, and some detail in the overhead structure into the rear rotor mast. The eight black and eight yellow placards are distrubuted around the inside of the cargo compartment. The set is rounded off with some nice detailing for the escape hatches.

While this set will really set off the detail in the CH-47D 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!

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!