Eduard 1/48 DH-2 Profipack Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The Airco DH.2 was the second design from Geoffrey de Havilland which was a single-seat version of his DH.1. Entering service in 1915, the DH.2 was a pusher design which made the aircraft ideal as a gun fighter as the pilot did not have a propeller to fire through and the aircraft proved effective against the Fokker Eindecker. The aircraft was armed with a .303 caliber Lewis machine gun which could be moved between three flexible mounts around the cockpit, but combat experience proved it easier to aim the aircraft than trying to aim a movable machine gun while piloting the aircraft. While the DH.2 was at the leading edge of air combat in those fledgling days, the Albatros D.I and Halberstadt D.II which entered service later in 1916 soon out-classed the DH.2.

Eduard has reissued their DH-2 kit which was first released a decade ago. At the time, this kit was the best DH-2 in any scale and it remains the best in 1/48th scale. The best DH-2 in any scale now goes to Wingnut Wings 1/32 scale kit. The kit is molded light gray styrene and presented on three parts trees, plus a fret of photo-etched parts.

Among the features and options in this kit:

• Detailed cockpit
• Detailed Gnome Monosoupape engine
• Choice of two or four-bladed propellers
• Photo-etch propeller paint masks
• Detailed Lewis gun and mount
• Nice rigging instructions provided

Markings are provided for four examples:

• DH.2, 6011, 24 Sqn, RFC, 1916
• DH.2, 7851, 32 Sqn, RFC, 1916
• DH.2, 5998, 24 Sqn, RFC, 1916, as flown by Capt John Oliver Andrews
• DH.2, 5967, 24 Sqn, RFC, 1916, as flown by Robert M.S. Saundby

This is a really nice kit though it is recommended for advanced modelers due to the combination of really delicate and tiny parts for assembly along with the extensive rigging used by this design.

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!