Eduard Tie Downs & Straps US STEEL (36348) 1:35

[Mike]

Tie Downs & Straps US STEEL (36348)

1:35 Eduard

 

 

A 1:35 AFV kit can sometimes look a little bereft of "something" if you don't add a little stowage here and there to give it a more authentic and lived-in look.  Fighting vehicles are notorious for giving too little space for the crew's gear, so they're often forced to weather-proof them and hang them off the sides of the vehicle, or at best secure them in the exterior stowage racks.  You can get highly detailed resign Bergens, Daysacks, go-bags, tarps and kit-bags, but attaching them realistically is a scratch-building exercise until now.

 

As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between.  This set is part of the new STEEL range (their capitalisation, not mine), and as such has been etched from an incredibly thin, flexible steel sheet and pre-painted with a flexible ink that will conform to any shape (within reason) that you care to drape the belts in.  As well as being painted with the strap colour, there are also stencils and stitching, as well as subtle shading around the buckles to give a more 3D look to the items.

 

 

On the fret are eight tan straps in three different styles, plus five red-brown straps in two styles, giving a grand total of thirteen, and when you turn the fret over, you'll find that it has been helpfully printed on both sides.  That should suffice for a couple of projects at least.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of