Search the Community

Hi everybody, here's my new project: It's my first Eduard kit (but not the only one I have in my stash, since I also own a FW190A, a Tempest and an F-6F5, all in 1/48). Ever since I was a kid, reading comic books telling stories of WWII RAF pilots, this specific Spitfire version was the one I liked more: the pointy tail fin, sleek lines and overall look just did it for me. Among the 6 versions you can build in this boxing, there's one with a shark mouth, and regular wings! (I don't care for clipped or extended wings). That checked all my boxes, so here's the one I'm building: This was flown by Aussie ace W/C Robert "Bobby" Gibbes, credited with 12 kills. What's in the box: four main grey sprues One clear sprue, in typical Eduard Style Being a Profipack Edition, in addition to decals (which I plan to use as less as possible ) there is also a PE fret and pre-cut masks for the clear parts. I've already started mangling some plastic, namely the cockpit bits; I'd like to have most of the cockpit done before I do any serious dry fit of the main parts. So I started with the frame right behind the seat, here's the kit offering: I improved it by drilling out all the lightening holes (same for the frame right behind it, BTW) Filled in the top rear side slot with PPP, as per instructions I then glued on the first PE part , the head armour plate, using Gator's Grip, and the seat supporting frame, using TeT Little bit of improvement on the latter too, by drilling out lightening holes again The seat: I wanted to add some riveting, visible in the walkaround pics (here on BM) of an airworthy Spit MK VIII painted in these very colors (not the original airframe, though). So I marked them with a sharpie first, followed by a pointy needle, and filled in with some clear UV resin Looks a bit messy (but remember it's a macro pic ), only primer will tell if it's any good. If not, I have a plan B Side frames glued on Most of you probably already know, this kit has a lot of parts for the cockpit (and not only that...). Detail looks really good to me, though. I already have a question for the experts: what do we think about the interior color demarcation line? When I built my Spitfire Mk Vb, I remember the cockpit green stopped right behind the seat frame, with the rest of the fuselage interiors being painted aluminium. I read a few discussions here and on other on line sources stating that there was an official order in 1943 (I don't remember the actual date, sorry) that specifically addressed this issue, stating not to paint cockpit green overall. No specific indications about models or marks, though. So again, what do we think? Thanks in advance for any contribution. And as always, all comments welcome! Ciao

On a break from Lusty at the moment so a quick and fun build of one of nicer looking tank destroyers from WWII. Its the newish Tamiya kit with a few additions, I bought the Tamiya turned Gun and breech set, one of the Eduard PE sets and a few other Brassin items to help detail it all up. 1 week into the build. Enjoy

Schnellbomber Ju.88A-4 Limited Edition (11194) 1:48 Eduard The Ju.88 was designed as a schnellbomber in the mid 30s, and at the time it was faster than current fighter designs, so it was projected that it could infiltrate, bomb and exfiltrate without being intercepted. That was the theory anyway. By the time WWII began in the west, fighters had caught up with the previously untouchable speed of the 88, and it needed escorting to protect it from its Merlin equipped opponents. It turned out to be a jack of all trades however, and was as competent as a night fighter, dive bomber or doing reconnaissance as it was bombing Britain. They even popped a big gun on the nose and sent it against tanks and bombers, with variable success. The A series was powered by a pair of Jumo 211 engines in cylindrical cowlings producing over 1,000hp each, and was improved gradually up until the A-17, with the A-4 being an earlier upgrade to the original that incorporated longer wings and a minor tweak to the engines. It also had strengthened landing gear and shackles for four bomb racks under the wings inboard of the engine nacelles. It was improved further in subsequent variants, some with balloon cutters, others with more powerful engines such as the A-5 that managed to beat the A-4 into service. Its real replacement was the A-14, that was fitted with more armour, had the bombsight removed, and had balloon-cutter equipment fitted, proving that the Germans took the barrage balloons over British skies seriously. The Kit It will come as no surprise to many that the plastic in this kit is from ICM, as they have been engaged in creating a comprehensive range of Ju.88 variants for some time now, with their kit becoming the de facto standard in the scale, unseating the previous incumbent. This Limited Edition boxing from Eduard takes the ICM plastic and breathes the usual Eduard magic on it, making it an even more desirable prospect. The kit arrives in a large top-opening box with a painting of a gloriously multi-colour camouflaged Ju.88 flying over a frigid-looking deep blue seascape, and scattered cloud cover on the distant horizon. Inside the box are eight sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a set of resin wheels with separate hubs, two frets of Photo-Etch (PE), one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other bare brass, a small square of clear acetate sheet with circles pre-printed in black, a sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masking material in yellow, a separately bagged pair of decal sheets, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy white paper, with painting and decaling profiles on the rear pages, plus a page of greyscale profiles that separate out the stencil locations to avoid muddled profiles and subsequent confusion. Detail is excellent from the box, enhanced further by the included PE, and sat upon a set of superbly crisp resin wheels that are almost a direct drop-in replacement for the kit parts once they have been cut from their pour stubs. Construction begins with the fuselage with the addition of sidewall details in the extensive cockpit area. Rear bulkhead, side consoles and seats with PE belts are all added to the cockpit sides for a change, with an insert in the fuselage for the circular Pielgerat 6 antenna and tail wheel added into the starboard side, the cockpit hugely improved by the additional of dozens of PE parts, many of which are pre-painted, and decals that add layers of details to the sides of the fuselage and radio wall, including a clear portion of the acetate sheet. The instrument panel and ancillary dial are supplied with two decals, and fits into the fuselage during mating of the two halves. The missing floor has two recesses filled for some decal options, and is added to the lower fuselage panel along with two additional styrene parts and two more in PE, which includes the lower parts of the inner wings and gives the structure some strength. It also receives the rudder pedals, control column, and the two remaining crew seats that are built up to include PE belts, before being joined to the underside of the fuselage. The tail has articulated flying surfaces that are all made from upper and lower halves, as is the rudder, and the wings are supplied as top and bottom, with the flaps and ailerons separate from the box, and neat curved leading edges so they look right when deflected. The flaps include the rear section of the soon-to-be-fitted nacelles, which are added as separate parts to avoid sink-marks, and these coupled with the ailerons run almost full-span, terminating at the wingtip joint. This variant was fitted with the under-fuselage gondola, and each side has separate glazing panels inserted from inside, and a seam running vertically along its length, draping more PE seatbelts for the crewman there. It is added to the hole in the underside of the fuselage, with the front and rear glazing plus a choice of two rear machine guns or a forward-firing cannon later in the build. The landing gear is made up on a base that accepts the main strut and retraction jacks, plus an A-frame and separate oleo-scissor links, adding them to the underwing in preparation for the installation of the nacelle cowlings. The engines must be built first, consisting of a three-part block and high ancillary part count with plenty of detail, mounting them on a rear firewall that fits securely inside the cowling after adding a curved rib at the mid-point. Even though this is an in-line engine with an inverted V-piston layout, the addition of the annular radiators gives it the look of a radial, with their representation added to the front of the cowling, obscuring much of the engine detail, the side panels can be left off to show all that detail however. The cooling gills around the cowling are separate parts, and the exhausts have separate stacks, which aren't hollow but are large enough to make reaming them out with a drill a possibility. The completed nacelles fit to the underwings over the top of the main gear installation, securing them in place with four pegs, two on each side of each nacelle. For one marking option a cannon is fitted in the gondola, consisting of a breech with moulded-in barrel, separate ammo can, and a chute that takes the brass to an exit point below the gondola. A highly detailed bomb sight is created from two styrene parts and four more decals and PE parts, siting it in the main cockpit, and choosing the appropriate nose glazing for your decal option. The main greenhouse for the cockpit has a choice of two guns, one with a double “snail” magazine, a sighting decal that is applied to the windscreen, and PE panels that fit over the rear horizontal panes. A grab handle and PE instrument box are also fixed in the windscreen, adding a two-part PE travel lock for the windscreen gun after the canopy is installed. The rear portion of the canopy is made from two halves due to its double "blown" shape to accommodate the two rearward gun positions, so that the gunner's head isn't pressed against the canopy. The guns are fitted through the two circular ports on the rear, adding a ring and bead sight, although no ammo feed is supplied. The props are made from spinner, backplate and a single piece containing all three blades, sliding onto a pin projecting from the engine front, which will require glue if you want to keep them on. The alternative gondola guns at the rear have a zwilling mount, and a blank glazing panel or the afore mentioned cannon in the front. Under the wings the dive spoilers are added with four bomb crutches on aerodynamic fairings between the fuselage and engine nacelles, with bombs supplied that have two of their fins moulded separately, along with the stabilising struts that fit into notches in the fins. An antenna and aileron actuators are added while the model is inverted, fixing the new resin wheels with PE rings at the rear, and twin main gear bay doors, with two more for the tail-wheel. Addition of the canopy mounted antenna and pitot probe in the port wing leading edge completes the build, and an extra diagram shows where the antenna mast wire should be run, including where the fly-lead enters the fuselage. Markings There are a generous six decal options included on the sheets, although the box art option is the most tempting from my perspective. There are a wide range of schemes including winter distemper, desert, splinter and other more unusual camouflages, to widen the appeal. From the box you can depict one of the following: 1./KG 1, Kharkov-Voichenko, Soviet Union, January 1943 Hptm. Klaus Häberlen, CO of Stab I./KG 51, Bagerovo, Soviet Union, April 1943 4./KG 54, Catania, Sicily, spring 1943 W.Nr. 140206, Hptm. Heinrich Paepcke, CO of Stab II./KG 77, Gerbini, Italy, October 1942 W.Nr. 1016, Lt. Johannes Geismann, CO of 1./KG 77, Catania, Sicily, September 1942 Lt. Gerhard Brenner, CO of 1./LG 1, Eleusis, Greece, March 1942 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. The masks supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape provide you with a full set of masks for the extensive greenhouse canopy plus its optional parts, adding more for the other windows around the model, and masks for the wheels to allow you to cut the demarcation between tyres and hubs with ease. Conclusion The ICM kit is a great model from the box, but adding Eduard’s extras in the shape of PE details and resin wheels adds more appeal, as will the varied decal options, which offer a few standard choices, and some fairly unusual alternatives to test your painting skills. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Source: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/308021-eduard-mig-21f-mig-21-uusum-in-48th-scale/ V.P.

B-26F Marauder Upgrade Sets (for ICM) 1:48 Eduard There won’t be many modellers that haven’t seen or at least heard of the new range of 1:48 kits that ICM have been doing of the Marauder, which was woefully overlooked by other manufacturers for what seemed like the longest of times. Now we have a new range of kits that depict different variants throughout its short but illustrious career during and shortly after WWII. Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in their usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. 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. Upgrade Set (491552) Two frets are included, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. Kit parts that require adjustment are marked out in red for removal, or orange for sanding back. The rudder pedals are cut away at the bottom and have new perforated parts glued in to replace them, doing the same for a lever on the starboard side of the centre console that is also stripped of its moulded-in detail. The console has side skins overlaid, plus highly detailed new control panels, throttle quadrants and their attendant levers, wheels and adjusters. The instrument panel is sanded back and replaced by a new layered panel, cutting a section out of the cockpit floor to extend the crew hatch further into the fuselage, inserting a folded rectangular tunnel with retaining flanges, and a riveted strip laid on the forward edge. Hatch doors are made from new PE parts with handles, hinges and attachment points that should give a strong joint behind the crew seats. Speaking of seats, they have their adjustment rails removed and replaced by new PE parts, while the seats themselves are also replaced by several new PE parts that are folded to shape. The short forward bulkhead between the cockpit and nose is given a detailed skin with a couple of extra detail parts, then the rear bulkhead gets a pair of grab handles to ease crew passage through the narrow hatch. The cockpit sidewalls are littered with new boxes formed from folded layers of PE that have painted fronts, removing some parts from the separate side consoles to replace them with new painted details on both sides. The prominent nose gun is given a visible ammunition feed, folding up a PE length of link, then fitting it between the gun’s breech and a new ammo box, fixing a ring and bead sight to the breech and tip of the barrel, the latter after inserting the gun in the nose dome, adding a windscreen wiper to the flat spot through which the bomb-aimer views his target. The main canopy is detailed with an interior skin in between the two roof hatches, fitting extra detail parts in the centre, plus grab handles around the side windows, and an instrument in its own box in the centre of the windscreen. Zoom! Set (FE1552) This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen below. Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements. Seatbelts STEEL (FE1553) These belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. The entire crew are given belts, which are lap-belts for the most part, save for the flight crew. Two belts are made for right and left of the crewman, one having a comfort pad under the buckle, showing them used for the rear gunner, waist crew, fight crew, and the pilot, who gets a set of shoulder belts to keep him in place during rough conditions. The upper gunner is also set up with a pair of lap-belts that should just be visible in the turret once completed. Exterior (481172) This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades, although many of them aren’t quite exterior. Work starts with the cover panels that fit between the spars, facing inward into the bomb bay. They are stripped of raised detail, then have a new skin applied over the top, folding down two ribs and rotating them into position, with a pair of brackets toward the rear, one for each wing root. The engine nacelles are fitted with oval meshes over the intake horns, and have a square panel mounted in the centre of the forward bay bulkhead facing aft, adding two lightened braces across the rear. Before they are fitted to the wings, a skin is added inside the roof on the lower wing, with a small bracket at the rear, offering a much more detailed view into the bays. The engines have a full suite of wiring harness sections, each part forming a pair of leads, one per cylinder, with a C-shaped link between the tops of all the cylinders, following the scrap diagrams to locate them correctly. There are two of course, and it will be a lot easier than doing the wiring manually with your own wires, to which I can testify, as I have done that. The truest exterior part is the replacement of the kit’s deflectors to the front of the waist gunner positions, which are moulded as angular lumps on the kit by necessity. After removing these blobs, they are replaced by a pair of baffled deflectors that are double-thickness, and have a bracket added to the rear, plus a length of your own 0.5mm plastic rod to act as the retraction jacks, using a 1:1 drawing to assist you with cutting them to the correct length. Bomb Bay (481173) This set will be of use to anyone posing the bomb bay doors open, as it supplies replacements for the outer bomb ladders, which are chopped from the kit’s bay wall inserts before beginning. The new ladders are folded in half end-to-end, adding a set of bomb plates to each “step”, and mounting the ladder on a backing plate that has contoured sides with additional skins to add detail. The same process is then carried out for the longer central ladders, but without the contoured sides. The bombs all have a shackle fitted vertically, with scrap diagrams showing how the bombs should interface with the steps on the ladders. Rear Interior (491553) This set consists of two frets, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. It covers the waist gunner and upper turret positions, increasing the detail there substantially, particularly the waist position, which is noticeably simplified in the kit. Equipment boxes are folded up from rear parts with coloured faces, making three sets for use around the interior. The waist gun windows have the kit retraction rails used, but the ammo run that travels down much of the length of the fuselage is replaced by a new PE track that has ammo inside, rather than the kit’s blank surface that you have to paint and stripe yourself (like I did). Two of the equipment boxes are fitted either side of the starboard window, and the entire window frame is replaced by a two-layer PE assembly that sandwiches a piece of clear acetate between it, curving it to match the fuselage shape, using the kit parts as a template. The two guns are given a pair of ring-and-bead sights from PE, and are fed by a complex pair of ammo cans that are slid into a frame that is held in place by a pair of lateral beams, plus two V-shaped supports on each side. A length of ammo feeder track with link inside is also included, exiting the front of the ammo boxes and entering the breeches of the guns. The kit surround of the upper turret has a box removed from one corner, covering it over with a detailed skin, plus a handle on one side that is absent from the kit. The final assembly is the front bulkhead of the rear compartment, cutting away a moulded-in box and replacing it with another that has a pre-painted face added along with a handle near the top. The third of the equipment boxes made earlier is applied to the starboard side of the moulded-in hatchway, completing the set’s upgrade. Review sample courtesy of

I've had a very on/off modelling year so far ( mainly off) due to work and life stuff. I've only completed 2 builds but they were both started in 2024 😳 I have a little Airfix JP which is just being painted so it should be the first "all 2025" build of the year. I've finally got some mojo brewing, though, and am getting frustrated when I have to put the JP down to let the paint dry. Rather than rush that painting process, the only sensible thing to do is - start a new kit 😁 Whilst I'm very into cold war jets, I've never been particularly bothered by the Russian side, I don't generally find the Migs etc that interesting. I bought the Eduard Mig-21 after some online conversations where others were going on about how great Tamiya kits are. I bemoaned the fact that they don't do much in the way of 1/72 cold war jets. Several people suggested the Eduard Mig-21 is in a similar vein for quality of engineering and ease of build etc. They're also fairly cheap, and I discovered I really like the look of the East German scheme. That'll go nicely with my RAFG Lightning F.2A 👍 So here we are. I do have a confession to make, though. I only bought this two weeks ago and it's already on the bench! No gathering dust in the stash for this guy. Hoping the modelling gods will not smite me down for this appalling behaviour 😬 Some box shots, of course.. Being the profi pack edition they are lots of opportunities for PE levels of detail. It looks like there are options for keeping myself sane, though. Although, that's not going to be my first instinct here, despite my general dislike of PE. We'll see how I get on.. As well as the exterior paints, I've also obtained an AK marker for soviet interior green. I really like the convenience of these pens, so happy to add another one to the collection. Quite how Warsaw Pact pilots were expected to function in battle with that colour all around them, I don't quite know! It's a striking colour, though, that's for sure. I've started off with a bit of colouring in and a tiny bit of assembly but nothing worthy of showing just yet. This isn't going to be a quick build. We go on holiday next week and then I'm straight into two back to back business trips so unlikely to be back at the bench until early October 😭 Al

MiG-21F-13 ProfiPACK (82191) 1:48 Eduard The Fishbed, or MiG-21 was such a successful design that there were more than a few generations of the type, starting with what would later become known as the first generation in the late ‘50s. By the early ‘60s a new generation had been designed that was marked out by the F suffix, which stands for “Uprated” in Russian “Forsirovannyy”. They benefitted from improved avionics, additional fuel and a more powerful engine, with a wider spread of munition types available to hang under the aircraft. Adding the K-13 missiles to their repertoire led to the additional suffix of 13, making the full name MiG21F-13, with the capability of carrying two suspended on adapted pylons, then later using newly designed weapon-specific pylons. They were also built under license as Chengdu J-7s or F-7s, and by Czech manufacturers, initially differing by name, but later reverting to the Soviet nomenclature. It was given the NATO code of Fishbed-C for quick reference by Allied operators. To reduce the weight and space needed by more traditional weapons, the F-13 had only one NR-30 cannon fitted in the starboard bay, the other removed. This cannon carried a miserly sixty rounds, but the lack of extended dogfight capabilities was more than made up for by the new weapons it could carry, making it a more lethal opponent than previous iterations. The next generation arrived just a year later and used the P designation, as they were interceptors first-and-foremost, again adding the F for later upgrades, which included new engines, radar, avionics and weapons systems during one of the fastest-moving periods of aviation technological growth since man first took flight. These too were superseded by another generation toward the end of the ‘60s. The Kit This is a boxing of a new tooling from Eduard, and arrives in a standard gold-themed top-opening box with a painting of a brace of F-13s high over pinkish morning or evening cloud. Inside the box are seven sprues of grey styrene in three bags, a clear sprue in a Ziploc bag, two decal sheets, a small sheet of kabuki-style masking material, a sheet of nickel-plated and pre-painted Photo-Etch (PE), plus the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy white paper, with the decal profiles on the rearmost pages and a stencil page at the back. Eduard’s original series of MiG-21s debuted in the 2010s to much applause, and this kit continues that theme, packing the parts with excellent detail, and thanks to the addition of masks and PE parts, there’s little extra that will be needed for most modellers to be happy with their model out of the box. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with a choice of two styles of instrument panel, the style relating to the method used to build them up. A blank panel is the basis for the PE option, using two pre-painted layers to create the main panel, adding another two for the bottom-centre panel (with a choice of two top layers), and two more layers to the panels to each side of the main panel. The simpler option involves a styrene panel that has dials and instruments moulded into it and the sub-panel in the centre, applying decals over the main panel, with a choice of two decals for the centre panel. The cockpit floor is a short flat section with peg at the front, which receives rudder pedals and control column toward the front, dropping the main panel into a slot between the two components, setting it aside for a moment while the intake trunking is made. The trunking also incorporates the nose gear bay, and is made from two sculpted walls, a bay roof, and an aft bulkhead, mounting a peg to each side to space it equally away from the fuselage halves, attaching a U-shaped bracket into the centre of the bay slot, a single rod in each wall side, and another small part buried within. The exhaust is next on the tick-list of tasks you need to complete before closing the fuselage, starting with two halves of the main trunk, which has an afterburner ring and another length of trunk attached to the front, with a representation of the engine rear moulded into the bulkhead with a spacer at the very front. Moving to the rear, a tapered ring of petals is fixed to the end, with an outer ring slipped over, and a trio of actuators placed in grooves round the perimeter, assisted by a scrap diagram. The MiG-21’s main gear bay is an unusual arrangement in the fuselage, consisting of a loosely box-like assembly that is made from four parts, with one side having an optional wall for some markings, adding small parts to the detailed sides, painting it as per the instructions before putting it aside while the cockpit receives some more attention. The interior of the starboard fuselage is painted as indicated, adding the sidewall after applying a PE skin and two detail parts, with a three-part side console that has three PE parts applied to the top, slipping it into position on a pair of U-shaped “hangers”. The same process is carried out inside the port fuselage, with three small parts on the sidewall, and a mixture of decals and styrene parts on the side console. The aft bulkhead of the cockpit is a choice of a solid or a clear part, installing your choice in place with the help of a scrap diagram, and fitting the intake trunk, two-part coaming, plus two half bulkheads in the centre of the fuselage, followed by the exhaust, after which you can close the fuselage, remembering to add some nose weight in the space inside the trunk where the radome is sited, fitting a nose cone to the front, and covering top access with an insert in front of the windscreen. A brief interlude shows a pair of side profiles with small areas marked out in three different colours, which indicate areas that should be filled depending on which markings option you have chosen. Take a moment to fill and make good, then you can move on to detailing the surround to the cockpit, starting with a combined four-part PE/styrene cluster in the top of the main panel for some decal options and a two-part assembly for them all, a three-part HUD with choice of clear lenses, followed by an insert behind the pilot, which has additional hoses and other parts applied for some decal options. The tail fin is a large two-part assembly with a long section of spine moulded-in, a separate rudder fin, and a choice of using the moulded-in triple IFF sensors on the tip, or replacing them with a finer PE representation after removing the styrene antennae and drilling out a 0.3mm hole to locate them, which also gives you an opportunity to put them in place after main painting. The fin/spine arrangement is glued into position on the fuselage after test-fitting it with your choice of canopy parts to ensure correct alignment, then the two-part exhaust cowling is glued together and fitted over the rear, an intake is applied to the side of the spine, and the intake ring is installed over the radome, fixing two PE vanes in the front of the stators before doing so. Starting work on the full-span lower wing sees fitting of inserts under the nose, and in the outer ends of the bay cut-outs. Small holes are drilled in the wingtips, for the wing pylons, and another two down the centreline, plus a diamond-shaped hole if you intend to use the styrene IFF triple-antenna under the belly, otherwise a small hole is drilled later for the PE alternative. Various small parts are installed in the bays along with a little detail painting, flipping the assembly over to fit a circular landing lights that are each made from a clear lens and styrene back, using a different part for a landed aircraft, which has the light flipped horizontally, pointing down the runway. The main gear bay is dropped into place in the section of fuselage that’s moulded between the wings, then the upper wing surfaces are glued over the top, lowering the fuselage into position once the glue is cured, before moving onto the tail. Each elevator is a single part that fits with slot and tab either side of the fin, festooning the area with intakes and fairings during the process. The flaps can be posed retracted or deployed by switching out the parts, and adding an extended actuator to the deployed option, inserting ailerons outboard, with an actuator fairing between them, and a fence in a slot near the tips. A scrap diagram shows the detail parts that are applied to the flap tracks to complete the process. More fairings are added between the flaps and ailerons under the wing, with T-probes outboard, adding a strake to the slot under the tail, and the air-brake pattress in retracted or deployed condition under the belly, with a few more intakes and exhausts nearby. To mount the open airbrake, the two-part perforated brake and retractor jack are fitted to the leading edge of the pattress, installing the forward airbrake bays under the fuselage next to the wing leading edge, only if you are deploying them. Each bay has a retractor, and the starboard side also holds the breech of the gun, which is made from three parts, taking note that there are two distinct colour schemes for the bays, depending on your decal choice. Flush panels are fitted behind the bays, installing the brakes hinging from the leading edges of the bays, then fairing over the front with a narrow panel, the starboard side having perforations to cool the barrel of the gun beneath it. For closed airbrakes, it’s a simple case of installing a single complete panel over and around the bay area, adding a representation of part of the gun mechanism behind the starboard part. A PE hinge is added above and below the barrel fairing, using the large diagrams to guide you. The main wheels are each build from two-part tyres, plus separate inner and outer hubs, making two, then building the gear legs from the main strut, brake housing and hose, separate oleo-scissor link, captive gear bay door with actuator, building both in mirror image, and choosing which colour to paint the doors depending on your decal choice. They are installed in the outer end of the main bays along with a large retraction jack, and an inner bay door with retractor, with another scrap diagram from overhead showing the correct orientation and angle. The wheel for the nose gear is made in the same manner as the main wheels, attaching it to a strut with twin yokes and control arm, noting the location of a small part on the tip of the yoke near the hub. It is dropped into the bay and is bracketed by a pair of detailed doors, with the usual colour caveats depending on your decal choice. A small antenna is added under the nose, if you chose the PE IFF antennae they are mounted in a 0.3mm hole, as is a triangular antenna behind it, ensuring you use the correct parts… again depending on your marking choice. On the topside of the nose is a probe at an angle on the starboard side, mounting the correct fairing over the front of the spine for your choice, with a small part inside, and an antenna in the rear. You may have noticed there’s nowhere for the pilot to sit yet, but that’s next. The KM-1M seat is made from a myriad of parts for excellent detail, including a PE pull-handle between the pilot’s knees, adding stencils to the headbox once painted, then fitting a set of four-point PE crew belts that are pre-painted, and consist of nine parts, plus two more to add yet more detail to the seat. It is slipped into the cockpit in a “reverse-ejection” movement, fitting an internal windscreen over the coaming, then choosing whether to attach the closed canopy part over it, or pose it open by using the alternative part with a tab that fixes into a slot in front of the coaming at an angle. Short lengths of PE are fitted to the hinges of the ailerons, adding static-discharge wicks to the tips of the wings, elevators and tail fin to complete the airframe, save for the long probe on the nose, which is made from a central styrene needle, one straight for flight, the other option showing it folded to prevent stabbing anyone walking nearby. The probes are moulded with two vanes integral, and you can choose to fit two more perpendicular, or remove the two that are moulded-in, and replace them all with PE parts from the fret. A final diagram shows the correct fitting under the nose for both options. There are a good range of weapons and stores provided in the box, starting with a two-part 490L drop-tank for the centreline, plus two UB-16 rocket pods that are made from halves, with a bulkhead in the middle, and a choice of short or long tapering tips that are moulded with the rocket noses just visible. A pair of S-24 missiles are made from two halves each, adding opposing fins to holes in the tail, then mounting it on an adapter pylon. Next are a pair of R-3S A2A missiles, with a clear seeker on a thin tubular body, adding opposing fins to those moulded-in front and rear, with its own adapter rail. The final items are a pair of FAB-250 iron bombs, with two-part bodies, two opposing fins, and a two-part annular fin at the rear, plus a pair of mounting lugs on one side. A choice of these weapons can be attached on the three pylons under the wings and centreline, with a final step in the instructions showing possible locations. If you are looking for a more realistic load however, check your references for certainty. Markings There are six disparate decal options in this boxing, including some countries that no-longer exist in that particular form, and with a variety of schemes and equipment fits that will inform your build decisions throughout the process. From the box you can build one of the following: s/n 741204, HävLLv 31, Kuopio-Rissala AB, Finnish AF, Finland, August 1985 s/n 74211503, Nguyen Nhat Chieu, 921st FR, Sao Do, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, October 1967 s/n 660416, 1. slp, České Budějovice AB, Czechoslovakia, 1968-1970 Cairo-West AB, United Arab Republic, 1967 s/n 22504, 204. LAP, Batajnica AB, Yugoslav Air Force, Yugoslavia, 1962 s/n 741924, AFS-31, East Germany Air Force, Preschen AB, German Democratic Republic, 1978-1980 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. The masks supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape provide you with a full set of masks for the canopy, more for the bullet-proof section within the windscreen and the rear bulkhead. In addition, you get a set of masks for the two lenses of the HUD, landing lights, the seekers on the R-3S missiles, plus a few extra circles that are used with a pod/missiles not supplied in this boxing. Conclusion Eduard’s MiG-21 series is already well regarded, and this new and much needed addition continues the tradition of supplying a ton of detail and options to the modern modeller. A highly detailed cockpit, gear bays, airbrakes, and a choice of weapons load make for an appealing package. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

S-199 ERLA Canopy Hybrid Kit (948011) 1:48 Eduard There must have been billions of words written on the Bf.109 over the years, which was the mainstay of the Luftwaffe's fighter arm, despite having been supposedly superseded by the Fw.190 and others during its service life. The G or Gustav as it was known was one of the later variants, and is widely regarded as one of the best, with improved armament that necessitated a distinctive pair of blisters in front of the windscreen to accommodate the breeches of the new weapons. Post war the Avia factory, who had been making Bf.109s for the Germans under duress, continued manufacturing them from parts, toolings and plans that they had to hand, designating the originals S-99. The later S-199 using Junkers Jumo 211F engines and props that were previously fitted to the He.111 due to no availability of the original DB605 engines post-war, with a pair of MG151 cannons fitted in pods under the wings to make up for the lack of coaxial cannon that was lost through the engine change. The twin cowling machine guns were troubled by unreliable synchronisation gear that could result in perforated or missing prop blades if it failed at the wrong moment. Over 500 were made in total, and a small number found their way to the nascent Israeli Air Force, where they were pressed into taking part in sorties immediately after delivery, fighting against Egyptian Spitfires and achieving a few victories. The Israelis found them to be an unreliable aircraft, and criticised their performance, citing the torque steering from the broad paddle-bladed props, and the unreliability of the interruptor mechanism that had never been fully adapted to the replacement Jumo 211 engine, and as mentioned, some pilots solved their own torque problems by shooting off their prop, entirely accidentally of course, but resulting in an S-199 glider, or the aircraft trying to shake itself to pieces. This and other performance issues led to them being withdrawn from front-line service by October 1948, with sporadic flights undertaken until the end of that year. In Czech service they were retained through most of the 50s, probably because they didn’t see combat that exposed the airframe’s weaknesses, the last flight taking place in 1957. The Kit This is the first kit from Eduard’s new Hybrid kit line, which as the name suggests blends traditional injection moulded main parts with highly detailed 3D printed resin detail parts, taking the best aspects of both to produce a product that is both highly detailed and more cost-effective from a production point of view (I hope). This could result in more niche products making it to the shelves, reducing tooling costs of individual kits, due to a substantially lowered tooling cost thanks to the non-injected parts existing only in cyberspace until printed. The kit arrives in a standard-sized top-opening box with new branding and the Hybrid logo on the top right of the lid. Inside the box are three sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in its own Ziploc bag, a and large Brassin box without the usual stickers on the exterior that contains the 3D printed parts. Inside the Brassin box are several Ziploc bags that contain thirty-five printed parts and four traditionally resin cast parts. The smaller print-bases are secreted in a clear clamshell box to prevent damage, held in place by a circular sticky-pad, while the other parts are adequately protected by the upstands around their bases, and the bags themselves. There is a small sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masking material (not pictured) in its own bag, two sheets of decals, and the package is rounded-out by the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy white paper, with decal option profiles on the rear pages, plus stencil diagrams on the rear cover. Construction begins with removing the 3D printed parts from their bases, which is a relatively simple task that involves either sawing the supports off, or nipping them away with a modelling tool, then sanding away any remains of the supports that still adheres to the surface. Once you’ve cleaned all the bits of supports off your workbench, you can begin building the cockpit, which is absolutely stunning in the amount of detail that is incorporated straight from the box. The main floor has the rudder pedals, full seat with integral belts, and the rear bulkhead up to shoulder height moulded (printed) in, adding the front bulkhead with cannon breech cover into a slot in the front, mounting a twin trim-wheel to the side of the seat, and the control column in the centre. The cockpit sidewall inserts are glued into the styrene fuselage halves, both with a single additional part installed, plus a decal on the starboard side. The instrument panel is a work of art, and has dial decals applied after painting, installing it in the port side, with a scrap diagram showing the correct orientation of the part. A two-part socket for the tail-wheel is glued together and added into the fuselage as it is closed, installing the cockpit through the wing-root cut-out from below once you have dealt with the fuselage seamline in your preferred manner, remembering that the Bf.109 and its derivatives have panel lines that run down the centreline top and bottom, as evidenced by the profiles and the stencil diagrams, where it is clearly visible. The lower wing is full-span out to the wingtip joint, and has the 3D printed main gear bays installed before closing the wings with the upper surfaces, painting and weathering the bay interiors in your usual style to show off the detail. The wings are then mated with the fuselage, installing the sloped rear bulkhead behind the pilot after drilling out three small holes to mount a wedge-shaped part in the centre. Fitting the tail feathers is almost entirely traditional styrene, making the elevator panels from two halves, and slotting the single-thickness flying surfaces into the curved rear, then plugging them into the holes in the sides of the tail fin, before inserting the rudder, which has the trim-tab reduced in depth for one decal option, all having a resin tab actuator applied to the starboard side. The rest of the flying surfaces are applied to the main plane, and are single parts, including ailerons, flaps and leading-edge slats that drop down automatically at low speeds. The two clear wingtip lights are inserted into their cut-outs, painting them with clear red or green, depending on which wing they are installed in. The nose of the S-199 is still broadly similar to the Bf.109G from which it was derived despite the engine change, and the aircraft has twin cannons in troughs in the top cowling of the engine, which is a separate part that has a pair of 3D printed barrels with attachment points that are installed from inside, lowering the panel into the space in the nose, then adding one of two styles of Beule blisters that cover the cannon breeches within the gun bay that sits between the cockpit and the engine bay. A choice of resin or styrene piano-style hinge is inserted in a shallow trough between the two cannons, and a 3D printed supercharger intake is fitted into a recess in the starboard cowling, having a hollow centre that adds realism to the assembly when compared to styrene. Flipping the model over, radiator bays have the front and rear cooling faces inserted in the bay, then are covered by the shallow boxy fairings after internal painting. This step also shows the painting of the main gear bays belatedly, and the fact that shell-ejection chute openings should be filled outboard of the bays, which is best done earlier in the build so that a slip of styrene sheet can be placed behind the holes to give a firm foundation for filling with your preferred material. A pair of 3D or styrene horn-balances are provided for the underside of both ailerons, and can be fitted at this time if you’re unlikely to knock them off during handling. While the model is inverted, a gap between the chin and leading edge of the wings is covered with a choice of two fairings, one that has an intake scoop with a backing plate, the other having a tubular fairing and an outlet at the rear. The main gear legs are 3D printed as a single part each, with oleo-scissor link and brake hoses integrated, to which the captive gear bay door and the traditional resin wheels are added, fitting them into the inner end of the bay on a long tab that slides inward toward the centre, then sliding a choice of two tail wheels with integral struts in the socket under the tail. Righting the model allows it to sit on its wheels, where the clear gunsight is partially painted, then inserted into the centre of the instrument panel. The canopy is moulded in two parts, the windscreen glued in place at the front, then fitting the head armour and a choice of two styles of 3D or styrene antenna posts in the hole at the rear of the canopy, dropping it in place in the open or closed position, remembering that is hinges sideways as per the diagram nearby. A 3D printed D/F loop is inserted into a hole drilled in the spine behind the canopy, creating the propeller from a single 3-bladed prop, trapped between the spinner and back-plate, sliding the axle into position in the nose. 3D printed parts are supplied for the exhausts, which have hollow tips to each of the outlets, which are installed by offering the front lip into the slot, then fixing the remainder of the length into position. An optional 3D printed hand-crank for the engine can be installed under the port Beule, and if you’ve destroyed the moulded-in pitot probe in the tip of the port wing like many of us would, there is a replacement provided amongst the 3D printed parts, so breathe easy. Attention turns back to the underside again for the last step, which involves making up two two-part cannon gondolas around 3D printed barrels, fitting them under the wings, with a choice of 3D printed or styrene antenna under the port wing in a clear surround that electrically isolates the antenna from the airframe, inserted angled forward as shown in the profiles. Markings There are six decal options included with this new kind of kit, split equally between the two users of the type, which seems fair, although the Israeli aircraft weren’t in service for long, but they did see combat. From the box you can build one of the following: 101 Tayeset, Cheyl Ha´avir, Hatzor, Israel, October 1948 101 Tayeset, Cheyl Ha´avir, Herzliya, Israel, July-August 1948 101 Tayeset, Cheyl Ha´avir, Herzliya, Israel, July 1948 S-199.54, Sgt. František Novák, Fighter Training Center, No. 2 Squadron, Aviation Regiment 4, Planá u Českých Budějovic, Czechoslovakia, May 1948 S-199.66, ak. Ladislav Strnad, Air Military Academy, Hradec Králové, Czechoslovakia, June 1950 S-199.486, Lt. František Fořt, No. 1 Squadron, Aviation Regiment 7, Brno-Černovice, Czechoslovakia, 1950 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, the pre-cut masks supply a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curves handled using frame hugging masks, while the compound curves are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort, plus head-armour, wingtip lights, and underwing antenna base masks to further ease the paint process. Conclusion Speaking for myself, I really like they way that Eduard have put this kit together, and am looking forward to seeing more of them going forward, as it brings a LOT of detail to the out-of-box experience that wouldn’t otherwise happen, and opens up the possibility of kits that might not otherwise see the light of day due to expense of traditional tooling methods. Some folks are bound to think it’s the end of modelling as a hobby, but just like the smoke ring decals of yesteryear, it’s just a great way of making a model that’s more realistic. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

1/72 - MiG-21 Fishbed family project was finally officially confirmed by Eduard http://www.eduard.com/store/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2015/info-eduard-2015-01CZ.pdf (english version soon) MF, bis and SMT versions expected first

After recently completing my Assembly Ship I thought this GB would help me reduce my B-24 stash by one more model. I bought this when it came out as I thought it would be interesting to have slightly larger model armed with 8 rockets than the normal Typhoon or Mosquito most people think of a rocket armed plane. Here is the box Here are the contents with a few bits removed to send to @Shake so he can build the B-24 of his choice. And this is the plane I will be building, nose art, 4 engines and 8 rockets. Who needs more? Regards Toby

P-40N Warhawk ProfiPACK (82242) 1:48 Eduard First flying before the outbreak of WWII, the Warhawk was a development of the P-36 Hawk, and although it was never the fastest fighter in the sky, it was a sturdy airframe that took part in the whole of WWII in American and Allied hands, with large numbers used by Soviet pilots in their battles on the Eastern front. The various marks garnered different names such as Tomahawk and Kittyhawk, so it can get a mite confusing if you're not familiar with the type. It was unable to keep pace with the supercharged Bf.109, but was used to great effect in the Far East and Africa, which may have assisted in the feeling that it was a second-string aircraft of inferior design, when this wasn’t really the case – certainly not to the extent inferred. It was robust, cheap to make, and easy to repair, although its high-altitude performance dropped off somewhat. The early marks were under-armed with just two .50 guns firing through the prop from the top of the engine cowling and a pair of .303s in the wings, but later models benefited from improved armament. The B model was a revision of the initial airframe with lessons learned from early production, self-sealing fuel tanks and armour in critical parts of the airframe, although this extra weight did have an impact on performance. The -D was a partial re-design, eliminating the nose guns, narrowing the fuselage and improving the cockpit layout and canopy. In British service it was known as the Kittyhawk Mk.I, but only a small number were made before the -E replaced it with a more powerful Allison engine, and an extra pair of .50cal machine guns in the wings bringing the total to six, but even that wasn’t sufficient to let it keep up with the opposition. It wasn't until the –F model that the Allison engine was replaced by a license-built Merlin that gave it better high-altitude performance and a sleeker chin, with the -L having the same engine. The next main variant was the -K, which retained the Allison engine and nose configuration, after which the M was produced with a more powerful Allison engine primarily for the Allies, and the final production variant, the -N, with more power, a reduced spine, the same longer fuselage of the -L, and a drop in weight to increase top speed. A proposed -P variant was instead built as more -N airframes, while the bubble-topped -Q with more power and four-bladed prop couldn’t compete with the Thunderbolts and Mustangs that were streaming off the production lines by then, so it never made it to production. The Kit Eduard recently brought their talents to bear upon the P-40, providing plenty of detail, and as much or as little aftermarket available separately, specifically engineered to fit the kit, that you could possibly want. The kit arrives in gold-themed top-opening box with a painting of a P-40N involved in a head-to-head knife-edge pass during a battle with a heavily camouflaged Japanese adversary. Inside are six sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, a large sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) that is nickel-plated and pre-painted, Three decal sheets in a resealable bag, and the components are rounded off by a sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masking tape (not pictured) for the canopy, wheels and other clear parts. The package is completed by an A4 instruction manual that is printed on glossy white paper in colour, with a set of profiles for the decal options and stencils on the rearmost pages. The kit exterior is fully riveted with finely engraved panel lines, plus raised and recessed features where appropriate. Inside the fuselage halves are recessed lines and raised areas that will assist any modeller that decides to opt for the many aftermarket enhancements that Eduard have created to coincide with this and subsequent releases, making the task of integrating them much easier than it was in the past. Detail inside the cockpit and gear bays is excellent, and this attention to detail extends to the intakes around the nose, giving the model a realistic look once built from the box, as many of us will. There are also numerous weapons options included on the sprues, from bombs to rocket tubes, and with the choice of extra fuel carriage in the form of two style of drop-tanks under the belly. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with a seat that is made from three parts, and is mounted on a bracket attached to a low bulkhead, with rear armour sited between the seat and bulkhead, which includes two side projections and a round headrest. Four-point harnesses of two styles are provided on the PE sheet, pre-painted for your ease, mounting the assembly at the rear of the cockpit, then adding a control column, lever and two other controls on the floor, applying a PE dial, or using another decal. The instrument panel can be made using either a styrene panel with decals with different options for each decal option, adding a rear coaming and one of two gunsights, or using a blank panel that is detailed with laminated PE with the dials printed on the rear layer, plus a single-layer ancillary panel at the bottom, plus a smaller sub-panel from the bottom of the part, taking care to flip the page over for the rest of the options. The sidewalls are detailed with styrene and decals, with the cooling flap control linkage swapped out depending on whether you intend to have the gills open or closed under the nose, which shows avid attention to detail. With the addition of two small PE parts on the port wall, they can be installed on the cockpit sides, supporting the instrument panel and two-part rudder pedals at the front of the tub. To be able to close the fuselage, the exhaust backing-plates are placed behind their openings in the nose with instructions to secure them well, building the intakes under the prop, depending on whether you are posing the gills open or closed, requiring a little surgery with a 0.2mm drill to correctly depict the internal configuration. The three circular mesh airways are depicted by PE parts front and rear, completing the ducting with a lower insert, following which there is a choice of styrene or PE cooling gills, using different parts for your chosen option. For the PE gills, the base of part F16 is retained after cutting the gills off, pressing-in strengthening ribs with a ball-point pen from the rear where the PE is thinned down, then fitting brackets to the inner face before they are inserted in the nose behind the duct-work. The cockpit tub and a tail-wheel bay are installed during fuselage closure, trimming a small area of the tail fin mating surface to accommodate a PE antenna bracket on the centreline near the tip. Once the fuselage is closed and the seams dealt with, the cut-down insert behind the pilot is installed along with the front portion of the intake, a section of trunking for the upper intake, and each of the individual exhausts are pressed into the stubs, noting that they don't have hollow tips due to their necessarily small size. The perforated panel in the nose has the holes filled for one decal option, but only on the port side. The main landing gear bays of the Warhawk could be fitted with canvas covers that were custom-fitted to prevent dirt and debris ingress in the wells, but as these weren’t always present, Eduard have provided both options for your use. Each option is made from different parts, comprising two L-shaped walls, and a flat(ish) roof that fits into the recesses moulded into the upper wing parts after installing two inserts in the centre of the full-span lower wing to personalise it, and drilling out any necessary holes for underwing stores if you intend to use them. A panel line is filled on the upper wing halves, which is probably easiest to do before adding the “knees” to the leading edges, which can be left off until later if you wish. The ailerons are each single parts, with fine detail moulded into both surfaces and no a sign of any sink-marks that you might have expected back in the “good old days” when injection moulding wasn’t as advanced as it is now. They slot into their recesses on twin pegs that allow some deflection, should you wish to project a more candid appearance. Two more inserts are placed in recesses in the lower wing to cover the shell-ejection chutes for the wing armament, adding more holes if required for rocket launchers, and the gun barrels that are moulded to a carrier that fits inside the leading edges. Once everything is in place, the upper and lower wings can be joined together and the seams dealt with for later installation under the fuselage. Meanwhile, the elevator fins are made from two parts each, installing them in the slots each side of the tail, then finishing them off with separate flying surfaces, which are again single thickness parts with detail moulded-in. PE trim-tab actuators are applied to the elevators after trimming the styrene alternatives, followed by a two-part rudder post, which is hidden by the rudder surface, giving you options to deflect it as you see fit. Mating the wings to the fuselage is followed by inserting wingtip lights top and bottom, plus a circular landing light under the port wing, another on the trailing edge where the wing meets the belly, and a smaller light further aft. The wingtip lights should be painted with clear red for the port lights and green on the starboard. The landing gear legs are simple struts with PE tie-down loops added to drilled-out holes, plus PE brake hoses, fitting the wheel to the stub axle at the bottom, which is built from a two-part tyre that has diamond tread, and two hub halves that fit through the centre. The completed units plug into sockets in the front of the main gear bays, adding the tail wheel that has a single-sided yoke and separate tyre, then fixing bay doors to the wells, the inner main doors made from two parts each. The retraction jacks are added before the main bay doors, as shown in a scrap diagram nearby, and a single actuator is located between the tail wheel bay doors to complete them. Turning the model over, the canopy is next on the agenda, starting by adding a PE rear-view mirror to inside the top of the windscreen, then gluing it and the fixed rear canopy to the model, and choosing part G10 for a closed canopy, or the slightly wider G9 if you intend to pose it open. An aerial mast is sited just aft of the canopy slightly off to the starboard side of the spine with another small light further back, and the next drawing shows the location of the antenna wire and fly-lead in blue, along with the location that you need to drill out to admit the wire to the rear of the cockpit area. A PE ring and bead sight is mounted on the nose in front of the windscreen, adding a PE balance to the rudder, and a styrene pitot probe to the port wingtip, then building the prop from a single three-bladed part that is trapped between the pointed spinner and back-plate, sliding the shaft into the hole in the front of the nose. There is the choice of two types of drop-tank under the belly, both using the same style of sway-braces, although the part numbers are different, with lots of detail moulded into the two halves of the tanks. Alternately, a central bomb can be mounted, making the body from two parts and folding up the fins from a long piece of PE, then installing it on similar braces as the drop tanks, after removing a nub from the contact points that glue to the sides of the bomb. There is another choice for underwing stores, consisting of three rocket tubes that are made from four parts including a pair of hollow tips, or two more bombs that are made either in the same manner as the belly-mounted option, or can be fitted with a two-part styrene fin-box if you prefer, as can be done for the belly bomb if you wish. There is a choice of two fixture styles for the bombs, sharing the same locating palette, but with a choice of either four tubular braces, or two solid panels, one on each side that form a triangle when viewed from the front. Your choice of ordnance is then located under the wings using the blue areas on the final drawing as a guide, but remembering to fit one or the other, not both. Markings As this is a ProfiPACK Edition, there are a generous six decal options, the first the one depicted on the box art with the massive skulls on both sides of the nose, the rest in various schemes. From the box you can build one of the following: 42-105128, P-40N-5, 2Lt. Philip R. Adair, 89th FS, 80th FG, Nagaghuli, India, early 1944 42-105116, P-40N-5, Capt. Gilmer L. Snipes, 45th FS, 15th FG, Nanumea, December 1943 P-40N-20, 43-23400, Maj. Donald L Quigley, CO of 75th FS, 23rd FG, Kweilin, China, August 1944 P-40N-5, 7th FS, 49th FG, Finschhafen, New Guinea, September 1944 P-40N-5, 1/Lt. Benjamin H. Ashmore, 26th FS, 51st FG, Kunming, China, 1944 A29-651, F/O John Noel Olivier, No. 80 Squadron, Noemfoor Island, 1944 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. The stencils are handled on a separate page of the instructions to prevent the profiles devoted to the main markings from becoming muddled and complicated, including stencils for the landing gear and prop blades to add realism. The masks supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape provide you with a full set of masks for the canopy, using different sections for the open and closed canopy options. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort, plus a mask for the landing light into the bargain. Conclusion Another high-quality offering from Eduard that is already on its way to becoming the de facto standard for the scale, once their range has expanded to encompass more of the major marks. The detail is excellent throughout, and raises the bar for this type to new levels. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Eduard Models is to release 1/48th Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-15 "Fagot" & "Midget" kits. And later MiG-17 "Fresco" ? Source: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/308021-eduard-mig-21f-mig-21-uusum-in-48th-scale/&do=findComment&comment=2957764 V.P.

This weekend at the E-Days 2013 the box art picture from the Eduard's future 1/48th Messerschmitt Bf.109 G-6 kit. Source: http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=78075. V.P.

Eduard leaflet for May: http://www.eduard.com/store/out/media/distributors/leaflet/leaflet2016-05.pdf change digit in link for older issues

Thanks HKR 👍 Eduard worked in secret on a new kit and tomorrow it will be announced 7PM (Warsaw Time) UPDATE - It'll be a family of 1/48th Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" Source: https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95280&start=33390#p2448351 V.P.

Here is my take on the Bf109E-3 Black '3' of 8./JG 53 "Pik-As", Guernsey, Channel Islands, August 1940: This was my first ever Eduard build, and obviously a great kit. However, I did find the multiple cowling assembly with separate sidewall parts somewhat over-engineered and a bit of a pain getting everything lined up. My previous build was an Airfix Bf109E-4 and tbh, I think that I preferred that one out of the two. Paints used were mainly Vallejo Model Air and Mig Ammo. Varnishes were Pledge and Winsor & Newton Galeria Satin & Matt. Weathering was Mig Ammo panel washes followed by oils and Tamiya weathering powder. Decals were sourced from multiple locations but did not include the Eduard ones as I don't feel confident enough dealing with the carrier film. Thanks for reading and taking the time to look. Comments and critiques will be most welcome.

Hi! Here is my latest built: Tamiya 1/48 ìth P-38F Lightning It's the fourth model for this year, not bad for me.. Eduard Decals, Wheels, Superchargers, Cannons and Flaps. AK Real Color paints

HMS Cornwall ,kit by Trumpeter ,scale 1/350 with 3D parts from Micro master and Black Cat Models ,photo etching from Eduard .I have waterline the hull and reinforced the hull with thick plastic card. Masts replaced with brass ,the kit ones would have been too fragile for all the rigging. The funnels are from Mircomaster and are just superb. Also wooden deck added and the both Walrus are from Black Cat Models. All that's left of the kits mast is the middle part of the mast ,yes I drilled holes for the brass rod to fit into the plastic part this gave it strength.

My dad and I decided to continue with the Luftwaffe MTO scheme and add a 110. Gonna use an Eduard kit with OH models decals, printed by Fantasy Printshop. This scheme is designated and shown sometimes as an E and sometimes as an E-2 (with the elongated tail for the life craft). Found a pic where you can see it has the standard tail. DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Bf.109G Wings Leading Edge Wavy Lines (EX1087) 1:48 Eduard During WWII the camouflage patterns applied to aircraft from any side of the conflict changed from time-to-time, sometimes due to experience, others because of the whim of a higher authority, but none varied as much as the Luftwaffe fighters that were often personalised with mottle, squiggle and various patterns that were as individual as the person applying the paint. Once such commonly seen scheme was leading edge wavy lines that broke up the line of the wing from the front, and depending on how far forward or back it was applied, it might also have a limited effect from above or below, but wouldn’t have been as effective as from the front. In camouflage however, even a fraction of a second’s delay in recognition by an enemy is an opportunity that should be taken. Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the wavy wing leading edges sometimes seen on late war Bf.109Gs, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. There are four lengths of tape with wavy lines, created by cutting a line down the centre of each rectangular mask, one for each wing, although the other sides could also be of use to fill in gaps or to protect the underside colour once painted. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

F-35A Upgrade Set (73852 for Revell) 1:72 Eduard The new Revell F-35A Lightning II was released this year, adding an easily obtainable kit that can be picked up from your local model shop to the list of available kits in this scale. Eduard's new set is here to comprehensively improve on the kit detail in the usual manner, making the task as easy as possible for even relatively inexperienced modellers, and saving it a little time detail-painting the cockpit to a higher standard than most of us could manage. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) sets, it arrives in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Two frets are included, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. For a change the first step has you upgrading the nose gear bay, removing a small area where the angle of the roof changes, then fitting detail parts to the bay side walls without any more surgery needed. After removing and sanding back moulded-in detail, an expansive instrument panel with a choice of active or passive Large Area Data screen are overlaid, adding side consoles that reuse the kit HOTAS levers, and additional wrap-around instrumentation on the sides of the coaming to replace the simplified details lost in preparation of the main panel. The ejection seat has headbox side details with pull-handle fitted, and a full set of four-point seatbelts with a comfort pad under the large quick-release buckle that is also a separate part. The cockpit coaming has a line of three circles fixed to the canopy location point, fitting a pair of fine opening jacks to either side, skins applied to the cockpit sills, and another pair of surfaces to the underside of the canopy that have retaining hooks folded down after installation, showing one magnified for your assistance, with a profile illustrating how they should look from the front. Small areas are removed from the bulkhead behind the pilot so that a skin can be glued over it to add more detail to the open cockpit. In the twin bomb bays, a pair of skins are inserted into the side walls, adding a coloured cover over a moulded-in box, and detailed shackles to the two weapons mounts after removal of the lugs for the kit bombs. The nose gear bay door part is split along the centre, and has a set of hinges installed in the shape of extended bulkheads for strength, filling the recesses in the bay doors before applying them to the new location points, after fitting a detail skin to the inner face. The other half also has a surface skin, plus extra detail parts and hinges installed after filling the recesses and cutting off the protruding rear hinge. The two inner bomb bay doors have a rectangular box folded up and glued to the inner face between two lugs, while the underwing pylons for non-stealth missions are fitted with detail faces on their weapon mounting points, the larger pylons having two parts that include a set of shackles and sway braces, fixing a flat rail to the outer pylons where AIM-9X Sidewinders would normally be sited. The final parts create a detailed area for the crew access ladder, starting with a frame and open door, both with serrated radar-scattering edges, adding two rails to the inside of the open door, folding the extending ladder to shape and bracing it with two other parts to the sides, replacing the kit ladder in its entirety. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

What can i say...... by all accounts this is a fantastic kit, so i am sure there will be loads of the Arma Hurricanes in this GB. A special addition by Eduard including some of their extras. In addition to two Arma Hurricanes i get Eduard Brassin wheels and exhausts. Plus two lots of PE and the masks. Got this for £25, so a bit of a bargin me things. There are 12 marking options, but i am still undecided, so that is tbc. Only planning to build one, but again tbc 🙂 The bits. The decals and extra bits. Looking forward to getting started. Not long now. George

Well, the Sea Fury is rolling along and starts to get ready for primer (more on that in the proper thread), so I thought I could always go back to my original listing: A Spitfire VIII! One can never have too many mk VIII:s. So I pulled out my battered box to have a little rummage in it to see what's left in it. Now, I have built this one: and that one: The box is a dual combo , so there shouldn't be anything left... Somehow It looks like there are 4 sets of Overtrees and Weekend edition sprues in here! I counted out 6 sets of PE as well, and one Brassin engine, a brassin cockpit and some other bits and bobs. One of the extra kits was for sure bought used at a IPMS club meeting where the lovely chap had cut off all parts, cleaned the up and put them back in marked bags. That's the one I'll choose for this endeavour! It'll be a bit like a LEGO set, with the main drawback that I can't really identify the pieces except by basic shape...could be fun! Also, this will be the scheme: Heavy fuel staining? Wheels with sun screen? Azure blue, Dark Earth, Foliage Green, white markings, red spinner...what's not to like? That'll be that engine cowl then but I have some resin ones is box somewhere. Let's go!

In August 2020, Eduard is to release in August 2020 - just in time for the 80th Anniversary of the BoB - a new tool 1/48th Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I limited kit - ref. Source: https://www.eduard.com/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2020/info-eduard-2020-01.pdf V.P.

The P-400 Double build is done and the kits rest in the model cabinet. I've been thinking about the next build for a while, and picked this one as it seemed easy enough, and could serve as a re-mojo project. When I pulled it from the stash I had second thoughts, as I was not sure if I want another profipack with these darn small PE bits. Turns out this is not the case. Making sure it's not too easy - I came across a post by Doogs at DoogsModels. Doogs is one of my favorite modellers and one of the few I follow. Doogs built a Me-262 with bare-meta, factory scheme. I though the He-280 looks a bit boring and I will try to replicate the scheme Doogs built on thi He-280. Check out his post. The part count and detail level are low, but the quality is Eduard. Ran .