Brassin F4U-1 Corsair Cockpit Set. 1:32

[Shar2]

F4U-1Corsair Cockpit Set
Brassin 1:32

Cockpit Set (632039)
Having reviewed a fair number of add-on sets from Eduard for he Tamiya 1:32 Corsair I thought they had done everything possible, but it turned out I was wrong, especially when this set arrived from them. The set is packaged in a pretty sturdy top opening cardboard box, inside of which are an amazing number of parts, including both resin and etched brass, surrounded by foam padding for complete protection. The larger than normal instruction sheet provides some of the clearest diagrams I’ve seen from Eduard/Brassin which will help greatly in getting the most out of this set.

There are forty seven resin parts in a mixture of medium and dark greys, plus two clear resin parts, a sheet of pre-painted etched brass. The detail on the resin parts is nice and sharp, with good depth, although some parts have small sections of flash which need to be removed on top of the removal from the casting blocks. The cockpit is literally a tub made up of the front and rear bulkheads, what would be the fuselage side walls and the lower fuselage interior, which has the lower windows in the need of flash removal. The kits interior rib detail needs to be completely removed to allow the fitment of the tub, which shouldn’t take too long with a nice sharp curved blade and some sanding sponges. The moulded detail on the bulkheads and inner fuselage parts needs to be seen to be believed, add to this all the smaller sundry parts and you will have a truly amazing cockpit. Yet the modeller will still need to add their own small wire parts for which the dimensions and shape are provided in the instructions. When it comes to the instrument panel, Eduard have included both a full resin item as well as one that is made up of an etched sandwich, between which a decal is attached, whichever takes you fancy. Presonally I would use the etched one, but fit it out with Airscale decal instruments and some Clear Glaze.

The resin is further enhanced with the addition of the two etched brass sheets, one of which contains the pre-painted seat belts which are quite complex, but with care and attention will build into a pretty amazing representation of the real things. Also included on the etched sheet are a number of levers, but the majority of these are taken from the kit, as even Eduard appear to realise they couldn’t improve on them.

Conclusion
The Tamiya F-4U Corsair is already an outstanding kit with very few problems or vices that haven’t already been fixed by other aftermarket companies. The kit already has a very nicely detailed cockpit so I do wonder whether this set will sell that well, but I’d imagine Eduard have thought of that. The level of detail and the superb moulding is really quite amazing, and with some careful painting and weathering it will look amazing. So, if you absolutely have to have every aftermarket release for your build then you will need this one. Highly recommended

Review samples courtesy of