Eduard Brassin B-17F/G Engines (for Monogram 1:48)

[Mike]

B-17F/G Engines (for Monogram)
1:48 Eduard Brassin

The old Monogram kit is of the B-17 is the only game in town if you're building in 1:48, and hails from an era where Monogram were churning out big bombers in this scale like they were going out of fashion. Alas, no longer and as such this kit is getting on a bit, but still a worthy purchase, although it does need some extra detail to bring it up to modern standards. This new set from Eduard's Brassin provides some of that, replacing the rather simplified kit engines with superb and super-detailed resin and Photo-Etch (PE) alternatives.

In the long card box are four bags of resin and a bag of PE, with five sheets of PE plus a tiny sheet of decals. Each engine consists of a cylinder block, 18 resin push-rods, a PE front and back ring (you'll need to roll out the forward ring), then attach it and the kit's nacelle stub. You then place the cowling over the engine, assuming you're going to have the engines covered up of course. Detail is spectacular, with full ribbing inside the cowlings, the collector ring on the engine, and interior detail on the cowl-flaps. Scrap diagrams show the correct orientation of the cowlings, engine, and give colour call-outs for the whole engine assembly, which uses a surprisingly large number of colours, so will be fun to paint. The push-rods are separate resin parts, and you have only three spares, so be careful where you ping them while removing them from the pouring block.

The bell-housing, prop governor and sump and parts of the engine fit at the front in keyed slots, and have additional fine PE parts to integrate them into the assembly. The bell-housing and front oil sump both have data plates attached to them, which are represented by decals from the small sheet.

Conclusion
A LOT of detail has been packed into this set, and that is reflected both in weight of the box, and the price. What you get makes it good value, and if you're looking for the ultimate in engine detail you have found it.

Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of