Eduard Me.262B-1 Update Sets (for Revell 1:32)

[Mike]

Me.262B-1 Update Sets (for Revell)

1:32 Eduard

 

 

Revell's new 1:32 Schwalbe has ticked a lot of boxes for many larger scale modellers, making up for the scarcity of the main competition in the scale recently.  We've got one that we'll be reviewing soon, so keep your eyes peeled, but Eduard have been Johnny-on-the-spot and brought out this spread of sets tailored to the kit to improve the detail over what is included in the box.  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.

 

 

Interior Set (32893)

Two sheets are in the package, one of which is bare brass, the other nickel-plated and printed with cockpit details such as instrument panels, bezels etc.  It includes a new gunsight; rudder pedals, a complete set of new instrument panels laminated from multiple parts; side consoles, knobs, dials and levers; additional seat details and of course the prominent electrics panel in the front cockpit.  In the rear is the big black box between the crew; a detailed rear panel; various small structural parts; the NAXOS radar detector that sits in between the crew, and other canopy details.  You will need to supply a few lengths of rod for the NAXOS antenna from 1.2mm, 2.2mm 3mm round stock, plus a few of other sizes through the build, all of which will likely be to hand if you're prepared.

 

 

 

 

Seatbelt Set (32894)

Hived off to a separate set to utilise their new STEEL technology with wafer thin etching that is pre-painted, and has additional relief hinted at by the addition of shading on the belts to give extra depth to buckles and overlaps.  They are extremely flexible and drape much more realistically than traditional PE, which can be difficult to manipulate.

 

 

 

 

 

Exterior (32395)

This set is bare brass and supplied on a large fret, the contents of which are used all over the airframe.  Starting with the lugs at the tips of the bullet fairings in the engine intakes, it jumps to two panel inserts for the nose gear bay; brackets for the front bulkhead in the gun bay; internal skins for the removable engine cowlings; fine detail upgrades for the gun bay; hinges, teardrop panels and closures for the gun bay doors; end-caps for all the flap segments; replacement slat guides and skins for the slat bays themselves, which requires you first to remove the styrene parts and create a notch for each new part to project from, as detailed in the accompanying diagrams.  The remaining parts include actuator arms for the various trim-points on the flying surfaces; a wrap-around part for the main gear legs, and additional details for the bay doors.

 

 

 

 

 

Masks (JZ196)

Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps 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.

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of