Eduard Tomahawk Mk.II Update Sets (For Airfix A05133) 1:48

[Mike]

Tomahawk Mk.II Update Sets (For Airfix A05133)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

It's a reboxing of the 2016 P-40B kit with British decals and name, but the same plastic in the box.  Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner, much of which will be identical to their previous P-40B sets.  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.

 

 

Detail Set (49875)

Two frets are included, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass.  A complete set of new layered instrument panels that fit over the existing panel and sidewall details, are the primary parts on the painted set, with new seat in scale-representative PE; radio hatch interior detail; six mesh inserts for the intakes in the nose;  cooling doors to the aft of the chin scoop; gear bay inserts; gear bay covers and brake hose parts as well as tie-down points for main and tail; access panels; ring & bead sights on the nose, and rudder actuator are also supplied.

 

 

 

Zoom! Set (FE875)

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 above.  Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements.

 

 

 

 

Seatbelts STEEL (FE874)

In case you don't already know, 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. 

 

 

 

landing flaps (48941)

Eduard landing flaps use an ingenious technique to achieve excellent true-to-scale flaps using few parts, and requiring the modeller to simply remove the retracted flaps from the lower wing, plus scrape the upper wings to accommodate the thickness of the completed bays.  The two flap sections (bay and flap itself) are constructed in the same manner, by twisting and folding over the attached ribs to create a 3D shape, with extra parts added along the way.  The bays glue to the inside of the upper wing with the flap attached to the rear wall of the new bay via a fold.  Repeat this for the other side, and you're almost done.  The bays have a rod running along the bay, which is 0.5mm thick and isn't included in the set, so you'll need to make sure you have some in stock, and a set of jacks are fitted later to obtain the correct angle once deployed.  A small cover panel fits toward the middle, which is folded gently twice to match the profile of the bay ribs before it is installed.

 

 

I've built a set of these for the previous P-40B boxing, and you can see how they look below.

 

 

 

 

Masks (EX570)

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 tail wheel, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort.

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of