Eduard F-6D Cockpit (648600 for Eduard) 1:48

[Mike]

F-6D Cockpit (648600 for Eduard)

1:48 Eduard Brassin

 

 

Eduard’s new Reconnaissance Mustang, the F-6D went under the microscope here, and now we have a finely detailed resin cockpit to augment the already impressive detail you’ll find in the kit.  As is now usual with Eduard's larger resin sets, they arrive in the new deep Brassin cardboard box, with the resin parts safely cocooned in bags, a foam sheet in the bottom and the instructions folded around acting as padding.

 

 

Inside the box are forty-three resin parts of various sizes, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) that has been nickel-plated and pre-printed, a sheet of decals and a slip of clear acetate with the gunsight glazing shape printed on.  The instruction booklet tells you in large red letters to check the table of alternative parts before proceeding, as there are five variations possible with the parts provided, depending on which block P-51D airframe your decal choice was based upon.  Get that set in your mind before you continue, perhaps adding notes to the instructions yourself.  It’s also worthy of note that there isn’t a pre-printed PE instrument panel in this set, but there are a host of decals for the instruments and placards, which you apply along the way toward a complete cockpit.

 

 

Construction begins with the necessary removal of kit parts, which is surprisingly simple, although there will be a lot of plastic consigned to the parts bin in their entirety once you are finished.  The cockpit floor gets cut almost in half at the step, and has two raised sections removed from the remaining part, while the fuel tank under the radio needs two small segments removing from the forward part to accommodate the details on the sidewalls later on.  Two tiny pieces are removed from the port sidewall too.  Now the seat is made up using the pre-printed PE 4-point seatbelts, PE support braces, and a choice of three headrests that attach to the seat armour/mount part.  The instrument panel has three main configurations, with five further options for the centre panel, which is where many of the alternate parts come into play.  Once complete and painted, the decals are applied, followed by the various PE “sticky-out” bits that are present.  The new forward floor is highly detailed and is attached to the front of the remaining plastic floor after being fitted out with the control stick, the kit fuel tank, some black-boxes behind the pilot’s seat, and the seat itself.  The radio gear is also installed on a support frame, then fitted to the top of the fuel tank, which has filler and level indicators glued in, with a tiny decal for the dial on the level gauge.  You’ll need to find a short length of 0.2mm wire to link up with the floor-mounted repeated gauge, which also has its own decal.  More wire is routed through the radio pallet, with a concertina tube up each side behind the seat, then it’s on to the sidewalls.

 

The resin sidewall parts are well detailed to begin with, but they are both augmented with resin and PE parts, as well as having their own painting and decaling diagrams to complete the task.  The result will be an exceptionally well-detailed pair of sidewalls, with a choice of variant specific instruments, providing you follow the instructions properly.  The new resin gunsight has its glass replicated by a piece of acetate sheet, with a tiny pre-painted PE instrumentation cluster on the left, and a back-up ring-and-bead sight on the right of the unit.  It fits into the underside of the kit coaming, and is joined by the other kit instruments that are stashed there, then has the new resin rudder pedals inserted into the back of the instrument panel on pegs, with the coaming fitting from above, and the result cross-checked with the side profile diagram supplied.  The cockpit and sidewalls are brought together to create a tub, then the fuselage is closed around them and the coaming, kit deck and a new resin lightened canopy stiffener are added to finish the set off.

 

 

Conclusion

A super-detailed set for a super model of a legend of the skies.  Excellent use of resin to improve a focal point to your model, with a wide choice of options from the various originator types.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of