Eduard A-1H Update Sets (for Tamiya) 1:48

[Mike]

A-1H Update Sets (for Tamiya)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

The Tamiya kit of this monstrous single-engined ground-attack aircraft has been around for many years, and is still the one to get in this scale despite its age, with a number of re-releases over the years.  Every styrene kit can benefit from a little bit of extra detail from other methods of production such as resin, PE and 3D Printed parts.  Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner.  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.  The wheel set arrives in the new shallow Brassin cardboard box, with the resin parts safely cocooned in bags, and the instructions folded around acting as padding.

 

 

Upgrade Set (491283)

Two frets are included, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other bare brass.  A complete set of new layered instrument panels, sidewalls and side consoles with added levers for the cockpit and the extensive instrument panel are in full colour, with a floor skin; rudder pedals; additional instrument boxes and various other small parts are also supplied.

 

 

Externally, a chunk beneath the front of the cockpit is removed from the fuselage halves and from the rear of the intake as well as the cooling flap under the nose, adding a grille to the inside of the intake, and a replacement flap to the rear, using a piece of 0.6mm styrene rod from your own stock as the actuator.  The gear bays are upgraded with skins to the bland sections, adding hinges to the bay doors and upgrading the landing gear by removing a chunky section from the actuator and replacing it with more delicate, accurate parts.  The tail wheel is also similarly upgraded with more delicate parts, again using PE and 0.5mm rod to augment it.  Inside the intake under the front of the wing, a folded tapered box with circular grille on the front is inserted after removing a small portion of a splitter so it will fit square.  The engine also gets some love too, with three sections of the wiring harness, the location of the spark plugs shown on a scrap diagram.  A rear-view mirror and grab-handles to open the canopy are fixed to the clear parts, and under the trailing edge of the wings are two chaff and flare dispensers.  The last parts are used to improve detail on any empty pylons under the wings, adding skins to the mating surface, straps on the bombs with 0.25mm rod struts from your own styrene stocks, and the fusing spinners on the front of the bombs.

 

 

 

Zoom! Set (FE1283)

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.

 

 

 

SPACE 3D Printed Cockpit Decals (3DL48071)

The Eduard SPACE sets use new 3D printing techniques that lay down successive layers of different colour resin, creating highly realistic almost full complete panels that are supplied on a decal sheet.  They can depict metallic shades, plus glossy, satin and matt colours too, which really ups the detail on everything they print.  In addition, a small sheet of nickel-plated and pre-painted PE is included for the aspects of the set that lend themselves better to this medium, such as seatbelts and rudder pedals.

 

 

After removing the moulded-in detail, the decals replace the details on the side of the cockpit walls; the instrument panel; side consoles, and sidewalls of the consoles.  The PE replaces the rudder pedals; the intake grille; a full set of pre-painted seatbelts for the pilot; rear-view mirror and grab-handles to open the canopy; levers on the side consoles, and two palettes of countermeasures under the rear fuselage.

 

 

 

Seatbelts STEEL (FE1284)

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.  The set includes the four-point crew belts, with separate comfort pad under the lap buckle.

 

 

 

 

Wheels (648760)

Kit wheels are generally in two halves, which means you have the resultant joins to deal with, possible mould-slip issues on single part wheels, and sometimes less than stellar detail due to the moulding limitations of styrene injection technology, especially in the tread department.  That's where replacement resin wheels come in, with their lack of seamline and superior detail making a compelling argument.  They are also usually available at a reasonable price, and can be an easy introduction to aftermarket and resin handling, as they are usually a drop-in replacement.

 

This set includes two main wheels with beautiful brake and surface detail, the tiny cylindrical tail-wheel, plus a directly 3D Printed tail-wheel strut with the finest detail.  The printing plinth is joined to the part by delicate tendrils ‘fingers’ that you will need to cut off to free the part, then sand back the little ‘pips’ on the surface that are left, which shouldn’t take very long at all.

 

 

 

 

Masks (EX131)

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 all the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort.

 

 

 

 

Masks Tface (EX867)

Supplied on a larger sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the interior of the glazing so that you can paint the interior and give your model that extra bit of realism. 

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of