Eduard Yak-9T Upgrade Sets (for ICM) 1:32

[Mike]

Yak-9T Upgrade Sets (for ICM)

1:32 Eduard

 

 

We reviewed the new large-scale ICM Yak-9T in July of this year, which you can see here.  It’s a lovely piece of plastic engineering and has a good-looking instrument panel, but you can always improve on unpainted styrene.  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 3D printed SPACE 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.

 

 

SPACE 3D Printed Cockpit Decals (3DL32008)

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.

 

 

This is the first set of this kind I’ve seen in 1:32, and it looks GOOD.  The Photo-Etch (PE) sheet contains a full set of pre-painted seatbelts and a mass of levers and toggles that are applied to the instrument panel and side consoles.  The decal sheet doesn’t have a high part count, but it’s a single seat fighter, so that’s not surprising.  The most impressive decal is the instrument panel, which has relief all over its surface, and a handful of crisp dials with glossy surfaces imitating the glass lenses.  A peculiar little gaggle of instruments are glued on a raised portion in the top left of the panel, and I want to say it’s the oxygen system due to the blue dial.  Some of the levers and toggles are applied to the panel, and you will of course have to remove the kit’s moulded-in detail before applying the decals.  The narrow side consoles are also relieved of their details before applying the replacement decal that will conform to the shape of the panel, and once the glue has set, both sides are festooned with levers, a couple of regulators get tops and toggle switches are inserted into the decals.  The kit’s trim-wheel is retained and projects through a slot in the console.  In addition, a pair of raised panels are attached to the vertical surfaces, then at the rear on the “parcel shelf” an instrument box (looks like the radio) is given a nicely painted surface with horrible yellow and grey shades – ick!  The final two parts are a pair of replacement fuel gauges that are recessed into the wing in view of the pilot, with a lovely glossy surface.

 

P.S. I’ve just noticed that the 3D printed decal sheet has 1:72 printed on it as the scale.  The joys of copy & paste in our digital age, eh?  I can assure you however, than the instrument panel decal is almost as large as a wing in 1:72, so there’s no doubt this is 1:32, just ignore the typo.

 

 

 

Masks (JX293)

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, plus a couple of masks for the wing-mounted fuel gauges.

 

 

 

 

Masks Tface (JX294)

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. 

 

 

 

Conclusion

With the cockpit glazing beautifully clear thanks to the masks, the rest of the cockpit really cries out for some super-realistic decals for the instruments and so forth.  It would be churlish not to

 

Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of