Eduard

1/48 Airacobra Mk.I Self Adhesive Color Photo Etch Set For the Hasegawa kit

Stock Number: #49435

Reviewed By  Jason Cameron, IPMS #29007

MSRP: $24.95 Website: www.eduard.cz Direct link to product: (instructions available in .pdf format) The P-400 Airacobra was the export version of the US P-39 fighter. While not the modern air-air fighter envisioned by its designers, the P-39 was an excellent ground support aircraft. The P-39 is somewhat unique in that it used automobile-type swinging cockpit doors. For us modelers, this means an unprecedented view of the cockpit and two doors full of details to display. There's no way this cockpit is going to be built closed! I have been wanting to build this plane for a number of years so when the opportunity came up to review the new Eduard Color PE set for the 1/48 Hasegawa kit, I jumped. The set consists of two frets, one for the cockpit in full color and one for various fuselage details (not colored and without adhesive). Assembly and installation of the PE parts were a joy. Some parts required folding and a minimum of cutting, trimming, and modifications to the kit parts were required. You might use a PE folding tool but it is not really necessary as the PE parts use fold lines anyways. Fit was top notch as well with no issues found. Some of the parts for the front landing gear struts needed some reinforcement using super glue but overall, adding the PE parts was a simple and very enjoyable task. Noteworthy were the leading edge vent screens, the door stencil sets, and the gun sight which uses a tiny (1mm x 1mm) acetate square as the sight glass. I managed to spend about 12 hours installing the various PE parts using super glue, white glue, and occasionally Future floor polish. The detail kit includes a full cockpit dash and details for the floor, mirrors, and rear cockpit area, a complete seat assembly, all sorts of knobs and handles for virtually everything present in the real cockpit, placards for the doors (very convincing), PE details for the front landing gear bay and strut, and even door handles and knobs. What really is exciting about this detail kit is the incredible effect of the pre-colored cockpit "dashboard". My pictures do not do justice. For this model, I am very proud of my cockpit knowing that, no matter how close one looked, a person would be impressed with the fit and details of every gauge, indicator, control, and knob. While working on the cockpit, I found myself enjoying the work while feeling extremely happy with the results. This kit really enhanced my confidence level as a modeler. For that alone, I would highly recommend this detail set to most modelers. As with all Eduard products, this kit comes with rather simplified instructions. It's a little funny that they make arguably the best lineup of detail products out there while having very basic instructions. Will it stop me from buying their products? No. But be prepared to have a book or two of reference materials standing by. As it was, I had about 25% of the smaller parts left over. They were either too small or too out of sight to install. I few words about the adhesive-backed pre-colored frets; I could not really detect any adhesive…I did see the waxed paper packing. Think of the adhesive on a Post-it pad as similar. I found that having this adhesive did not alter my building plans or changed my approach of using PE. I did find the adhesive useful in placing the parts in position and maneuvering them around…however, I wasn't about to trust anything less than super glue or Future for my permanent attachment choice. For the larger parts, the Eduard glue might work but for smaller items, there just isn't enough surface area for the adhesive to work. I didn't see the adhesive as something that was particularly desirable or something that hindered my building of this kit in any way. It will not influence future purchases of their products one way or another. Overall, this was wonderful detail set that has really made the nice Hasegawa kit into one of my most prized models. It is the first model I show guests and it always seems to impress others with the level of detail in the cockpit area. Assembling this detail set was easy and it really enhanced the model. I would recommend this set to anyone familiar with using PE materials as an introduction to PE detail sets or someone who wants a quick easy way to really make the Airacobra one of their favorite models. A very big thank you belongs to Eduard for making this detail set and making it available to IPMS for review.