Eduard ""Brassin""

1/48 F-22A Seat and Wheels For the kit-Academy F-22

Stock Number: F-22A Ejection Seat 648002 Stock Number: F-22A Wheels 648003

Reviewed By  Dave Morrissette, IPMS# 33653

MSRP: F-22A Ejection Seat $12.95 MSRP: F-22A Wheels $9.95 Website: www.eduard.cz Eduard has entered the resin aftermarket race, and if the first results are any indication, they are going to be most welcome. The first two entries are for Academy's 1/48th scale F-22 and include a replacement seat and wheels for the kit. The seat is a masterpiece of 3 resin parts AND a colored PE set that enhances the seat. The resin is cast perfectly, is well detailed, and is not brittle. It reminds me of the early Meteor production sets. The great thing- the photoetch set contains about 30 parts that are designed to be used with this resin, and they FIT. No troubling tweaking like the old days when you mixed one company's photoetch and another's resin. Instructions are good but it would be nice to have a little better detail- some of the add on parts are less than 1mm in size. The seat also comes with the back ejection rail and the build is smooth. There are some PE bends that need to be done, but these are minimal. The seat belts comprise many of the photoetch parts. These take patience to get done, but look great in the end. A remove before flight tag is also included. The color really dresses up a seat which by its' nature is black and pretty much nothing else.

The replacement wheels are a simple drop in set with superb casting and detail- much better than the kits. You remove the casting gate and attach, and you're done. A very nice touch is the inclusion of the chocks (already cast in yellow) with instructions on line lengths so that a quick diorama is easy to do. Am I excited by Eduard's venture into the resin arena- absolutely? Can never have enough aftermarket. The quality is superb and their ability to blend it with the best photoetch in the world is exciting. Both of these sets are highly recommended and I can't wait to see what the future brings! My thanks to Eduard for the review sets.