This resin and PE set includes the major cockpit interior, side panels, rear cockpit deck, 2 forward instrument panel covers for mounting the gunsight, rear headrest, two piece instrument panels, and a control stick. The PE sheet provides painted instrument panels, seat belts, rudder pedals, and misc. parts. Clear film for the gunsight is also included. Instructions are complete and highly detailed, providing location and color information. This has more detail than the one provided in the kit, and makes a useful addition to this kit. Some trimming inside the fuselage is required, but this is clearly explained in the instructions. Recommended.

My thanks go to Eduard for the chance to review this wonderful set.

History

The Focke Wulf FW-190 series of fighters served as one of the two major single engine fighters used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Introduced after the Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter, the FW-190A powered by a radial engine was in many ways a better fighter, although it was inferior in performance to the Messerschmitt at high altitudes, a disadvantage solved by the introduction of the Jumo powered FW-190D later in the war. The radial engine FW-190 became standard not only in fighter units, but also in close support units, especially on the Eastern Front. It was more heavily armed and armored, and its wide track undercarriage made it easier to fly, cutting the accident rate dramatically, compared to the Bf-109.

A word of caution up front, if you read my previous review on the 1/72 scale AIM-4D release by Eduard, this is going to seem very familiar. If you missed this review, then please enjoy what follows.

Hauler is an accessory company based in the Czech Republic that produces high quality photo-etched sets for AFVs, airplanes, cars, railway vehicles, and resin accessories for dioramas and resin kits.

The product I will be reviewing for you guys is the “Warsaw weapons”. For those of you who don’t know about the Warsaw pact, it was a Defense treaty and Mutual assistance regime created by the Soviet Union and 7 other nations that spanned close to 50 years. So as you would expect this photoetched set contains soviet era weaponry.

Academy has rereleased the Accurate Miniatures 1/48th scale B-25B in Doolittle Raid markings and it is a welcome sight as this kit was getting rarer as the days passed. Inside the box, you get all the plastic parts associated with the initial release as well as a decal sheet covering all 16 planes. The parts are well molded and even 12-15 years later, they are flash free and excellent. The clear parts are superb also.

I will forgo the history as most are well aware of the raid by Lt. Col. Doolittle and his pilots and there are many excellent references and even some fun movies referring to the raid. I have wanted to build this kit for a while ever since trading it off to a friend a while back and jumped at the opportunity to build it.