Eduard has graciously provided the IPMS Reviewer Corps with their new Limited Edition dual combo kit: Wilde Sau, Episode Three: Until the Fall of the Empire. Featuring the Fw 190A-8 and Fw 190D-9 kits in 1/48th scale.

In the Box

This is a typical Eduard top-open box with beautiful artwork. Inside are parts for a Fw 190A-8 and a Fw 190D-9 WWII German airplane. Also included are photo-etched frets for each plane, along with two sets of resin wheels and masking sets for the wheels and canopies.

The instruction booklet has 32 pages with easy-to-follow steps and well-detailed illustrations.

Decals are on one large sheet for both planes, along with a separate stencil decal sheet for each plane. Decals are the kind where you can lift off the carrier film after letting it dry overnight.

The provided decal markings are as follows:

Jaws is one of the most iconic movies ever and started the summer blockbuster trend. I remember watching it in the theater with my mom 50 years ago. Besides the actors and Bruce the shark, one of the iconic things in the movie is the Orca, Quint’s boat. There were actually two of these. The first was an actual functioning boat bought by production designer Joe Alves and was a lobster boat called the Warlock. It was heavily modified and painted to become the Orca. The second Orca was a sinking version used for the final scene in the movie. Enough history, Agora Models has issued a 1/16^th scale version of the Orca as a 50^th anniversary version. Agora uses a business model where you can buy the entire kit, a Collectors Edition which comes with extras or you can buy them monthly over 1 or 2 years period.

SAC duplicates the Revell cast gear with one exception in this set. The tail wheel fork in the kit comes in halves and SAC has cast it as a single unit. You will need the wheels from the kit for both the main and the tail gear. The main gear legs are cast in halves.

The advantage seems to be not having to fill the sink marks on the injection molded parts. The main gear legs are missing some bracing you will need to add for accurate gear.

My impression of this set is it could be a challenge to use. The main gear has long straight parts and three cross braces that must align to assemble them.

Given the softness of the metal SAC uses, you’re going to spend some time getting it all lined up.

Also in the set are a replacement bulkhead for the tailwheel to mount on, fenders for the main wheels and a replacement for the radio antenna.