This is the final part in the long review of Eduard’s PE for the HK B-17G. We are sincerely and eternally grateful for their support; it’s been a long, rewarding couple of months doing these reviews!

This final set is also a simple one; exterior details that make a noticeable difference in the appearance of the surface sections. Included are oil cooler intake screens, panels, and overwing fuel doors and hinges for the aircraft. Certainly you can modify and open all the refueling doors (remember to keep the cigarettes 50 feet away) to add a lot of life to the model, particularly in a diorama setting.

Small point; the square latch always is toward the tail of the aircraft, in case the door latch failed or was not fully closed. This prevented the door ripping off in the slipstream or allowing a full siphon of fuel from the door in flight.

The history of the Italian Army in World War 2 is an often misunderstood one, colored by many unflattering rumors, generalizations and misconceptions. This latest issue in Osprey’s Warrior Series, “Italian Soldier in North Africa 1941-43”, tries to set the record straight and in doing so, paints a harrowing and desperate account of the hell experienced by the Italian soldier during the North African campaign. Not only did they battle opposing forces, but also their own incompetent command staff. Severe shortages of food, water, equipment and adequate medical care would plague the Italians for the entire campaign.

This set covers what is not included in the bomb bay set: the racks themselves, latches and placards in color etch, bomb carry racks, tail section cover plates for the bombs, fuse propellers (front and back), and some cats and dogs for the lift mechanisms.

This was one of the more difficult sets to review, in that you must remove plastic side rails on the racks without destroying the racks themselves, and then fit the cover sheet metal plates over the bomb release shackles, (which also require modification before the PE will work). It took a while, but I got there, just no magnifiers when viewing, please.

I will be installing the bombs toward the end of the build, but it’s pretty self-evident these parts will make a difference in the appearance of the bombs themselves.

As noted in the other reviews, more high marks for Eduard for this series of PE upgrades; 10 of 10. Thanks again for the review items!