This is the photoetch fret for Eduard's 1/48 SE.5a. It is listed for the Wolseley Viper Version of the kit, but can also be used for the Hispano-Suiza Version of the SE.5a. This is the same photoetch fret included with Eduard's Wolseley Viper, and with the Royal Class edition as R0015-LEPT 1. It can also be purchased separately from either kit. The photoetch fret is not required for completion of the kits, but adds more accurate scale detail than the kit parts.

The steel fret is about 2-3/4 x 2-1/4 inches and includes photoetch pieces for the seatbelts, instrument panel and gauges, machine gun magazine upgrades, several different cockpit levers, brackets for the exhaust pipes, cables and stanchions for the control surfaces, bomb rack, and frames for the wing pulley observation panels.

The one thing that is a visual interest in a cockpit are the seatbelts and shoulder harnesses. Regardless of what type of aircraft the first thing you see when you look inside the cockpit are the seatbelts.

Eduard has been trying to perfect the use of photo etch seatbelts from the very beginning. Their latest efforts are really nice. This fret includes enough seatbelts for FOUR single engine Luftwaffe aircraft. The STEEL seatbelts are very thin and bendable. The fret is .002 thick and realistically pre-painted. The paint is shaded and looks very realistic. I was able to bend them without the paint coming off which can sometimes be an issue with thicker belts.

If there is a downside, it is that the belts are only painted on one side, but depending on how you bend them they won’t be an issue.

Robert Forsyth, born in Berkshire, England, has studied the history and operations of the Luftwaffe since his school days. Based in East Sussex with his wife, he runs an aviation and military publishing business full-time. He has written articles for the magazines Aeroplane, Aviation News, FlyPast, and The Aviation Historian, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the latter publication. He is the author of several hardbound books, including: JV 44 – The Galland Circus (1996), Battle over Bavaria – The B-26 versus the German Jets (Classic, 1998), Mistel – German Composite Aircraft and Operations 1942-1945 (Classic, 2001), Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerikabomber (Classic, 2006, with Eddie Creek); He 162 Volksjäger (Classic, 2009, with Eddie Creek); Heinkel He 111 (Crecy, 2014); Junkers Ju 52 (Specialty Press. 2015, with Eddie Creek).