Initial Impressions

With the popularity of the MENG F-102 kit, it was a given that a 106 would be coming down the pike soon. When it was announced, there was a lot of fanfare and anticipation in the new offering. Being a fan of the century series, it was also natural that I would pick one up to see what it offered. The 102 was far from a “perfect” build for me and I was hoping that MENG learned their lessons from the past and integrated improvements into the “six”.

Upon inspecting the sprues I found a lot of improvements over the previous 102 offering. Cockpits had a much greater detail (molded in seatbelts, etc.) as well as parts to build both types of panel and ejection seats. A PE fret was added with some detail items, and a crew ladder. The radome was now an option, as the radar and front maintenance panels could be displayed open, providing a great static display. These items were well-cast with little flash.

Eduard continues its recent trend of providing realistic seat belts for a wide variety of aircraft. This set is advertised as providing seat belts for Imperial Japanese Army Air Force aircraft from World War II and boy does it!

The set provides two types of seat belts for Nakajima aircraft, one leather and the other cloth, and a different type for Kawaski aircraft. There enough sets to make 9 sets of Kawaski belts, 9 sets of leather Nakajima belts and 13 sets of cloth Nakajima belts! The belts are in full color and assembly is easy as all you have to do is glue the part representing the leather back pad behind the buckle on the left belt and then you are ready to install the belts.

Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Eduard’s STEEL Belt line for the new 1/32 Revell Me262B-1 kit. I waited and waited for the new 1/32 Revell Me262B-1 to be released in the States and that day has not come yet so I bought one from Germany. One of the first things to notice with this product is the excellent presentation of the packaging with the sealed flap on the back of package to allow for easy access to parts.

Upon removal of the photoetch from the package you will notice the great level of detail on the pre-painted belts which include a little bit of weathering. These belts are only 0.04 mm thick and are very easy to position on the seat and they hold their shape well.

You can apply these to the seats using a spot of superglue and you will have a great representation of the Me262 belts and harnesses.