AIM-9G/H Sidewinder

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

The AIM-9 Sidewinder has been a mainstay of the US Air-to-Air arsenal since the 1950s. The AIM-9G/H was used extensively in the Vietnam War by US Navy. Most of the Navy kills during the war were with the AIM-9G. The later AIM-9H was a navalized version of the AIM-9G and had the highest kill ratio of the Vietnam War. The difference between the two missiles were all internal with the H having solid state electronics. The AIM-9H missiles were used well into the 1970s when they were superseded by the AIM-9L.

Eduard allows you to build this historically important missile using the latest technology in their Brassin range. Packaged in a plastic blister pack, you get 32 resin parts, including four clear resin warheads. The resin is light grey and perfectly formed with no imperfections… more

Seatbelts Luftwaffe WWII Fighters STEEL

Published: June 24, 2017
Company: Eduard

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… more

Bf-109G-2 Upgrade Set

Published: June 19, 2017
Company: Eduard

Some things are just better in a scale thickness. Eduard has always provided some of the world leading photoetch. The Eduard 109s are some of the best kits out there of this iconic aircraft, but like other manufacturers, they are limited what they can do in plastic.

This fret of photo etch is designed to allow you to do a variety of options to improve your kit. The big things on the fret are the flaps and landing gear doors. Also included on the fret are the oil cooler exhaust, radio compartment, and lots of parts for the landing gear. Both the flaps and the landing gear doors are a very scaled thickness. The flaps will allow you to position your flaps in any position you so desire.

The radio compartment is a very nice addition if you want to open up the panel. It is… more

Bf-109G-6 Erla

Published: June 13, 2017
Company: Eduard

The weekend edition of Eduard’s Bf-109s are for those that don’t want to spend a bunch on their kits. Eduard has started to include markings for two aircraft per weekend edition. This particular release covers the Bf-109G-6 manufactured by Erla. The two aircraft are flown by Hptm. Heinrich Ehrler or Hptm. Gerhard Barkhorn. Erla G-6 are unique in a few ways. The first is that they typically had the extra bulge on the right engine cowling, typical of the G-5 or G-14 variants. Another difference is the ‘sawtooth’ camouflage pattern on the wings.

The box is smaller than the normal box, but that is because you get less stuff. The Weekend Editions don’t have the photo etch and masks that are included in the Profipack. This isn’t an issue as they are available separately if you want… more

Bf-109G-2-PE set

Published: June 13, 2017
Company: Eduard

The Weekend Editions and the Overtree editions of Eduard’s kits are really good value for the money. One thing that I’d like to add to mine is the photo etch instrument panel and some other bits and bobs. Lucky for me Eduard answers those prayers, sort of.

If you’ve never heard of the LEPT sets they are smaller pre-painted photo etch frets and have what I think are the ‘essential’ photo etch items. They are only available through the Eduard website. The reason I said sort of earlier is that these sets are typically only available for a limited time to accompany the Overtree kits when they are released. After that you have to buy the complete PE set for the kit, which while having more items, may contain things that you may not want to use. Then of course you may want to, but… more

Bf-109G Control Surfaces

Published: June 9, 2017
Company: Eduard

Packaged in the typical Brassin blister pack are seven pieces of perfect light grey resin and a single fret of photo etch.Instructions are included that show all the parts and how they are to be added.

The rudder, elevators, and ailerons with their mass weights are the resin pieces. The flight controls feature some stitching detail that is nicely done.

The modeler has to add the photo etch trim tabs to the control surfaces. Interestingly, the rudder and elevators have the trim tabs molded on so if you decide not to use the molded on trim tabs you have to remove them. The instructions are pretty straight-forward. The control surfaces are direct replacements for the kit parts.

If you want to articulate the surfaces, like I wanted to do, you will have to remove the… more

Bf-109G-2 Overtree

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

The Overtree versions of the Eduard kits is the release with no frills. No instructions, no decals, no masks, no photo etch, no nothin. That doesn’t mean that it is a bad thing. You get a kit for a very reasonable price and it can be built out of the box quite nicely.

If you are like me, you have plenty of decals in your stash. Plus, you can add those other things should you want to by buying them separately. Personally, I like the pre-painted photo etch parts and the canopy masks. So I picked up the LEPT (limited edition photo etch) which has the key photo etch parts to complete the cockpit, namely the instrument panel and seat belts. The canopy masks are essential for me because I’m lazy and hate masking canopies. I also had the G-2 Upgrade Photo Etch set available so I used… more

Bf-109G Undercarriage Legs BRONZE

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

The sit of the Bf-109 places a lot of stress on the landing gear legs on the real airplane.

Eduard has released a set of brass landing gear in their Brassin range of aftermarket items. This simple set is packaged in a blister pack with foam protecting the four parts inside. There are two brass landing gear legs and two resin gear covers.

The brass legs are perfectly formed with just a little pour nub on the top of the strut that will need to be sanded down ever so slightly. The rest is beautiful detail. The purist of 109 freaks will say that this is only the earliest style of 109 landing gear strut, used on the F and Gs, or the Gustav up to the early versions of the G-6. If you are that much of a stickler for landing gear struts more power to you. You can use this set… more

Bf-109G-2 Canopy Masks

Published: November 12, 2020
Company: Eduard

If there is one thing I hate about modeling aircraft it is masking canopies. To me it is just a chore. I can mask an entire model multiple times but something as mundane as a canopy is a pain and time-consuming. That is why I really enjoy Eduard’s canopy masks.

Printed on Kabuki tape, similar to Tamiya tape, these masks are precisely cut for the Eduard Bf-109G-2 kit. They should fit the G-5/6 as well. The thing about these masks that is different from other masks is that the aft canopy has the internal framework. Eduard gives you both the interior and exterior framework for the aft canopy. The other canopy parts are just the outside. The single page of instructions shows you which masks goes where.

Everything fit perfectly which is what you would expect from a… more

Bf-109G-2 Wheels

Published: June 9, 2017
Company: Eduard

All the way from the Emil to the early versions of the Gustav, Bf-109 wheel hubs had support spokes in the hub. These are very deep and are very difficult to replicate in plastic form. Eduard has done a superb job of capturing this feature in their Brassin line.

Contained in a plastic blister pack are two main wheels of the proper size, 660 x 160, the tail wheel strut, and two spoke assemblies which are protected by foam backing. Also included in the kit are a set of masks to use on all the tires. The instructions are easy enough to use and show the proper orientation of the finished tire.

The main wheels are easily removed from the casting block. The small spoke assemblies are the most difficult parts to remove from their pour blocks. I used a very thin razor saw with… more