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).

My first introduction to the Spad was a film strip (yes, I am that old) about an air rescue operation in Vietnam. Besides the Jolly Green Giants and the support Hercules there were these large, single engine prop planes loaded with munitions buzzing in to keep the enemy’s heads down. They used the call sign Sandy and from that point on I was hooked.

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 interesting that this panel is slightly different than the one in the Brassin Radio Compartment set. This particular one has the area for the first aid kit. Which isn’t on the Brassin set.

This book traces the early history of Ju-52 combat units and operations. The book is broken up into six chapters.

Chapter one covers the development of Junkers Ju-52 from the lifting of the ban imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on the production of commercial aircraft in 1922. Beginning with the all metal F-13 and moving through the A-20 and on to the G-24 leading up to project “EF 30”. This was essentially a single engine Ju-52 and eventually progressing to the now familiar three engine design. There is a brief discussion of their use by Bolivia in the war with Paraguay that was very interesting. Discussion is also present on the civilian use of the Ju-52 noting that by March 31,1936 839 Ju-52s had been built and orders came from all over Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa for this sturdy airliner.