Eduard’s A3D-2 Exterior Set, number 48793, address some of the shortcomings of the Trumpeter 1/48 scale A-3D kit with additions to the slats on the outer wing, the tail hook area, the crew door, and the speed brakes. There are also additions to the windshield wiper and the back of the engine pylons.

The speed brakes in the kit are nice; however, they lack surface detail, such as rivets and boxes. Eduard corrects this by adding five panels to the interior of the speed brake that have superb relief-etched rivets and lines. These panels require a couple of small bumps to be removed and then glued back into place. The speed brake housing gets a similar treatment with two parts each. One requires some bending, and the easiest way to start the bend is to use the kit’s plastic part as a form.

The underside of the plane is addresses by the addition of relief-etched parts to the tail hook housing and the wheel housing at the rear. The tail hook itself gets a plate and added tie down. These parts are all direct additions with no bending required and add excellent detail to the area. Lastly, the crew door gets a nice photoetch piece that surrounds the door (better than the kit part) along with a photoetched hinge used to position the door in the open position, if you so choose.

The real stars of this set are the additions to the leading edge slats on the inner wings (inside the folds). There are four in total, two on each wing. Eduard includes large pieces with relief etching that are bent around the slat slots on the wing. Take your time here, as the fit is tight. I bent the leading edges with a bending set and then slid them into place. They still took a little coercion, but they fit well. You then have to bend six slat retractors per wing. Note that these are all different sizes, so keep them in order. These get bent once to build up thickness and then oval rings bend down on the outside. A small flat plate is then glued to the bottom. There are extras provided of the plate, thankfully. These are then glued to the kit slats. The fit is perfect, and they look spectacular when in place. They will look even better in insignia red when offset by the gull gray. Note that the outer slat on the folded section is not included in this set. If you look at pictures of Skywarriors, this slat does not extend when the wing is folded, so the out wing slat can be glued closed.

The remaining additions are the backs to the wing pylons and a pilot’s windshield wiper.

This is a great little set and will add more detail to the Trumpeter kit than can be provided by the kit’s parts. The photoetch parts added are visible, have enhanced detail, and fit well. For those reasons, this set is highly recommended.

My thanks to Eduard and IPMS/USA for the chance to use this set to make my “whale” better looking.