A3D-2 Interior Self Adhesive Photoetch

Published on
June 2, 2014
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$33.00
Product / Stock #
49665
Base Kit
Trumpeter
Company: Eduard - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Eduard - Website: Visit Site
SA photoetch

Many of the latest releases seem to have been ignored by many of the resin companies. One of these is the Trumpeter 1/48 A-3D Skywarrior. Eduard has come to the rescue with several sets that address some detail issues in the kit. This set is a self-adhesive (SA) upgrade for the cockpit. The set comes with one standard sheet of photoetch and one precolored sheet with SA backing. The SA sheet is for the instrument panel, side instruments and about anywhere a black panel is needed. The other sheet addresses replacement boxes on the back of the cockpit, sidewalls to the cockpit and rudder pedals.

Installations are pretty straightforward. There are a couple places where you need to sand smooth. The primary one is the cockpit instrument panel, which shows instruments from one side to the other. This is incorrect in that the right side is blank. Sand it smooth and the precolored parts really jazz it up. I flat coated these and added Kristal Klear to the instrument faces to replicate glass. It looks even better than my pictures show.

The remainder of the cockpit is replaced, such as the boxes in the back, the side instrument panels, the rudder pedals and the faces to the main boxes in the back. The detail is all you could want and the fit is great. There are also photoetch handles for the appropriate boxes also.

Lastly, the sidewalls have beautiful inserts that replicate the matting in them and have all the added boxes needed. This is a big deficiency in the kit as the sidewalls are bare. I this part last after the cockpit was together so I could get placement correct prior to committing to glue. One other note, the glue on the SA parts is good but to make sure, I still used CA to make sure they never come loose.

I painted, washed and dry brushed the parts and you can see the results. I also added the seats in a couple shots for reference. I think it looks very good and will show nicely under that large glass canopy. This is the only game in town- highly recommended to all "whale" fans.

My thanks to Eduard and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.

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