Eduard has released another fine quality detail set for the HK Models B-17G. This set includes all four engines (which are available individually), their cowlings (both enclosed and open), and exhaust tubes. The engine sets are numbered from one thru four, with number one being the outboard left engine, number two the inboard left engine, number three the inboard right engine and number four the outboard right engine.

The number one and four engine assemblies are mirror images of each other, with the only difference being the exhaust discharge is either on the left or right side. Number two and three are twins; their exhaust is on the bottom. The assemblies come individually wrapped and are well protected with bubble wrap. You must keep track of all the parts, and which engine they belong to. I scribed numbers in the back of the castings to help me in this endeavor.

A word of caution is needed prior to cleanup and assembly. DO NOT take too much off of the large carrier stub on the back of part R19, the engine cylinder casting, which is the same part number for all engines, and parts R22, R23, R25 and R28, the engine exhausts. It is better to leave more now, and then trim carrier stubs later when you fit them to the model. I’ll discuss this issue in more detail below, but I learned this lesson the hard way and have no idea how to remedy this problem.

There is a large amount of cleanup with all the resin castings. This took about 50% of my time, with the other 50% spent in painting and assembly. I have a large 4” belt sander that makes this chore a lot easier. After the resin was all cleaned up, I washed everything in soap and water and let it all air dry overnight.

I prepainted the parts using the colors called out by Eduard. I used Model Masters and Alclad II paints for this purpose, and used oil washes for weathering.

Assembly is pretty straight forward. Some of the part locations are a little vague but most can be figured out by the instructions and studying the assemblies.

You will have to destroy the existing engine mounts on the kit in order for your new engines to attach. I used a dremel grinding bit to take care of this step. You don’t have to be too neat as long as it is smooth and flat.

I built everything in accordance to what the instructions called for, and mounted the engines in their proper place. I slid the one piece engine cowlings on, which by the way fit very nicely. Friction will hold them on so no glue was required. I placed the propeller on the shaft. And guess what? The propellers butt up against the cowlings. The engines sit too far back. I don’t know how I could fix the problem without tearing everything apart and starting all over. I guess you could leave the kit engine mounting stubs in place and drill out the Eduard engine castings. I would consider doing it this way if I ever do another one. This would let you adjust the distance from the firewall to the engine if needed.

Part number R20 on engines 1 and 4 (R23 on engine 2 and R26 on engine 3), the oil cooler doors, on which the engine cowling sits, is too far back (by at least an 1/8” to a 1/4”). This is why I said in the beginning of this review to leave the engine and exhaust casting stubs a little longer. If part number R14, the oil cooler door supports (there are 9 of them per engine) let you attach the cooler doors a little farther back, and then the extended casting pieces will let the engine exhaust clear the front of the engine mount. You’ll understand this issue better when you study the assembly. Another solution would be to display the plane with the cowlings off to show the detail.

Overall, I would recommend this project to only those that have experience dealing with resin and photo etch, and are able to fully visualize the build to help plan for any issues that might arise. Otherwise, they make a vast improvement over the kit engines, and will add outstanding detail to an already outstanding model kit.

Thanks to Eduard and IPMS/USA for providing this kit for build and review.