The CBU-97 is an unguided cluster bomb unit used by the US Air Force. The CBU-97 weighs around 1,000 lbs. and consists of a munition dispenser which contains ten BLU-108 sub-munitions. Each BLU-108 is an independent unit with its own sensors and projectiles which are designed to kill armored or soft skinned vehicles by attacking from above where the armor/skin is thinnest, or non-existent. The CBU-97 can be carried by all of the USAF’s current fighters and bombers.

Eduard’s set consists of twelve resin parts, 6 munition dispensers and 6 tail units. As with Eduard’s other CBU sets, the hardest part of the whole build is cutting the parts from the casting blocks. Take your time and keep your cuts as straight as you can. Despite my best efforts, I still had to use Mr. Surfacer to fill in the gaps between the tail unit and the dispenser body on a couple of the CBUs. The tail unit mounts in an “X” configuration when the mounting lugs are pointed up. This is clearly shown in the instructions.

Painting is very easy as the CBUs are overall Olive Drab with just the upper hinges flat black. As is standard with Eduard’s Brassin range, the set includes full decals for each CBU. There are 8 decals for each CBU, and they all which show up pretty well on the Olive Drab. Beware of decal #4 as it is either too long or in the wrong place. The instructions show the yellow rectangles of the decal starting right under the stenciled information on the side of the dispenser, but if you position the rectangle like this on one side, on the other side it covers up part of the stenciled information. I was not able to find a good photo showing where this marking goes, so I installed it behind decal #2 so that it did not cover up any part of it. In the alternative, you can cut decal #4 in two by removing part of the clear middle section to shorten it up. Take care and use lots of setting solution to get decals 5 and 6 to lie down as they are right next to the upper hinge and over a line of rivets. A final coat of clear flat evened things out very nicely.

This set is a nice addition to Eduard’s growing range of aircraft weapons and if you can cut a straight line with your razor saw, you should have no problem with construction. Recommended. Thanks to Eduard for the review sample and to IPMS-USA for letting me review it.