E-2C Undercarriage and Cockpit Details

Published on
November 13, 2020
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$0.00
Product / Stock #
73339, 72498
Base Kit
Hasegawa Hawkeye
Company: Eduard - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Eduard - Website: Visit Site

Well on first look both Eduard kits look really good. One thing about these two detail sets is they give you great opportunities to really detail the 72ndscale Hasegawa Hawkeye. Kit 73 339 has 69 parts and 72 498 has 37 parts.

At first I was wondering if the cockpit details would really be visible and why do this. Well once I had it finished it really looked great and went to together really nice. You have to watch the fit and trim the instrument panel a little but with some work it goes together nicely. You really don’t see a lot of the overhead console but it is a nice touch. Also once the clear plastic was on the cockpit area, much to my relief, the interior was nicely visible. I actually went as far as putting in the throttles. Trust me the time you spend on this part of the kit will be well worth it. Another nice thing is the Eduard detail kit will allow you to build the nose section of the Hawkeye. This will be a real advantage if you want to build a display with this aircraft sitting on the flight deck opened up for maintenance. It was a little fragile but did go together nicely and is very nice addition for the kit. Also though it might take a little time but you can now have the crew access door opened. Thought as I said it might require a little interior work.

When it comes to the intakes on the aircraft, engines included, Eduard again does a good job of providing some nice detail that is actually very easy to put in place. There were no fit problems and everything went together nicely. The intake for the fuselage air condition is a little tricky but again a nice touch. I was especially happy to see that they had provided more detail for the area in the tail of the aircraft where Hasegawa had basically left everything blank. Again the fit was nice and there were no problems with it going together. Also since you can position the flaps in a slightly extended position Eduard again provides you some nice detail for the option. If you look at Hawkeyes when they are even parked with the wings folded the flaps are, at times, slightly extended so again a good detail is now improved. There is one thing I have to say concerning the flaps and the ram air cooling unit on the right side of the aircraft and this involves parts, 33, 34 and 61 of the Eduard kit. Here I will admit I made a slight mistake and should have consulted some sources before proceeding. I installed them and later found out they are not painted on the actual aircraft so I had to tape over them when painting the model. Next time I would just leave them off until after painting even though the taping did just fine.

When it comes to the nacelles and prop of the Hawkeye again Eduard did a nice job and thought ahead a little. Since the kit could always be fitted with the older prop they added some details for the old paddle blade prop which I think is a nice touch. Also at first parts 32 and 35 sort of had me confused a little. Well after doing some research on the aircraft it seems that some of the aircraft have some reinforcing on the engine access panels so again you have a nice detail part if you need it.

All in all a very nice detail set for the fuselage of the Hawkeye and one I really like. The other detail set Eduard has produced for the Hawkeye is one for the landing gear and again is a nice set with just a little work. This set is Eduard’s 72 498 and does have some parts that are both rather delicate and extremely easy to lose if you are not careful.

Again this set will add some great detail to the wheel wells and the gear provided by the kit. The parts for the nose wheel bay really add quite a lot of detail to this part of the model. Fit was good and you just need to watch the small parts and everything will go together very nicely. The details for the main gear wheel wells are also nicely done. Both the nose and main wheel wells are very nicely improved with the addition of the Eduard pieces. The one thing I must add for these wells is to make sure you measure things and follow the instruction provided by Eduard closely since the fit is so close. When removing a portion of the forward nacelle for parts 7 and 8 make sure you get it all or I promise you are going to have a fit problem several steps later. This becomes very critical when applying part 4 to the gear wells since by then both sides it will touch have had parts added.

The parts for the landing gear though small and delicate do add so much to the gear. They will give you excellent detail with a little patience.

As I stated at the beginning with these two Eduard kits you have some nice opportunities for really making the Hawkeye look good.

Thanks to Eduard and IPMS/USA for the chance to do this review.

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