Recently, Eduard released photoetched detail sets for the 1/72 scale Hobby Boss F-14A, and these included both an interior as well as an exterior set. Having been fortunate enough to receive both sets for review, I will begin with my evaluation of the interior detail set. Upon opening this set, you will find two frets of photoetched parts, one being pre-painted and self-adhesive, the other being unpainted metal with no adhesive, along with a single-sheet page of directions. This was my first experience with an Eduard self-adhesive detail set, and I greatly enjoyed the encounter. I will mention here that if you are modeling on a budget and needed to choose between the interior and exterior sets, that I would recommend the interior set.

The pre-painted, self-adhesive fret contains 71 numbered items, but a few of the smaller parts (such as knobs, switches, and handles) do have more than one piece. As I mentioned, this was my first experience with self-adhesive parts, and I found them to work well for me. The directions mention that you can “adjust as required,” which I found especially helpful with the cockpit placards. Although Eduard states that “The component will be permanently affixed when pressed onto its intended location…” I found it useful to touch the edges of these parts with some thin cyanoacrylate (CA) glue.

The bare metal fret contains 14 items, and I found it easiest to paint those items prior to installation. I am uncertain why this second fret does not come with a self-adhesive backing, as all of the items could easily have been since they are larger and relatively easy to position. The parts on this fret are for the canopy, windscreen, and interior walls of the cockpit, as well as the panel behind the cockpit. Just as a note, I was successful in attaching the photoetched items to my clear parts by using GS Hypotube Cement without issue (this will not “fog” as CA glues can).

My hits for this detail set are the level of detail, even though my experience has always been good with Eduard items. The pre-painted items speed assembly along nicely, as do the self-adhesive items. The addition of this detail set alone to the Hobby Boss kit will clearly take it to another level.

My only real miss with this set was that my self-adhesive fret did not seem to be fully covered with the adhesive. Some of the items around the edges of the fret did not want to adhere at all until I used some CA glue. I would also add as a suggestion (not a miss) that I would have liked to have both frets pre-painted and covered with the self-adhesive in this set as it may make installing the canopy items easier for some individuals.

In conclusion, I can highly recommend this interior detail set to anyone wanting to liven up the “office” of their Hobby Boss F-14A. My caution would be that a person would greatly benefit from having experience in dealing with some very small items; otherwise, this could be a source of frustration. I managed to launch more than one item from my tweezers during assembly, and was fortunate that they were the ones with extras on the fret.

My thanks to the folks at Eduard for graciously providing this detail set to the IPMS USA for review, to Steve Collins and his assistants in the Review Corps for allowing me to receive this set, and as always, to those who take the time to read my comments.