Thank you to the Eduard Company for sending this detail set for review, it is always a pleasure to see what Eduard’s new products bring to the scale modeling world. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us modeling products to review, the reviews posted, and the news spread to the world.

The photoetch frets arrived in excellent shape in a sealed plastic package with the distinctive Eduard knight logo. One cockpit fret is 2.75 x 1.6 inches on polished metal with color-etched laminated details, and the other fret is 3.1 x 2.75 inches on polished brass. Side consoles and instrument panel parts are provided for either a F2H-2 or F2H-2P. Internal and external details for one model are on these two frets. I particularly appreciate having three clear HUD pieces included on the film part. Only one is required, but I need two of them to complete the set. You can speculate why! I worked up the fighter version for this review.

A color instruction sheet is included in the package, and Eduard also has the same instruction sheet available for download on their website product page. I really appreciate having the electronic PDF format to mark up on my computer, not to mention the ability to easily enlarge for my aging eyeballs. The required Kitty Hawk kit modifications are clearly indicated, and I had no difficulties at all building up the larger PE parts and attaching them to the kit. Eduard has well-placed and designed fold lines to assist with the build-up. The etched fold line helped very much with precise folding.

In addition to the instrument panels and HUD/gunsight, there are seat details, rudder pedals and numerous other external details provided. All of them are excellent. The most significant details of the set are the canopy rails, traveler, and other canopy opening hardware. The F2H canopy sits up when open, and this Eduard set fixes an omission in the kit design. This feature alone make the aftermarket set worth the money!

Main gear compartment covers are in part represented by PE parts 43 and 42 (replace kit parts B47, B48); fold these parts with etched details to the outside. The inboard doors that overlap with the strut-mounted PE parts (53, 53, 56, 57) replace kit parts C9, C8, C12, and C15.

My biggest challenge was part size. The PE metal folds well, but many smaller parts such as levers and handle were difficult for me to shape and attach properly. I sharpened my fine-point tweezers and that seemed to help. Of course this is not a criticism of Eduard, but a caution for someone of my skillset! I am still very much an amateur in the art of brass origami. The color laminated film had a tendency to delaminate from the metal at times, so fold carefully and secure the color part edges with a little ultra-thin cyanoacrylate. High-power magnification certainly helped, as did a very sharp #12 curved blade for trimming parts from the fret. I am very pleased with the visual effect. I particularly appreciate Eduard’s research in accurately replicating the F2H-2P instrumentation.

I highly recommend this set, for ease-of-use, accuracy, and value. Thank you again Eduard and the IPMS Reviewer Corps!