Yahu has been producing photoetched instrument panels for models in Poland since 2013, for those who may not be familiar with the company. One of their latest releases is this 1/32 scale instrument set for the Fokker Dr.1 triplane from Meng. While the Dr.1 did not have a panel of instruments, there were individual instruments mounted within and outside the cockpit. Modelers with some experience with photoetched parts should have no issues using this set with their triplane.

Packaged in a small plastic bag, this set contains a single fret with six instrument faces along with separate bezels, two aircraft placards, and a face plate for the propeller. As this set is intended for the Meng kit, the instruments have been numbered to match the decals provided by Meng.The placards, faceplate, and a separate instrument not included in the kit are designated by letters. The instructions have you simply replace decals 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 with the photoetched instrument faces, while a drawing shows the installation of placard B and the propeller face (part C). As the part provided by Yahu as A is not in the Meng kit, the directions have you place it on a 5mm disc for installation, while part D is to be installed on the Meng kit part A39. The bezels are numbered and lettered to match the instrument face part numbers.

Even with several reference books in my collection on the Fokker Dr.1 specifically, as well as WWI German aircraft in general, I have been challenged to identify the actual instruments that this set replicates. I am confident that part 7 is the compass, 8 is the anemometer (mounted on the wing strut when used), 12 is a clock, and A is an altimeter. Part 9 is mounted on the ammunition magazine and may be a tachometer, and my best guess is that 10 is a fuel gauge. I used Ammo by Mig Ultra Glue to mount the instrument faces and bezels. I opted to attach a slice of 5mm tubing on the back of instrument A rather than a disc as photos of existing Dr.1 cockpits (all are modern recreations) show this instrument having some depth.

As far as my hits are concerned, the faces of the instruments are very crisp, and even though they are small, they are a step up from the decals provided by Meng. The inclusion of the bezels is a nice touch as well as they add some depth to the instruments. The placards and propeller face plate are nice additions to fill out the fret.

While I have no real misses for this set, my sample had some etching flaws that left a couple of the bezels inside opening were rough,, and not rounded, but this was easily handled with a small round file. There was also an etching flaw on the front of the propeller face plate leaving a couple of the bolts not as clear as the others. The Meng kit also provides an instrument decal 11 that is not represented in the Yahu set.

Overall, I would highly recommend this set to anyone wanting to improve the instruments in their Meng Fokker Dr.1 (or F.1 if you build that option from the kit). If you have some experience using photoetched parts and small parts, the installation should not be too complicated. My thanks to the folks at Yahu for providing this set to the IPMS-USA for review!