Chances are, if you model aircraft in any of the major scales you are well familiar with Eduard. Their product range varies from simple photoetched enhancement frets to multi-media kits, conversion sets, and accessories which are amongst the finest in the hobby. Their products may be purchased online through www.eduard.com. I have built a few of their kits and have used many of their accessories over the years. I am even a card-carrying member of the Bunny Fighter Club, which provided me a carrot-themed 1/48 Mig-21 and allows me a modest discount when buying direct. Check the website, and it will make sense.

Eduard has produced a set of resin Hawker Typhoon Mk Ib fuel tanks in 1/48 scale as a part of their “Brassin” line. The resin tanks and pylons are beautifully cast representations of the accessory tanks needed for long-range cross channel missions. They come packed in a sturdy plastic “blister” pack, in which they are sandwiched between foam pads for protection, along with Eduard’s effective pictorial instructions. Not much to consider in the way of assembly for these parts, though.

While not typically provided on most Typhoon kit sprues, these accessory fuel tanks mount just outboard of the shell ejection ports for the inboard canons. I removed the parts from the casting block with sprue nippers, painted everything while mounted on toothpicks, and got ready for the assembly phase. The pictorial Eduard instructions indicate the tanks to be painted “silver”. I used Vallejo Acrylic “Aluminum” and picked out the straps with “Oily Steel”. Decals went on easily over the slick metallic finish.

Photos below show the completed tanks glued to the underside of my Hasegawa 1/48 “shark-mouthed” Tiffie. I did have to remove the previously installed FFAR rockets to install them where indicated by the instructions. Perhaps the two were not an option for co-use on the same mission profile. They are certainly an affordable upgrade, particularly for specific-mission subjects. If your research warrants them, this is an excellent set of fuel tanks that will greatly enhance the realism of your 1/48 Hawker Typhoon. Very highly recommended for those wanting some additional detailing in 1/48 scale.

Thanks to the IPMS Reviewer Corps and Eduard for the opportunity to review this item.