1/32 scale has seen a bit of a renaissance of late with a very large selection of new kits hitting the market. Among them are many cold war to modern era US aircraft including F-4, A-4, F-8, F-16, and F-18 just to name a few. All of these aircraft, and many more, use the ubiquitous Mk 82 500 LB bomb. These bombs are commonly seen carried signally, on a Triple Ejector Rack (TER) or on the Multiple Ejector Rack (MER) and have been used in every conflict after Korea.

Though there are a lot of these type of bombs available in some of the plastic kits, none are as detailed or as accurate as this resin item from Master Details. In the bag you get enough parts to complete two bombs with a full selection of fuses including the “daisy cutter” fuse extender. A total of 30 resin parts plus a small jig to align the fins is included. Fuse types are:

• Conical nose plug
• Mk 43 Target Detecting Device
• M904 Mechanical Impact Fuse
• M953A1 Mechanical Time Fuse

All the resin is cleanly cast with no pinholes or imperfections. A few of the fuses were damaged however, and it might be advisable for Master Details to wrap these in some additional packaging for added protection. Instructions are a full color sheet that basically covers the colors, including FS callouts, and not much more is required.

Assembly is straight forward requiring you to remove the pour plugs from the two bomb halves and gluing the fins on the rear portion. To use the jig you must attach the fins before gluing the halves together, so don’t forget that. I personally didn’t find the jig too useful as it was a little cumbersome to use and ended up using my Mk1 eyeball and placing the fins on myself. When attaching the end to the front of the bomb, remember to align the rear portion correctly with the front, and the instructions point this out as well. I didn’t glue in a fuse of choice yet, as I’m not quite sure what aircraft I will end up hanging these on.

Master Details also makes a MK82 snake eye bomb. I do hope they follow on this release with a MK82 series with the textured heat retardant coating, because any US Naval aircraft after 1972 will have the texture. Also, with only two bombs included, you will have to invest a bit of cash to outfit a full jet. However, even with these nit-picks the set is still very nice and the bombs will find their way on one of my latest projects! Thanks to Master Detail for the review sample!