Revell’s PBY-5A Catalina has been around for 20 years now and I have seen quite a few built and it looks large and impressive when finished. The kit comes in two style- the “-5” who has no wheel wells and the “-5A” which does. Eduard has released sets for the PBY-5A which allow improvements to the entire airframe. This set (#48825) addresses the wheel bays which are only present in the “-5A” model and cannot be used on the initial “-5” release.

This set comes with one large photoetch fret of over 50 pieces and upgrades both main gear bays as well as the nose gear wheel well and the landing gear itself. Preparation is required in the main gear bay by removing the two plastic ridges and grinding them smooth. No worries about scratches as it will be covered but it does need to be smooth. Also in the main gear bay, the attachment point up against the back wall has to be trimmed back to make room. I used a micro chisel for this part. It took a couple test fits but was not difficult. The front wheel well requires removal of both ends which takes some time to get smooth. The only other preparation needed it to remove the oleo on the nose gear leg in preparation for the new one.

That’s it for prep- very quick and simple. I started on the main gear wells where all the parts are replaced or covered except the front wall which has a nice look as made. The back walls are added first and glued into position with a bend. The bottom and back sides are added next and fit is good. A note here is that several of the pieces need bent or folded to either fit or add detail. This is true for both the bottom and back walls. The rest of the small pieces are added and the wheel well is set aside. As you can see from the comparison shots, the Eduard set really dresses it up.

The front wheel well is next and requires that the bottom be built first and then the ends and two sides added. There are some very small parts so patience and caution is the key. I could not get the sides to sit low enough to be square and had to sand then down a little. The wheel well is added to the cockpit for installation.

At this point the wheel wells were added to the fuselage and it was closed up. It took a lot of finagling to get the front wheel well to fit including some sanding and thinning. In the end, it fit OK but will need some filling and sanding to get a good fit. Eduard does include trim pieces for the front well that covers and gives a good fit. The side wheel wells required a little filler at the bottom but very little and the fit is very good.

To finish of the set, the landing gear was added to the kit and the oleos replaced; two on each main gear and one of the front gear. Brake lines were also added to the main landing gear struts. I left off the replacement landing gear doors for when the paint was ready as the fuselage is going to take some work before painting.

This is another excellent set increasing the accuracy and look of the wheel wells. The main gear is easy and can be recommended to all modelers. The front gear work is more difficult and with its small size, that option will be up to the modeler but Eduard certainly enhances it. Highly recommended for dressing up your Catalina.

My thanks to Eduard for the set and to IPMS/USA for the chance to review it!