Eduard has come out with several photo etch sets for the 1/200 Scale, Merit, USS Hornet CV-8 (kit# 62001) and this is one of them. Part 3 provides detail parts to upgrade the ships boats and life rafts.

The set includes photo etch parts to upgrade the three gigs and three personnel ship boats. Also included are parts for the life rafts.

For the rafts you get new flooring, brackets and strapping. These make a nice assembly and easy to attach to the hull when finished.

The personnel boat parts include new flooring, engine covers, man rails both forward and aft, lift rings, cleats, steering gear, anchor, hatch cover and a flag staff.

The Gigs include cleats, rails, boat hooks, new midship cockpit and after cockpit flooring and details. Also included are new man and hand hold rails, hatch covers and steering gear. A nice feature is the throttle/ shifting lever for the engine.

Assembly is straight forward but extremely fiddly. There are a bunch of very tiny parts that need to be bent and shaped. Most of the small parts are hard to hold and glue at the same time. This makes for a time consuming and sometimes aggravating assembly. Thank you Eduard for providing extra parts.

The instructions are quite adequate to provide detailed information on part numbers and placement. There is some minor surgery required on the boats but nothing that is overwhelming.

All-in-all Eduard has come to the rescue with some very nice detail sets to improve an already very nice kit. I would only recommend this set to an experienced modeler who has worked with tiny photo etch. But if you bought the Hornet your already a glutton for punishment.

Thank you Eduard and IPMS USA for providing me the opportunity to review this sample and let the modeling community know it’s out there.

Have fun and enjoy.