Eduard continues to expand its series pre-painted seatbelts in the “steel” series. I think that Eduard Models call this product line “Steelbelts”.

When working with this new line of seatbelts (steelbelts) the main thing that jumps is how thin they are. Reading in the Info Eduard (June 2016 issue) they say they are 0.04 mm thick. I should probably say they are 0.04 mm thin. They are pre-painted and also have some shading (weathering) on them.

You apply them like any other metal aftermarket piece, using a dab of superglue. That is all that takes to use the steel seatbelts. About 1 minute per seat and it is very easy to do (if you have experience with small parts).

Aires Resin has produced a set of replacement horizontal and vertical stabilizer parts for the Eduard 1/72 scale Fw-190A kits. The resin surfaces are a superbly detailed drop-in for the kit’s plastic parts. The supplied items include a firm greenish-grey resin casting block with the horizontal stabilizers attached. A side by side evaluation (see photos) indicates identical replacements that will provide poseable control surfaces for this exquisitely nice little kit from Eduard. As always, check your reference photos.

You won’t need to do any surgery to the kit to use these beautifully cast pieces in your build. The moveable surfaces could do with a quick swipe and wipe of Tamiya surfacer, and then ultra-fine sandpaper to tone down the prominence of the rib detailing and provide a more realistic fabric surface.

AFV Club has released an updated version of their original (excellent) eight-wheeled Sd.Kfz. 232 – this time representing an open-topped, -233 version armed with the 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 main gun. While this kit has been out for some time, the specific vehicle type has remained under-represented in the industry.

There is quite a lot of interior provided; including two driver’s compartments (one for each set of four wheels, fore and aft) and every hatch and view port on the vehicle can be modeled in the open or closed position. Still, with the large main weapon and the streamlined super-structure, precious little is visible on the completed model.

Flipping the hull over uncovers an abundance of detail offered in the gear, axles and other odds and ends underneath and around the eight positionable wheels.

NOTE: 32-012 MSRP is $11.00

When I received these decals, I had the greatest of intentions to do a review of the decals actually applied to my finished Trumpeter A-4E. Best laid plans are often exactly that, and I have to apologize for this not being that type of review. My poor A-4E is still sitting on the side of my work area crying to be finished. Life and time often get in the way of our modeling dreams and goals.

These decals, printed by Cartograf, are some of the finest I have ever seen and you actually get a bonus in having AOA decals 32-012, Skyhawk Airframe stencils, included with the purchase.

If you build modern aircraft in 1/48 scale and are frustrated with some of the details that seem to be lacking on the instrument panels, this product will help you add more details to those instrument panels.

The package consists of one photo-etched (PE) brass sheet with a large number of instrument bezels, ejection seat handles, mirrors, switch panels, warning/caution light panels, and multi-function CRT interface bezels. Put these bezels over instrument decals, and a very realistic instrument results.

Besides just adding details to an aircraft instrument panel or modern fighter cockpit, these bezels and other components can be used to scratchbuild a completely new panel or panels. The ejection seat handles can be used to enhance either a kit ejection seat, or an aftermarket ejection seat.