Introduction

With Revell of Germany having released their 1/32nd scale Focke Wulf FW 190 F-8 ‘Schlacter’ it has not taken Eduard long to release a whole slew of aftermarket offerings for the model. I have five upgrade sets for the Revell of Germany kit from Eduard covering a photo etched set for the interior, a photo etched set of landing flaps, a set of flexible masks for the canopy, a resin and photo etched set for the MG131 mounts and their cowling and finally a resin and photo etched cockpit, all of these items are specifically for the Revell of Germany offering.

Contents

The cockpit set is supplied in a flip top card box with a foam insert on the top and bottom to protect the contents. The contents are for the most part packaged inside Ziploc plastic bags; however the cockpit tub itself is loose in the box. The contents consist of:
A brass photo etched fret
A nickel photo etched fret
A decal sheet
An acetate sheet
3 bags of resin parts
Cockpit tub
3 sheets of instructions

Review

First Impression
When I reviewed Revell of Germany’s Focke Wulf FW 190 F-8 ‘Schlacter’ in 1/32nd scale one of the areas I picked fault with was the decals supplied for the harness detail, I felt there was an issue as decals do not cut it in 1/32nd scale; Eduard must have thought the same thing and instead of offering just the harness detail they opted for a full cockpit. The quality of Eduard’s photo etched protects is well known, but their resin offerings are new to me and I am impressed. I am impressed as the resin moulding while being sharp as regards detail have an injection moulded quality about them in feel and no faults associated with resin parts, very impressive to me.

Harness
As this is the area I was concerned about it would seem to be the best place to start. Eduard does not disappoint with the harness detail in this set. 29 photo etched pieces go together to make the harness, with the webbing portions being pre printed with colour and stitch detail. I can only see this detail being beaten by someone offering a material and photo etched offering, and these parts will lift the cockpit area considerably over what is offered in the base kit.

Cockpit Tub
The detail presented here is exquisite when it comes to rivet detail, and this is complemented to a high degree by the rest of the raised and recessed detail. The pour plug attached to the tub has done a good job of preventing any obvious distortions to the moulding; I have no concerns about removing this large pour plug, but it will obviously need care to prevent damage to the moulding itself. My only concern or should I say wish is that Eduard had included clear reference when it comes to painting the side consoles, but I suspect that most modellers who invest in products of this type have good reference for that purpose.

Seat
The pilot's seat is an improvement over the kit part in that it is much finer in thickness and provides the correct way of attaching the seat to the cockpit tub, if I understand my reference correctly the seat offered here could actually be set at different heights on the back wall depending on the build of the pilot. The detail part on the rear of the seat that is offered separately I am at a loss to identify, I can only assume it is to support a pilot's lumbar region. The padded area that that the pilot sits on is another nicely represented in this product.

Foot Pedals
The foot pedals have not been ignored here and are covered via the very nicely moulded actuators and photo etched foot pedals. The view of this detail will be limited but if you are going to go to the expense of using a product such as this they should be there.

Instrument Panel
The instrument panels provided with the raised detail are very nice, but I am concerned about the use of decals for the instruments themselves. I accept that the raised detail offers the greatest detail, but I would have preferred the face to have had the dials drilled out and for Eduard to have included the self adhesive dials as offered in the photo etched set for the interior as I feel this would have been the easiest way for the modeller to obtain a realistic finish in this area. One thing I cannot fault is the gun sight included for this area, the sight body appears to be accurate and the use of the acetate film parts finishes the area a treat.

Canopy Parts
The resin and photo etched parts for the canopy will likely test my hand and eye coordination to the tenth degree; however I have to thank Eduard for taking the time to include a template that will make assembly easier than it would have otherwise been. You will need to decide if you want to display the canopy in an open or closed position before assembling this area, but I can only think that a person would be a fool to go to the trouble of adding this product to the model and then closing the canopy. I like that Eduard has included the framing detail for the mating surface of the front canopy, but why do that and then forget to do the same for the rear canopy? Due to the large sliding canopy portion is does make sense to that this area is dressed up by Eduard. The area behind the pilots armoured head protection Eduard have provided the modeller with the option of the frame or plated area in this set.

Conclusion

This is a very complete cockpit offering for the Revell of Germany offering that will lift this area to a very high degree depending on the ability of the modeller. I am not convinced that Eduard has tackled the control panels in the best or easiest way for the modeller, but your opinion may differ. I would have liked to see Eduard include three colour photographs as a guide for painting the side consoles and instrument panel, but it is hard to pick fault with most of what Eduard has offered here for £24.99; so if you want the cockpit of your model to shine this set would appear to me to be well worth your consideration.

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