Introduction

Most German plastic aircraft kits have the rudder pedals as a rather crude moulded one or two piece affair with not much detail to look at, so Eduard have come to the rescue with a generic photo etch set to replace this part.
Eduard are producing three sets of German rudder pedals, in the three main scales.
These are -
Luftwaffe rudder pedals 1/32nd
Cat.No. - 33171
Price - 5,95 €

Luftwaffe rudder pedals 1/48th
Cat.No. - FE838
Price - 4,45 €

Luftwaffe rudder pedals 1/72nd
Cat.No. - SS598
Price - 4,45 €

All the sets are pretty similar in design, although the 1/72nd set is more simplified. The only other difference is the amount of pedals in each set. The 1/32nd has one set (2 pedals), the 1/48th has two sets ( 4 pedals), and the 1/72nd set has three sets ( 6 pedals).
In this review we will look at the 1/48th set.
Pictures of the 1/32nd and 1/72nd sets courtesy of Eduard's website.

In the bag

Packed in a re-sealable bag, the set contains one small unpainted photo etch set, and a small set of instructions.

Each rudder pedal is made up of 3 parts each, and each part is a multi bend affair.

Instructions and building

The instructions are printed on one side of a A5 size sheet and has the build sequence taking place over 4 stages, in a light blue line drawing style.
Not a fan of the light blue drawings as they are not quite as clear on the white paper as black line drawings would be.
The build sequence though is very easy to follow, with the parts needing bending highlighted with arrows to which way they should be bent.

Stage 1 Stage one uses part number 3, which has the toe end of the part folded over the rest of the part.

Stage 2 Again with part 3, sees the harness bent in a semi circle over the top of the part for the foot strap. Part 2 which is another foot strap glued onto the strap on part 3, to give it some thickness I would think, and enhance the buckle.
The sides of the plate are bent 90 degrees downwards.

Stage 3 This uses part 1, which is for the heel to sit in. Bending this part is over two steps. The first step sees a half moon shape bent underneath the part. Step 2 has the heel part bent into a semi circle shape and bent upwards. This is quite tricky as the part is extremely small.

Stage 4 The last and easiest part, glue the heel section (part 1) to the rear of the foot plate.

The actual build is fairly simple, but due to the nature of the very small parts, magnification of some sort is very much needed to build the rudder pedals.
The pictures on the right, show each stage of the build, with the last one showing the complete pedal alongside a toothpick for size comparison.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE