As Andy Brazier demonstrated with his excellent BUILD of a pre-release sample of Eduard's superb 1:48 P-51D Mustang, the kit comes with an excellent cockpit. Nevertheless, Eduard have gone one better by releasing a phenomenally detailed and comprehensive Brassin replacement set to almost entirely replace the standard kit parts.

The set arrives in a tough new-style flip-top packet with a bed of soft foam at the bottom to protect the parts. The set comprises:

41 x grey resin parts
26 x etched metal parts, some pre-coloured
A small sheet of decals
Printed film for the gunsight reflectors etc.

The resin casting in the sample is almost perfect - I found one tiny pin-hole that will need filling - and the detail is beautifully crisp. Pipes and cables are very nicely done - and a couple are raised proud enough from the surface that you may want to carefully remove the wafer of flash behind them to open up the gap.

As noted above, the set renders almost all of the kit's cockpit parts redundant - the principal survivors look to be the instrument coaming and the rear of the floor section and its fuel tank. Surgery to the kit parts will be quick and simple, but do expect to spend some time carefully removing the resin pieces from their casting blocks, because some of the items are very delicate and will be easy to damage.

Eduard provide a choice of early and late instrument panels and three styles of lower consoles - one being for rocket-armed aircraft. The decal sheet includes instrument faces, plus placards to place around the rest of the office. The printing looks very sharp, with excellent colour register.

The instrument panel decals are printed as one item, as against individual dials. I was initially disappointed by this, but with over 20 instrument faces and data placards to keep grouped correctly it does make sense - and I've found that Eduard decals do snuggle down very well over detail, so the result should look very good.

Ideally, you'll want references for the specific Mustang you're modelling, because the set is packed with further choices - e.g. there are 3 styles of headrest included, plus a number of equipment variations for the side consoles. In fact there are so many alternate parts, Eduard actually include a small table listing them all.

The etched fret includes a number of tiny levers, plus a frame to fold to shape for the one of the two types of gunsight included. There's also a convincingly pre-coloured set harness. Unlike in the LööK set (reviewed HERE), Eduard have the lap belts the same way 'round as in the kit - which contradicts a period manufacturer's photo of a P-51B seat. To me it would seem very unsafe to reverse the locking mechanism, so I'll go by the photo when installing the harness.

Although the parts include some beautifully rendered wiring etc. as noted above, you will still need to add a few more with wire (not included) for which Eduard provide dimensions.

Accompanying the set is a comprehensive set of instructions spread over 6 sides. The diagrams are printed in colour and the assembly is broken down into 13 manageable stages. Colour matches are included for Gunze Sangyo paints.

Conclusion

Eduard's Brassin P-51D cockpit should look an absolute gem when istalled. Comprising nearly 70 parts, it's almost a kit in its own right - and it does include some very small and delicate parts, so it's not suitable for inexperienced modellers. At nearly £20, it's not cheap - only around £5 less than the actual ProfiPACK kit itself - so you should be confident that you'll be able to work with it successfully before buying it, but in experienced hands it promises to look spectacular.

On the basis of this first inspection, the set appears to be straightforward to install (if not to build), and I'll soon be including it in one of the Eduard Mustangs sitting ready for assembly at the time of writing - so, as the old saying goes, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

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