Set M-72X-06 continues the collaboration between Platz and Eduard, taking the latter’s market-leading etching technology and presenting it specifically for Platz’s domestic market in Japan.

The set is designed for Hasegawa’s G3M “Nell”, focusing on the interior, and contains a single etched fret with 44 new parts, some of which are pre-painted.

The obvious highlights are the main instrument panel, radio and engineering consoles, and the seat harnesses. The pre-painting on these items has to be seen to be believed. Eduard’s way of doing this has always been impressive, but the quality actually seems even higher than previously: I don’t know if Eduard have updated the process, but the colours seem more solid and vibrant (particularly the yellow, which was sometimes a bit “washed out” on earlier sets). The result is spectacular to say the least, easily eclipsing the best that most of us could ever hope to paint by hand.

The rest of the interior parts include a neat pair of perforated seats to fold to shape, rudder pedals, tiny gun- and torpedo-sights, grab handles and minuscule throttle levers. A nice touch is the provision of a pair of anti-glare blinds to fit inside the canopy. These are pre-painted, but obviously only on one side, so you’ll need to colour the reverse.

Rounding the set off are delicate aileron actuators for the wings.

Overall, the set doesn’t look complicated to use. While there are a few parts to fold to shape, it’s really only the small size of some of the items that may present a challenge, so the set should be suitable for most modellers with a little experience, even if they’re new to using etched parts.

The instructions are typical Eduard-style, the only real difference being the substitution of Japanese text. Even with this, the diagrams are self-explanatory, so non-Japanese speakers will have no problem following them. As usual, Platz print their version of the instructions in colour (only available online with Eduard’s own sets) and, even in a simple set like this, the highlighting does add to the clarity.

Conclusion

Platz’s G3M upgrade will totally transform the cockpit of the Hasegawa “Nell”. Until recently, Platz have very much concentrated on modern Japanese subjects for their aftermarket etched sets, so it’s very exciting to see them turn their attention to WW2 in what is, hopefully, just one of many such releases. Highly recommended.

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