Now here is a release from Eduard for the Airfix 1/72 P-40 that you will need a little courage to fit. Tim Hatton wonders if there a need for such a photo etched detail set, when the kits detail is pretty good?

Contents

Inside the semi re sealable bag is:
-1 x pre coloured self adhesive photo etch fret.
-1 x none coloured photo etched fret.
-1 x A4 double sided instruction sheet.

Pre coloured self adhesive fret is filled with cockpit parts. The PE side walls are superbly detailed and coloured the greener shade of zinc chromate. However you will have to sand away the plastic side wall detail in the kit [hence my comment above]. Onto the side walls are attached many separate small details. I do like the part that neatly folds up creating map case.
The instrument panel follows Eduards usual practice of having a separate pre painted piece for the instrument faces and another holed part for the instrument panel front. The superb looking PE instrument panel then fits onto the kits instrument panel. There is no need to sand down the kits instruments as they are supplied as decals. The Eduard printed instruments do look very effective and will certainly gain the approval of anyone peering into the office. There are four separate toggles to fit to the instrument panel.
Another excellent inclusion is the pilots seat and harnesses. The seat is not pre coloured and requires folding. I do like the look of the cut outs in the back and sides of the bare metal seat. There is no reference to the colour of the seat. A quick Google reveals some variation in colour including natural metal, interior green, and black. The colour of the seat if left in it's natural state will be far too bright. So it will need toning down a bit. The separate seat harnesses look very good. They require some gentle bending to achieve a draped look on the seat.

None coloured photo etched fret has a superb rendition of the flaps and the upper none moving flap area included on it. The Airfix kit does not have separate flaps, so the inclusion with this detail set is a real plus. Eduard has tried to make life easier for the modeler by including the very small visible ribs onto the flap surfaces. This has the advantage in that you do not have to cut out thirty four tiny ribs. It also helps enormously with their placement, all you need to do is bend the ribs slightly and fix them parallel to each other. There are six separate ribs that need to be attached to the ceiling of the flap bay, these are covered by a separate metal plate. The ceiling of the flap area requires the folding of the ends and the parts opposite the trailing edge. There is plenty of surface area to apply adhesive. Now another reason for courage is that to fit the PE flaps you will of course have to remove the kits plastic parts. But it does look as if it is well worth the effort.
Other parts on this fret include three separate radiator/oil cooler grills for the forward air intakes. The rear of the radiator/oil cooler grills are etched to a small sheet that contributes to the detail where the cooling flaps are located. Eduard also supply the four flaps in one piece for the rear of the radiator/oil cooler unit. They are set in the open position. More parts include main and tail wheel doors, actuating rods for the undercarriage doors and tail vertical and horizontal control surfaces including the trim tabs. Also on the fret are the gun aiming sights fitted on the nose and hydraulic hoses for the brakes on the main wheels.

Instructions the black line drawings and symbols help enormously with what to do with the parts and where exactly to place them. Eduard also include the Airfix kit part numbers that receive the additional detail. One omission is for the colours of the natural metal PE parts such as the inside of the flaps, seat, map case, etc.

Conclusions

In answer to the above question, you may not need this set, but it will add a huge amount of quality to your finished build. This is a tremendous detail set from Eduard and with a little patience and skill will result in a fine looking Airfix P-40.