Scale Plastic & Rail

1/32 A-10 Exterior from Eduard

1/32 A-10 Exterior
Eduard
Catalogue # 32062
Available direct from Eduard for 14.95 Єuros

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (or Warthog) remains an anachronism even some 35 years after its introduction into the USAF. In a world where speed, stealth and aerial tactics are the ruling forces in the air, the A-10 has none of these. The first USAF aircraft ever designed solely as a close air support weapon, heavily armoured, slow (by modern standards), odd-looking and built around a single gun (the amazing GAU-8 Avenger, the largest rotary cannon ever placed in an airframe), the A-10 is the ground strike aircraft par excellence. With at least another 15+ years of planned active life ahead of it, the A-10 has surpassed every expectation ever placed on it (below).

Credit and copywrite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:353d_TFS_A-10_Fairchild_Republic_A-10A_Thunderbolt_II_78-0675.jpg

Modellers have been quite well served over the years in the 3 major scales, but until the advent of the 1/32nd kit from Trumpeter (below), no-one had quite captured all of the subtle shapes of the aircraft. It is not without fault, but it is definitely the best kit available of this wonderful aircraft.

A few companies have brought out various cockpit, undercarriage, general detail and decal sets for the kit. It is a big aircraft with a big surface area; therefore, I was pleased to receive this exterior detail set from Eduard for the model.

There are 2 frets within the set, neither being pre-coloured. The first fret (below) gives the modeller parts for the undercarriage bays and legs, various grills, LASTE update antennae/panels and parts to enhance the refuelling point.

A close-up of a part of the fret (above) shows that Eduard have done some wonderful work with the detail in this set; it is really crisp and well-defined and gives the modeller some excellent material to enhance the standard model with. The second fret (below) gives a wide range of smaller additions, including detail for the cannon bay, further undercarriage additions and nacelle detailing amongst the many, varied etched parts.

I know that pre-coloured frets are becoming more popular all the time (albeit at a raised price) but personally, if pushed, this is the type of set that I think Eduard still do best. There is always the danger of paint removal in preparing the parts, let alone paint matching when using pre-coloured frets. This set simply gives the modeller the highest level of detail parts they could possible ask for, at a reasonable price which allows them to be added in an easy manner and which then allows the modeller to build and paint the overall model without any of the aforementioned worries. Are pre-coloured frets a "dumbing-down" of the modelling world? Well, no, sets such as the 1/35 Kitchen Accessories set from Eduard I reviewed last year is a  perfect example of where pre-colouration is used to the best effect; but for a set like this, original etched fret, as provided here, is still king.

So What Do We Think?
A really well-detailed etched set that will enhance the best A-10 model in the marketplace.

A recommended etched set

Our thanks to Eduard for the review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

Robin Jenkins.