Scale Plastic & Rail

1/48 F-4 exhaust nozzles late for F-4E/F/G/J/S from Eduard

1/48 F-4 exhaust nozzles late for F-4E/F/G/J/S (powered by J79-GE-10/17) from Hasegawa

Eduard
Catalogue # 648 023
Available from Eduard for $34.95 or any good hobby shop.

This is the second set of resin and photo etched exhaust nozzles for Hasegawa´s F-4 Phantom kits in 1/48 scale in Eduard´s now well known Brassin series. I will keep this review short in terms of words because all praise has already been said in Jim Hatch´s review on the early version of Eduard´s Brassin exhaust nozzles here on Scale Plastic & Rail.

(Source: de.wikipedia.org. Author: Maarten1980)

The Mach 2 General Electric J79 engine first test flight took place in 1955 (!) Schenectady, New York. It was placed in the bomb bay of a B-45 Tornado bomber powered by four J47 engines. In flight the J79 engine was lowered from the bomb bay of the B-45 Tornado and the four J47 engines shut down with the J79 alone powering the aircraft!

(Source: en.wikipedia.org. Author: US Government)

Production J79 engine first flew aboard the XF4D Skyray prototype.

(Source: nl.wikipedia.org. Author: US Navy)

Later this engine set a world attitude record at 91,249 feet (about 28,800 metres) and a speed record of 1,400 miles per hour (about 2250 kilometres per hour) in an F-104 Starfighter.

J79 engines are projected to continue being in service through 2020!
(Source: GE Aviation)

Inside the sturdy cardboard box (95 x 165 x 50 millimetres) safely protecting the contents we find the colour instruction sheet, a fret of PE parts with 6 pieces on it and 8 resin pieces.

The instructions are printed in colour on a single sheet of paper giving you an overview of the packages contents, the assembly guide and some advertising of other “goodies” available in Eduard´s Brassin range for the F-4 Phantom, too.

Again the resin parts are simply stunning detailed! Even the tiniest bolts are finely represented on the tail hook for example! The crispness and almost endless details on Eduard´s Brassin sets are a treat to be discovered. Have a look at them yourself:

First, the PE fret:

An overview of the resin parts before getting closer to each part:

Now some close-up´s to show you the fantastic detail on the parts given:

The outlet face of the jet engine to be further detailed with two PE parts.

The burner cans with incredible detail on them, even on the inside (how do they do this?). There is no warpage on this parts, the casting is flawless!

Now to the “Bonus” parts given in each Brassin set I have seen so far (with Miracle Match in action again!):

The catch for the tail hook under the fuselage!

The tail hook itself. This last two resin parts get further detailed by a PE part!

None of these delicately cast resin pieces of art does show the faintest distortion or damage. The precise appearance of all the parts promises a trouble free assembly, supported by the logical and well done instructions. In case there were some casting blocks to be removed Eduard distinguished them clearly from the part itself so some cuts with a Martor saw or whatever you prefer should separate these casting blocks easily and without trouble.
Wear a safety mask whenever working with resin!

So what do we think?
Having reviewed three Brassin sets of F-4 Phantom exhaust nozzle sets now in 1/48 and 1/32 scales now I really run out of words describing my joy and fascination on these pieces of art. Eduard unquestionable raised the standards of producing resin accessories with its Brassin series!
Again, and I am really sorry to say, I cannot give full points for this set just and only for the price asked for it.

Overall: 9/10

Thanks again to the great people at Eduard for the review sample. To buy this and other Eduard products, click this link, or the banner below.

Thomas Mayer