Eduard 1/48 Vietnam Scooters
By Allen Jones
Introduction
I was a little shocked to find out that it was a 1/48 Hasegawa A-4 kit, but still a great kit with aftermarket parts in the box already. The A-4 played a major role for the U.S. Navy back during the Vietnam war. The little rugged Skyhawk flew more missions than any other U.S. Navy aircraft during the Vietnam war. This kit with the aftermarket parts included is a great way to honor the Scooters of the Vietnam War.
The Kit
Eduard made this kit a sweet deal. A Hasegawa 1/48 A-4E/F with all the aftermarket and all the decals you need to make a great Scooter. Also included is a full color instruction book. The basic A-4E/F kit comes on 9 sprues with the option of adding the hump, fuel tanks, different refueling probes and a ground ladder. This kit also comes with the Eduard photoetched parts on one panel that contains just over 40 parts. The photoetch parts are in color and are for the cockpit panels, flare boxes and for the resin ejection seat, which is the Eduard Brassin two-piece kit. This kit also comes with a set of Eduard masks for the canopy, wheels and other fine detailed parts for painting.
The decal sheet is from Furball Aero Design and comes with decal options for six different jets. The decals options are VA-72 Blue Hawks, VA-195 Dambusters, VA-153 Blue Tail Fliers, VA-192 Golden Dragons, VA-164 Ghostriders, and VA-22 Fighting Redcocks.
The only problem I have with this kit is that it does not come with any weapons, only the underwing fuel tanks. So I will be digging through my weapon sets to find the perfect loadout for this little Scooter.
Conclusion
Still this is a great kit and comes with almost every thing you need to make a great Vietnam Scooter. In fact there are so many amazing options on the decal sheet its going to be hard picking which A-4 to do. I just wished that it had come with some weapons for a full loadout, but still this is a great kit setup reguardless.
Our thanks to Eduard for the review sample.