Eduard 1/48 Brassin P-38F/G Sets
By Jacob Russell
Here are 3 new Brassin sets for Tamiya's 1/48th scale Lockheed P-38F/G kit. The first (644043) is Eduard's "Löök" set which combines a pre-painted instrument panel and seat harness (644028), resin wheels (648515), superchargers (648519), and canopy masks (EX667). The wheels and tires are highly detailed and the wheel fronts and backs are separate pieces so that they will be easier to paint. The instrument panel is very impressive. I'm a real fan of photo-etch instrument panels but the Löök resin panel is a decided cut above: there's nothing to paint or assemble, just trim, glue and you're done.
The superchargers are highly detailed castings. The cowling air intakes are also included and the superchargers will definitely be a focus of interest on your P-38. The PE seat belts are Eduard's customary pre-painted pieces and they're well done. The TFace masks are icing on the cake. The masks are for both sides of the windscreen and canopy and they simplify what is otherwise a boring task.
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The second (648533) is the nose gun bay. This is the most complex of the 3 sets. It includes the cowlings, the 4 .50 caliber machine guns, single 20mm cannon and their mounts, ammunition belts and cases, etc. There is a small fret of photo-etch parts and a small decal sheet of gun bay stencils.
The third set (648544) is a cockpit. It consists of 21 resin pieces, 2 frets of PE parts (including a pre-painted seat harness) and a decal sheet of instrument faces for the blank resin instrument panel. Eduard's multimedia cockpit and radio compartment completely replace Tamiya's plastic parts (except the cockpit floor) and the resin parts are superb. The second photo-etch fret includes the throttle quadrants, radio wiring harness and some bits for the canopy.
Tamiya's new 1/48th scale Lockheed P-38 is a superb, accurate and well detailed kit right out of the box. But if you're looking for something extra Eduard comes to your aid with these superb Brassin sets. The open gun bay in particular lends itself to a maintenance diorama or an "opened up" contest entry. The TFace canopy masks are the final touch to help you display that highly detailed resin cockpit. I recommend these Brassin sets and I would like to thank Eduard for the review samples.
References
P-38 Lightning in Action, Aircraft Number 109, by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1990