Eduard 1/72 Brassin HVAR Rockets
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
In many cases, aftermarket sets are designed for a specific subject and often even a specific kit manufacturer. Aftermarket weapons, though, go beyond that, with sets generally designed for use with any model of a particular subject. Occasionally, however, there will be a set that covers not only multiple subjects, but even multiple wars. Such is the case with this new set from Eduard covering HVAR rockets. These rockets saw service in World War II, the Korean War, and even made it into the Vietnam War, where Skyraiders occasionally carried them.
The Rockets
This is a simple and easy aftermarket set that opens up some great potential for a huge range of model subjects. The set comes with eight HVAR rockets, which is how most planes were loaded up. The main rocket body is cast as one piece, with some small photoetch details. One thing you'll have to do is drill out the rocket exhaust, as there is a small photoetch part for the exhausts, along with a second photoetch part for the wire. Other photoetch parts include the mounting points and lifting lugs.
For painting, these are fairly simple, with an olive drab warhead tip and a gray body. The set comes with decals for the handful of stencils that are found on the body, split between yellow for the warhead and black for the rocket body. Silver details round out the finishing of these. What is not included is any mounting hardware, but that's understandable as these could be mounted on any sort of rails. Depending on the subject you're building, you'll have to source type-specific rails or pylons.
Conclusion
If you have an Allied ground attack aircraft from World War Two or the Korean War, and are looking for something to hang under the wings, this is the perfect set to add that bit of variety. My thanks to Eduard for the review sample.