Eduard 1/72 US Light Weapon Set First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Eduard from the Czech Republic is easily the most prolific producer of aftermarket details. Period. Their series of photo-etched detail sets have brought additional fidelity to otherwise bland subjects, and have taken even the best-produced models and kicked them up a notch or two with details that cannot be produced with injection-molded plastic.

In this release, Eduard has provided an interesting set of World War Two era tactical weapons including Thompson Machine Guns, 'grease guns', M1 Carbines, M1 Gerands, and more.

What is nice about this set is that each of these weapons is replicated by folding over the photo-etched halves to provide scale thickness of the weapons, but they are still thinner than can be readily replicated in styrene or resin. Where applicable, ammo drums are also provided as halves to replicate the drum-fed weapons.

So what is the big deal with a detail set like this? If you build 1/72 armor and military vehicles, personal weapons that would be common around these vehicles are usually lacking. Likewise your 1/72 figures would not be caught out in the open without their personal weapons because you never know when 'Jerry" was going to drop by.

Of course the one subject set that gets overlooked quite often is the array of 1/72 US Navy subjects, most notably the Revell 1/72 USS Gato. If you're posing a landing party with a raft on the deck of your Gato-class, those folks would also keep their Thompsons or grease guns handy 'just in case'.

This set won't really pop out in your diorama or vignette, but there is always something wrong when your soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines are heading into harm's way unarmed. Here is your chance to take care of that detail...

You should be able to find this placard set at your local hobby retailer or one of the many online hobby shops. Trust me, thisis worth looking for!

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!