Eduard 1/48 AN/AAQ-28 Litening Pod First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | January 2016 | Manufacturer | Eduard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | AN/AAQ-28 Litening Pod | Scale | 1/48 |
| Kit Number | 648237 | Media | Resin, Photo-Etch |
| Pros | Nice rendering of the targeting pod | Cons | Nothing noted |
| Skill Level | Intermediate | MSRP (USD) | $8.00 |
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. Many AMS modelers will collect the relevant Eduard photo-etch sets for a given project, but they'll also go out and gather specific resin enhancements as well. Eduard has stepped up with a new product line to complement their photo-etched detail series - Brassin. Brassin is a play on words with Brass and Resin, and in many sets in this series, the resin details also include a set of color photo-etch as well.
In this release, Eduard has replicated the AN/AAQ-28 Litening Pod in 1/48 scale which will be a handy item for a number of projects. You'll recall that the F-16 (Block 40/42) and F-15E were equipped with LANTIRN pods for night attack capabilities. Over time, the LANTIRN targeting pod was becoming obsolete because of its low resolution forcing lower altitude operations. The Litening pod is nearly identical to the LANTIRN targeting pod except it features a much higher resolution sensor system. The Litening pod is fitted to the F-16 MLU, F-16 Block 20, updated Air National Guard F-16 Block 30/32, F-16 Block 40/42, F-16 CCIP-updated Block 50/52, A-10C, F/A-18C/D, AV-8B, and other types. This set will be handy to update a variety of kits on your shelf or on your future project list.
This set includes two resin parts, the pod and the separately molded and posable sensor ball. One fret of photo-etched parts are included with two rear plates (only one needed) for the pod. One sheet of decals are also provided for the pod stenciling. As you can see from the list above, you'll want to stock up on this pod as well as the Sniper XL targeting pod if/when it is released.
My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!