Eduard 1/32 F-100D Super Sabre Slats 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.

When Eduard first introduced the acetate-printed instrument faces that go behind their photo-etched instrument panels, this raised the bar on model cockpit reality as you could almost read the time on the aircraft clock. How could they top that?

It took a number of years, but the answer is color photo-etch. Somehow Eduard has developed a process for printing color directly on their photo-etched parts such that now you not only can read the instrument faces, you can now see the color warning arcs around airspeed indicators and color reference circles around Luftwaffe flight and engine instruments.

Here is a nice enhancement for the Trumpeter kit. These parts provide detail for the area of the wing leading edge exposed with the slats deployed. What's more, this set also tackles the detail on the corresponding undersides of the slats themselves. The result is subtle but visible since these slats were always extended on the ground unless maintenance pinned them closed.

For those who really want to go all the way with the slat details, this set also replicates the complex look of those slat tracks.

You should be able to find this detail 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!