Eduard 1/48 Mk.82 Bombs w/Airbrake Late First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | April 2014 | Manufacturer | Eduard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Mk.82 Bombs w/Airbrake Late | Scale | 1/48 |
| Kit Number | 648137 | Media | Resin |
| Pros | Nicely detailed Snakeyes | Cons | Nothing noted |
| Skill Level | Intermediate | MSRP (USD) | $15.00 |
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 produced a nice set of Mk.82 late-model Snakeye bombs. The Snakeye was developed as a result of a number of combat losses over Vietnam where pilots would release their bombs on target at low level, but because the released bomb was flying at nearly the same speed as the aircraft, the resulting bomb blast would cause serious or catastrophic damage to that aircraft. Taking a lesson from the low-level bombers from World War 2 that employed brake parachutes to quickly slow the bombs before imact, designers developed a replacement tail kit for the Mk.82 500lb bomb which opened four speed brake petals to rapidly decelerate the bomb.
This set provides six standard Mk.82 bombs and six Snakeye tail kits along with two types of fuses for the noses. A set of stripes and stencils are included to reflect that these are live weapons. There are enough bombs in this set to load two TERs or one MER. If your Strike Eagle or Viper is carrying more than one MER, you'll need more than one set to bomb up your aircraft. Note that these bombs are smooth as used by the Air Force. Navy Mk.82s have a textured protective coating on the bomb casings. which can be simulated or simply wait for Eduard to cast some Navy bombs.
Recommended for experienced modelers!
My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!