Eduard 1/48 GBU-10 Paveway I 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. 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 the mid-1960s, Texas Instruments developed a bolt-on kit to convert a standard bomb into a laser-guided weapon. The first such weapon was the GBU-1 BOLT-117 using the M117 750 pound bomb which was tested in 1965 and went to Vietnam in 1968. The guidance kits were then adapted to other bombs including the Mk.84 2000lb general purpose bomb which became the GBU-10. More than 10,000 Paveway I bombs were employed in Southeast Asia.

This latest release from Eduard replicates two GBU-10s in the Paveway I configuration as used in Southeast Asia. The set comes with two bombs with tail kits and guidance package molded as in integral unit. A set of four forward guidance fins and your choice of two different seeker heads complete the assembly. A set of decals containing weapons stencils is also included.

If you want to add a nice weapons load to your next Vietnam era project like the recent Academy 1/48 F-4C/D kit, this weapons set is just what you're looking for.

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!