IPMS/USA Reviews

These Hawker Tempest resin wheels replace the already nice kit plastic wheels. The stand out features are the extra detail on the rims and tire side walls, flat spots and they are single pieces.

The kit wheels are supplied in two halves to be glued together and the seam dealt with.  The resin wheels just have to be removed from the resin pour block with a razor saw. This is located under the flat spot. If you are careful cutting it off, you only need a few swipes with a sanding stick to smooth out the cut, and the wheel is ready for paint.

Paint masks are supplied and fit nicely, resulting in great looking wheels that really compliment Eduard's superb Tempest Mk V model. These are a direct fit replacement, although I found the axel holes needed to be opened a little for a good fit.

My thanks to Eduard and the IPMS for the opportunity to review this fantastic product.

Omega's REP 1912 Floats is a full resin kit of an aircraft designed by Robert Esnault-Pelterie. This is a difficult kit and should only be attempted by modelers experienced working with resin kits and shaping parts to get a proper fit.

Background (from Wikipedia)

Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (R.E.P.) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics. The Vickers R.E.P. Type Monoplane was based upon his designs and marked the beginning of aircraft production at the later Vickers Limited. In 1912 Esnault-Pelterie introduced the REP Type N and in 1914 the REP Parasol monoplane. He was the inventor of the "joystick" flight control and was the first to equip his aircraft with seatbelts for pilots. The R.E.P. Type K Float Plane was constructed in 1913 of fabric-covered steel frame construction with a triangular cross-section fuselage. The two-seater float plane had an 80 hp Le Rhone engine and was tested for the first Schneider Trophy Race for seaplanes in 1913 in Monte Carlo.

I have a couple of Trumpeter and the Hobbycraft versions of the Hawker Sea Fury in my growing stash, waiting for a rainy day project to come around. I really like the brutish appearance of this big five-bladed prop driven monster. I've had my eye on the Fundekals Sea Furies sheets for a while, with their collective choice of 18 different sets of markings for the type. I purchased several Barracuda Studios aftermarket goodies for the Trumpy kits, planning to do the colorful Canadian Navy Arctic Research version from the Pt I sheet, and maybe one of the Australian Navy blue birds from the Pt II sheet.

This a simple resin set that replaces the exhaust stacks on Eduard's new Tempest Mk V kit.

The plastic parts supplied in the kit feature solid exhaust pipes that will need to have the ends either painted black or, as I typically do, hollowed out to show depth.

The resin exhausts feature nice weld seam detail and are hollowed out. They are a drop in replacement for the plastic parts. A razor saw is best used to remove the resin pour block, painting and a quick sanding readies the exhaust to be slotted into the nose cowl.

Thank you to Eduard and the IPMS for the chance to review another fantastic release from Eduard.

Thank you to the Eduard Company for sending this detail set for review, it is always a pleasure to see what your new products bring to the scale modeling world. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work in getting us modeling products to review, the reviews posted, and the news spread to the world.

The photoetch frets arrived in excellent shape in a sealed (and reseal-able!) plastic package with the distinctive Eduard knight logo. A color instruction sheet is included in the package, and Eduard also has the same instruction sheet available for download on the product page. I really appreciate having the electronic PDF format to mark up on my computer, not to mention the ability to easily enlarge for my aging eyeballs. The required kit modifications are clearly indicated. I had no difficulties at all building up the larger PE parts and attaching them to the kit. Eduard has well-placed and designed fold lines to assist with the build-up. The etched fold lines helped very much with precise folding.