Scale aviation modeller international

panel, for the clear lenses you

can either paint the dials with

a gloss varnish, or sandwich

a piece of thin clear acetate

between the two etched pieces.

The self-adhesive placards

supplement the decals to

really bring the cockpit to life

and add a splash of colour to

the otherwise drab dark grey,

RLM66 interior colour.

The Eduard set also provides

pre-coloured parts for the bank of

radio receivers and transmitters

found on the rear cockpit wall. To

install these parts, you have to

remove the moulded raised details

from the radios. Once again the

etched brass replacements build

up in layers to provide a nice three

dimensional look to the faces.

The pilot’s side console, with

the throttle levers, flap levers,

and various other controls, is very

impressive out of the box. Eduard

provides numerous replacement

parts that, apart from the control

levers (which to my eye appeared

too thin), were used to replace

and enhance the kit pieces.

Because there are a number

of clear inspection panels in the

floor, the floor panel for the pilot

and radio operator/rear gunner

is provided as a clear piece (Part

I159). The mask set included

in the Big Ed set has masks for

these, which saves you a fiddly

job of cutting your own masks.

When you consider the amount

of abuse they get, Luftwaffe rudder

pedals are rather delicate-looking

items. The kit pedals are as fine

as you can get using injection-

moulding technology, but they

have a fair bit of flash around

them and are connected to the

sprue by rather large gates.

Hoping Eduard would replace

them with some more delicate

brass parts, I was rather surprised

and disappointed to see that they

only provide the top half of the

pedal. When you consider that

they provide replacement parts

for plastic pieces that don’t need

enhancement, it’s a shame that

the rudder pedals don’t receive

a full set of new parts as well.

The bomb aimer’s footrest,

which is made from wood in

the real aircraft, was next (Part

H160). To represent this, Eduard

provide a panel with a wood-

grain effect etched into it. To me,

however, this looked rather heavy

and unconvincing. Fortunately,

tucked away in the depths of my

spares box, I had a piece of very

thin laminate wood (acquired,

free of charge, from a local

tobacconist; it had been used as

a divider in boxes of cigars).

Using the etched piece as a

template, I trimmed a piece of the

wood to size and then superglued

it into place. Once set it was sanded

back with fine sandpaper, then

varnished and painted in RLM 66.

Just as the paint was drying, I used

a cotton bud dipped in thinners

to cut the paint back to reveal the

wood, representing the wear and

tear caused by the aircrew’s boots.

By this point, It was starting

to get a bit hard to keep track of

which parts had been replaced

and enhanced, but the cockpit

was very quickly turning into

an impressive looking area. The

crew seats were next, enhanced

Eduard’s instrument panel

Belly gunner’s gondola with etched frame and

plastic card knee pad

Wiring loom made from thin copper wire

Fuselage sides together with all that lovely

cockpit detail sandwiched in between. Seat

belts are Eduard items

Cockpit progress with Eduard’s radio faces

added over the kit parts

Cockpit looking forward

Cockpit from above, showing the worn paint

effect for the bomb aimer’s foot plate

Cockpit underside with the homemade wiring

loom

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