The set comes securely packed in a flip-top box with plenty of foam to cushion the parts. What I'm not a fan of, though, is the way all the parts have been clumped together in one zip-lock bag, because they've rubbed together in transit - you'll see later that the pale grey detail parts left marks on the black life raft. The issue could have been avoided if the parts had been packed separately.

The set comprises:

9 x grey resin parts

1 x black

5 x etched brass parts

The detail is really excellent throughout, and preparation and assembly look to be straightforward. With the 3D printed parts sitting on a series of thin "stalks", clean-up should be quick and easy. On the downside, the black colour the raft is printed in will anything but ideal for painting yellow over, so I strongly recommend undercoating it with white.

As you can see in the photos, it's also something of a proverbial "dust magnet". Some of the pale flecks are from the grey parts rubbing together in transit (and this is after cleaning the worst off). Perhaps the material is prone to holding a small static electric charge that attracts the particles.

Eduard give you two options of how to use the set - an open compartment with the raft and its accessories stowed in bags, or the raft inflated and deployed for use. So, the set lends itself to a depicting servicing scene or a much more ambitious diorama with the Wildcat ditched. For the latter, though, you'd have to sort out a pilot figure and modify it to fit the raft (perhaps Eduard have one planned?).

As usual, Eduard provide a set of clearly illustrated instructions with matched for Gunze Sangyo paints. Something they haven't done this time is to highlight the surgery required on the kit fuselage. Because of this I'm guessing you don't need to thin the plastic to accept the stowage compartment, but I wouldn't take it for granted.

Conclusion

This is a finely detailed set, and the life raft is so nice I wouldn't be surprised if Eduard release it separately. It looks straightforward enough to be suitable for newcomers to using aftermarket upgrades - just be aware you'll need to do some basic surgery to install it.

Item #648770 is available now from Eduard - Price: £6.65

Many thanks to Eduard for the review sample.

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