Eduard 1/48 Luftwaffe Fighter Crew By Mike Whye

Introduction

Eduard has come out with another set of figures in 1/48 scale. This time it’s kit #8512 is labeled “Luftwaffe Fighter Crew 1944” although it’s not just fighter pilots as one might expect. Of course, a look at the box top reveals that immediately as three of the six figures are clearly fighter pilots and the others are members of the ground crew. Their attire suggests a summertime setting. Once more, however, what you see on the box top is not what you get. Like Eduard has done on its other 1/48 figure sets, the contents don’t match those figures depicted on the box top but the contents do match what‘s on the instruction sheet which is a good thing.

The Kit

Two of the pilots are sitting in lawn chairs of that era. The frameworks of the chairs (eight pieces each) are provided and Eduard gives instructions on how to make the fabric for the lawn chairs out of thin paper. The third pilot is standing, looking up as if hearing the sound of approaching aircraft (Me-109s coming home or P-47s on patrol?). All three pilots wear lightweight summertime flying jackets. The standing one has a regular hat, one of the sitting pilots is bareheaded and the other has a soft cap.

One of the ground grew is also paying attention to the sky…..he has his head cocked with a hand up near one ear, as if listening to whatever’s coming. Another member is carrying a bucket. These two are wearing lightweight shirts. The third is without shirt and he has a foot raised so he can be posed with it upon the wheel of an aircraft (or whatever else might suit your purpose); he’s also wearing shorts so perhaps you can use him in a North Africa scheme if you wish. The instructions are to paint the long pants dark gray and the shirts light gray…..this is news to me because I thought all the ground crew folks wore black clothing; I’m not saying I’m right and Eduard is wrong, just that I could be learning something here. The guy with the raised foot is instructed to have his shorts painted black.

As for the pilots’ clothing, their pants are to be blue-gray and the jackets….well, that’s up to you as they are leather. One is recommended to be blue-gray and the others are to be mahogany.

The plastic is medium-gray styrene and the parts appear to be molded well. Several pieces are very thin and will require care, especially the components of the lawn chairs. All of the faces look exceptionally good. However, a couple sink marks are noticeable on the backs of two of the figures and they are quite obvious. Although one is to sit in the chair, the other is standing so you might put in a small small bit of putty to fill the depression or else the guy is going to look like he just got drilled by a .50 caliber bullet and, by gosh, those were P-47s the other two guys were hearing after all!

The pieces come on two sprues in a sealed plastic bag and with a set of instructions that show clearly how everything fits and is to be painted.

Conclusion

Eduard’s kit #8512 is shown to have a price of $12.95 on Eduard’s website and, other than needing a bit of putty as noted above, you will have six good figures for a small diorama or two.

Thanks to Eduard for supplying the figures for review.