1:48 Douglas A-4C Skyhawk - Cockpit PE Zoom Set for HobbyBoss

A narrower selection, clearly defined

This item contains only that part of the full set which ends up in the cockpit. The instrument panel, the side consoles, the levers and the seat harness come with a printed surface, whereas the sheet-metal covers and the small items for the outside of the airframe are not here. Harness straps with printed stitching and buckle fittings look more convincing than anything that could be made from plastic in this scale. For a good many builds that is a sensible choice: the cockpit is the one place where the detail of a finished model really gets looked at close up, and the rest disappears under the finish anyway.

Why the name deserves attention

A designation stating in the name that this is the cockpit part is not something to be taken for granted. With older sets of this type both variants used to be named the same and they could be told apart only by the manufacturer's catalog number. The new way of writing it, with the scope given directly in the name, removes that problem and spares a needless mistaken purchase.

Working with printed photo-etched parts

The set is fitted at the start of the build, into the open fuselage. The original plastic panel is sanded flat so that the new part seats on it without a gap, and it is glued in spots with thin cyanoacrylate glue. The printed areas are neither primed nor sprayed; they can be brought out at most with carefully wiped-off water-based paint. A strong thinner will damage the printing, so leave the usual varnish procedures to the plastic parts. Surplus glue cannot be wiped off a printed surface, so dose it with a pin and never straight from the bottle.