A Big Ed package brings together Eduard's photo-etched parts and canopy masks for one specific aircraft kit in a single package. Typically that means etch for the cockpit, the exterior and the seat harness alongside self-adhesive masks for the canopy glazing, all cut for the exact mouldings named in the set title. The range spans scales from 1:72 up to the large 1:32, with 1:35 added as aircraft arrived in that format.
Below we explain what the bundle contains, and how to be certain it matches the box you already own.
Big Ed is Eduard's bundling range: several of the firm's separately sold detail items for one kit, collected into a single package. The core is photo-etched metal, thin brass and steel frets carrying detail that injection moulding cannot approach, covering the cockpit, airframe surfaces and bomb bays, together with self-adhesive masks that protect clear canopy parts while you spray. You buy in one go what would otherwise be three or four items, all matched to the same mouldings. Subjects in the range include the PBY-5A Catalina, the F-14D Tomcat and the Gloster Meteor.
The most important part of the title is the suffix naming the kit maker. A Big Ed cut for one company's Avenger will only drop into that company's mouldings; on another firm's version of the same aircraft neither the openings nor the shapes line up. Check your box before ordering, not after.
In 1:72 the etched parts are genuinely tiny and tweezer work takes a calm hour, though the transformation of the cockpit is the most dramatic of any scale. Work is more comfortable on 1:48 aircraft kits and on big 1:32 aircraft kits, where every etched fitting is visible across a room.
Check what is in the box first. Eduard's own better-equipped boxings already carry etch and masks, so Big Ed is aimed mainly at kits from other firms and at basic editions supplied without any aftermarket content.
Looking for resin detail such as an engine or weapons rather than etch? Compare with Big Sin resin sets or browse the full overview of aircraft upgrade sets.
