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dRdesign
photoetched ¶¶¶¶ Reviewed by dRdesign is a relatively
new company and, as far as I know, the first Brazilian manufacturer
of PE sets for plastic modeling. Alberto Resendes, the man
behind the company, is doing a wonderful job in producing some of
the best PE sets I´ve ever saw. Besides a large
line of PE sets for dioramas, ships, cars and military, dRdesign recently
has started to offer sets for aircrafts in the three most common scales.
There´s no specific set as yet. Instead, the first products
are intended for general use. The first dRdesign
item directed to large scale planes is the Aircraft Interiors set
(no product number). It is a generic set for 1/32 aircrafts, containing
seat belts, gunsights, pedals and throttles. Like all his sets, the
fret comes in a clear CD type case, a neat idea that will keep your
order safe against folding or crushing.  dRdesign aircraft interiors PE fret.
The throttles are
also generic, and they can be ´sandwiched´ according to
your need. Some of them look like pre-WWII items. You also get a pair
of allied type gunsights and another pair of the Luftwaffe/Japanese
type. I´m quite
impressed with the quality of the etching: very crispy, no blurs,
consistent thickness, and very thin fret attachment points. In addition,
the metal used in all dRdesign products is a Cr-Ni stainless steel
type, and so oxidation won´t be a problem. And you don´t
have to bother about painting the buckles (like in brass sets)...
 Enlarged view of the seat belts and buckles.. I know purists don´t like ´generic´ sets. But it is understandable in the case since this is the very first aircraft accessory produced by dRdesign, probably used to ´test´ the uneasy South American modeling market. Hopefully, dRdesign will expand the line for specific subjects. Having talked to the owner, I know this may happen in a near future. Meanwhile, no doubt this set will find its place in many almost-out-of-the-box projects. The quality of the etching is the high point of dRdesign products. The retail price for this set in Brazil is around 8,00 to 10,00 USD, and in my opinion the seat belts/buckles alone are worth the price. dRdesign doesn´t have a website, but they can be reached by e-mail . Recommended. |