Aires continues its prolific release schedule with a number of recent offerings in 1/48 scales.

All the sets are perfectly cast in grey resin, with minimal cleanup required. Each set has been designed with a minimum of parts, and should be straightforward to assemble:

Aires 4303 - Fw 190 A-8 Cockpit Set for Tamiya
Aires 4303 - Fw 190 A-8 Cockpit Set for Eduard
Aires 4327 - Fw 190 A-3 Cockpit Set for Hasegawa

Aires has produced three new cockpits for three popular Würger kits in 1/48 scale.

All three sets contain eight resin parts, a photo-etched fret with instrument panel and harness, and a printed acetate sheet for instruments.

The breakdown of the resin parts in all three sets is simlar. Detail is gorgeous, right down to bundles of cables underneath the instrument panel and secreted around the front of the cockpit tub. Switches, buttons and handles are crisply rendered on the side consoles. I like the approach to the gun sight too, which is cast integrally underneath the instrument coaming.

There is no doubt that these sets will represent a great improvement over the detail supplied in the Tamiya and Hasegawa kits.

I was a little dubious about the set destined for the Eduard kit however, as the colour photo-etched parts are clearly superior to the photo-etched details supplied in this set. However, Aires' resin tub, the instrument coaming and the seat cushion are more detailed that Eduard's kit parts, so the ideal solution may be to use the kit's photo-etch with the Aires set's resin.

Some modellers consider that the pre-painted colour photo etch is somehow cheating, so they may prefer the DIY painting required by the nickel plated photo-etched parts in this set.