This Eduard 1/48 DH-2 is a case in point. When I built in back in 2006 it was the first 1/48 biplane I'd attempted, and I believe it was the first Eduard kit I'd come across. I remember being really impressed with the detail overall and the fit of parts, but less happy with all of the interplane and cabane struts being separate parts; getting all of those to line up simultaneously while attempting to glue the upper wing in place was ridiculous. Somewhat dubious about the rigidity of the spindly tail booms, they were replaced with carbon-fibre rod. I was – and still am actually – pretty happy with the replication of doped linen and the ribs, and the simulated transparency of the upper wing. If I were to do it again though, I'd try to suggest the wing spars as well as the ribs. I might also be tempted to add more weathering; then again, I kind of like the understated look.
Perhaps the biggest improvement that could be made is in the rigging. Fishing line was used for most of it, except for the really long sections which were lengths of ceramic wire. Apart from being slightly too heavy for the scale, the ceramic wire isn't even attached in places (like the control horn on the port tailplane, for instance). I'd definitely go with E Z Line next time.
Back in '06 the model was entered in a local contest, and on the drive up to the venue on the previous evening I hit a bump on the freeway. When I arrived the model was just a jumble of struts and wire at the bottom of the box. I took it home and worked on it overnight to re-build it. Unfortunately it was never the same the second time around and even now, I can see glue blobs and some slight misalignments from rushing to fix it. Needless to say, it didn't score well in the contest either.
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