Polish Photo-Etch (PE) company Aber have now branched out from military topics to the “civilian world.” Aber are the first company I have seen to produce PE items for 1/24th scale automotive topics. Based on the samples I have, I believe this will be a boon for the automotive modeler.
The Set
The set consists of a single PE fret and a small single-sided instruction sheet. Within that fret are enough parts to make 40 complete hood pins in two different styles (20 sets based on two per hood).
The Review
Each hood pin consists of three parts (base, pin clip, and pin). Folding of the PE is only necessary if one chooses to use the style that uses the “snap-ring” pin. Assembly is straight forward; take the base, add the hook, and insert the pin. A distinct advantage to this is that the hood pins can be completely assembled off of the model and added after the paint jobs and decals are done. To complete the hood pins, Aber recommends that a thin piece of 0.3mm wire be used as the “dummy cord” for the pin.
SUMMARY
Highs: A very unique detail item for automotive builds. A large quantity of hood pins in two different styles that can be completely assembled off of the vehicle. High “bling” factor. Lows: None. Verdict: A very nice PE set that can certainly add that oft missed detail on the hoods of muscle cars or race cars. Highly recommended.
About Mike High (TacFireGuru) FROM: COLORADO, UNITED STATES
Like most, I started out in my young years; building Monogram armor and aircraft. Joining the Army at 17 in 1981 put a stop to my building for many years, I retired in 2001 and ran across Armorama....I've been re-hooked since.
I'm a notoriously slow builder and seem to have more than one buil...
Well Mike, that IS something different...
Don't build cars, but can see how this would soup-up a kit...
Call me naive, but are the ring parts supposed to be rounded as opposed to flat rings? I know this wouldn't be possible in PE...
Now a more naive question.
The actual necessity of these (in real life) is what? Extra security of the hood at high speeds maybe?
(Can you tell I drive a Volvo? )
Brad
Excellent stuff. Any idea of the price of this jem?
As far as I know, the hood pins started in Nascar as extra security. A lot of muscle cars got hood pins as well. Probably to give them a race car look rather then for safety reasons.
Thanks for the review Mike.
Great review Mike…thanks.
The actual necessity of these (in real life) is what? Extra security of the hood at high speeds maybe?
The real name for them are “Sparco Hood Pins”, most often they are used on fiberglass hoods. They replace the steel hoods to save weight to make the car lighter, also missing would be the hood latches. This is were the hood pins come into play, they lock down the hood. On my drag car I used four sets of pins, not only did I lose the lock down latch I also removed the springs and hinges.
The PE set looks great, pretty much close to the real set.
Joe
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