1:48 Japan seat belts WWII type 4

Japanese belts of pattern 4 in 1:48 scale

The set is meant for the cabin of a Japanese aircraft of the Second World War period and is worked out in 1:48 scale. The number type 4 belongs to one of several Japanese patterns that the manufacturer lists as separate items.

Late Japanese machines and their cabins

Toward the end of the war Japan was fielding machines markedly more capable than those it had entered the conflict with. The army Ki-84 Hayate and the naval N1K2 Shiden Kai had powerful engines, heavier armament and a pilot's station worked out to match. Armor on the seat back and sturdier seats appeared on them more often than on the first wartime types, because combat experience had shown how vulnerable light structures were. In such a cabin the harness was still the most conspicuous feature, because it differs in color and in shape from the surrounding metal.

Advice on painting and fitting

First finish the whole inside of the cabin, including the side walls, because once the harness is in place a brush reaches into the space with more difficulty. Let the straps fall over the edges of the seat back, so that the assembly looks soft rather than cast in one piece. If you are building a machine in a dusty operational state, pass a weak light filter over the finished seat; the harness will then age along with its surroundings and will not look freshly issued.

Intended for

• Builders of late Japanese types in 1:48
• Modelers who follow the development of equipment during the war
• Models with an open cabin and with a pilot figure
• Seats on which the kit has cast no harness