1:35 A6M2 ZERO - Seatbelts

Textile belts for the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero in 1:35 scale

Seatbelts of a thin fabric completed by photo-etched fittings and buckles. Unlike metal photo-etch, the cloth behaves like a real strap: it can be made to sag, folded over the edge of a seat and left to fall freely onto the floor of the cockpit. In a large scale, where the cockpit is clearly visible, this difference decides the credibility of the whole build.

The real subject

The Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 was a carrier fighter aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the machine with which the Pacific war began. Folding wingtips let it fit into the elevators of aircraft carriers, a light construction and a drop tank gave it a range that nobody on the other side expected, and in 1941 it surpassed in agility practically everything that took off against it. What was paid for that was the absence of pilot armor and unprotected fuel tanks, which from 1943 became fatal.

Fitting into the cockpit

• Separate the fabric along the indicated edges with a sharp scalpel.
• Fit the fittings with tweezers and fix them with a negligible drop of super glue.
• Draw the strap between your fingers; it will take a natural bend without sharp edges.
• Do not varnish the surface of the cloth; it would lose the matte texture of the fabric.
• Let the ends of the belts fall over the seat; an empty cockpit then comes across more alive.

Whom the belts will serve

For builders of aircraft models in a large scale who want tangible cloth in an open cockpit instead of flat metal. The work is finer than with ordinary photo-etch, but the result will bear a close look and a photograph.

The package consists of fabric belts and photo-etched fittings; the seat and the rest of the cockpit do not belong with them.