1:48 Martin-Baker Mk.9 seat belts

A small scale, a big difference in the cabin

In 1:48 the interior is usually the first thing skimped on a finished model, even though more is visible through a slid-back canopy than one would expect. A seat with no harness comes across as a bare shell; as soon as a harness with correctly routed straps lies on it, the cabin gains depth and the viewer reads at once what the seat is. This set deals with exactly that step, and without painting tiny buckles with a brush.

It is worked out for Martin-Baker seats of the matching series, that is for British jet aircraft and for machines that bought British seats. The rendering of the belts is printed including the color distinction of the fabric from the hardware, so after they are applied it is enough to even the surface out with matte varnish.

Where the seat comes from

Ejection seats of British production became almost the norm during the Cold War, and their individual series differ from one another in the arrangement of the harness, the shape of the headrest and the way the leg restraint straps are routed. The Mk.9 is one of them, and a modeler who checks the type of seat against the instructions or a monograph gains a detail that matches one particular machine.

Building advice

In 1:48 the parts are small, so it pays to work with a new blade and tweezers with fine tips. The dipped belt is laid on with a damp brush, straightened along the backrest and left in peace to dry. Use the softener sparingly, so that the thin part does not ripple.

The smaller variant for this seat is entirely adequate for an ordinary build compared with the version for the larger scale. The seat itself and the model are not part of the package.