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Martin Baker Mk.6 Ejection Seat 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby This seat from CMK in their Quick & Easy Line is a drop in replacement fro any kit seat. The Mark 6 has been used in a variety of aircraft over the years including the Mirage III, Kfir, Cheetah, Kestrel, MB326 & G.91 Review sample courtesy of

Martin Baker Ejection Seat Handles (73611) 1:72 Eduard I've long said that the one thing you can do to improve a basic cockpit is to add harnesses to the seat. Now Eduard have taken things a step further by creating a set of pull handles for Martin Baker ejection seats. No need to make them out of fuse wire when you can snip one from this handy fret. Included are handles for the Mk.5, Mk.7, Mk.GRU 7, MK.10, Mk.12, Mk.16E US and Mk.16A. Review sample courtesy of

MB Ejection Seat Handles (49740) 1:48 Eduard Martin Baker are almost ubiquitous in their provision of ejection seats to western aircraft manufacturers, so you'll see plastic renditions of their wares in a lot of kits. What often isn't supplied however is the actuation handles that launch the pilot skyward in the event of a catastrophic problem with their ride. Sometimes they're supplied as over-thick loops but you have to paint them, which isn't the easiest of tasks. Guess what? This set contains a number of different types for the variants used over the years, and they're all supplied on a nickel-plated and pre-painted fret of brass, so you don't have to bother even painting those fiddly stripes. You get the following: 4 x MB Mk.5 4 x MB Mk.7 4 x MB Mk.GRU7 3 x MB Mk.10 3 x MB Mk.12 4 x MB Mk.16 US 16E 4 x MB Mk.16A Where appropriate both the handles on the headbox and at the front of the seat cushion are provided, plus the little yellow or striped handles on the cushion sides. To obtain stripes running across both sides and give them a more 3D feel, they are folded together, and can be glued with CA to keep them together. A coat of gloss varnish will also give a more rounded appearance too. Conclusion A very useful addition to a kit seat, or even a resin replacement that doesn't include them in the box. There are plenty on the sheet too, and as long as you're not building just one aircraft type, they will last a while, all being well. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A-6 Intruder Exhaust Set & MB GRU5 Ejection Seats 1:48 Hypersonic Models These sets from our friends at Hypersonic are aimed squarely at the new(ish) EA-6 Intruders from Hobby Boss, which are pretty well detailed out of the box, but not up to Jeffrey's high standards, which has resulted in a couple of sets to both increase the detail and ease the build process of the exhausts a little. Both sets arrive in ziplok bags, with the comprehensive instructions on glossy paper stapled to the rear. Any delicate parts such as Photo-Etch (PE) is protected by a small slip of thick cards to prevent damage during transit/storage. A-6 Intruder Exhaust Set (HMR48017) The kit exhausts are split along their length around the curved section, and replicated by cylinder-shaped sections on the straight, with a separate engine rear face that is… well, shockingly poor compared to the rest of the kit. This resin replacement throws all those parts out, opting for a series of five cylindrical sections that remove the need for any sanding of seams, but also allows the parts to be moulded at a more scale thickness to improve realism. The difference between the resin and kit is akin to chalk and cheese, with lovely engine face detail with stator-blades, central bullet fairing and a delicate PE insert that fits between the two parts that make up this area. The two curved sections are added next, kinking outboard to the straight section that is the highly detailed tip of the exhaust. Each part is keyed with small blocks and cut-outs, so getting things lined up should be easy enough, and each part has a small raise number preceded by L or R so that you don't get the parts mixed up once the casting blocks are removed. When you have glued all the parts together, the casting numbers can be sanded off before painting the outside. Painting of the interior is probably best done before construction, and take care to remove any mould release residue in warm soapy water (or isopropanol) before you start painting. To install these corrected nozzles in the kit, you will need to thin the area of the fuselage into which they are fitted, which has been pointed out in two diagrams showing the inside and outside views, with shading where the work needs to be done. Another diagram highlights a tooling mistake on one of the kit parts, and how to remedy it by reducing the corner to a curve. Martin Baker Mk.GRU5 Ejection Seats (HMR48022) These seats were used in the Intruder until the mid-seventies when they were replaced by more modern GRU.7s that are supplied in the Hobby Boss kit, correcting your seat if you are modelling the early version. The package includes two seat bodies with plenty of moulded-in detail, plus a separate casting block containing a number of small detail parts. One tiny part was missing from my set, but was probably loose in the bag before I carelessly tipped them out. The moral of the story – check the bottom of the bag, and tip the contents out onto a clean desk. The seat just needs a wash and prime before painting, and this is probably best done before adding the smaller parts. Two diagrams show you which colours to use where on the seat, using generic colour names rather than paint codes for one particular manufacturer. There is a fine resin pull-handle that activates the seat and face curtain at the top of the headbox, and this has a web of resin in the middle that needs removal with a new blade before it is fitted to the headbox. The little part at the top of the seat's firing tube is easily installed (if you haven't lost it), and a pair of tie-rods are then added to the rear of the seat on either side, with the other end attached to the bulkhead behind. The extra detail of the seat, the realistic moulded-in seat belts that are subtly different between the two seats (everyone else, take note!) and the quality of casting makes these hard to resist. Conclusion The kit seats (GRU.7s) are incorrect for the early A-6, and these resin replacements will lift the detail nicely with very little effort, while the improvement to the exhausts is massive, giving a much better scale appearance and detail to the area once fitted. Jeffrey's attention to detail is legendary, and it shows in every set he makes. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I am gathering aftermarket bits and bobs in preparation to start working on Kinetic's Sea Harrier FA.2. One thing that I can't seem to find, however, is a resin ejection seat with molded-in belts for this plane. I've taken a look at the MB Mk.10s from Wolfpack Designs but they seems to be the wrong type of seat, featuring a slightly different head box compared to the SHAR seat. Thus, can anyone point me in the right direction to get the correct seat? Thanks! Mark

This thread will be a work in progress and will be updated as more pictures come in. Pics mine unless noted. Martin Baker MK.1