by: Mike Still [ ]
Someone quicker on the uptake than I once said that a great seat makes a good cockpit. Custom Aeronautical Miniatures offers these MK. 7's for use in post-Vietnam era 1/32 F-4's, and they are in keeping with the quality of many of their other 'bang seat' releases.
The seats come two to a package, making the $14.95 price tag pretty attractive. Detail is good, with good undercuts, cast-on harnesses and good rear frame representation. Castings are of a good finish and are effectively bubble- and pinhole-free. You will have to make your own face curtain handles from sprue or wire, but they're easy enough to fashion and attach with super glue.
The only real drawback is that the seats are from the same mold -- harness drapings are identical.
Casting blocks are minimal in size and a quick run with a Dremel sanding drum and a file should make quick work of them. I can't stress this enough -- wear a respirator or filter mask when sanding any kind of resin!!
These are Mk 7's and not the Mk. H5's found in F-4B/C/D and original-run J Phantoms (I'm not sure about F-4E's) , so they'll be appropriate for mid-1970's to current Phantoms. I checked with a few folks at 2002 Nats, and they said that Mk. H5's would be the proper seats if you're doing Cunningham and Driscoll's MiG-killer CAG F-4J.
These should be a drop-fit into the Tamiya or any of the Revell 1/32 F-4's (including the ancient 1970's era F-4's if you're feeling like a real he-man/she-woman modeling challenge), and a careful paint job will make them eye-catchers.
Mike Still
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About Mike Still (modelcitizen62) 40-year model builder: big on RAF and USN, but will build just about anything that strikes my fancy. - given my past buying habits, Spitfires are striking my fancy like buckshot >B^D Copyright ©2021 text by Mike Still [ ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved.
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