L-39 Seatbelts
for Eduard Kit

Eduard, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Eduard's 1/72 scale L-39 Belts are available online from Squadron.com

I first came across Eduard’s new Super Fabric belts in a Weekend Edition of their 1/72-scale MiG-15 kit I reviewed. At first glance, you could be forgiven for assuming Super Fabric seatbelts are water-slide decals. It is only when you run your finger over their surface that you realise they are thicker than decals and with varying textures and layers.

They combine all the attractions of pre-coloured PE belts without the disadvantages that include attachment points to trim, stiffness and springiness when shaping to the seat, cracking of the colour finish, and thickness when multiple layers are called for. Perhaps a final blessing is you do not use CA glue with them. Just peel them off their backing with fine tweezers, position and secure with PVA (white glue).

I was surprised when I recently reviewed Eduard’s Weekend Edition of the Aero L-39ZA kit here on HyperScale in April this year to find no Superfabric seatbelts were included. The kit has very basic ejection seats, and needs all the help it can get to enhance this area of the model. So no at least, Eduard provide a simple set to address this most basic of detailing needs.

For me, Eduard is a brand name that is synonymous with superb quality, and this is certainly the case with these items, from packaging and instructions to the actual components. Each set comes packed with a large card stiffener sealed in cellophane. Within are the printed instructions and a small sheet carrying the seatbelts. The instructions are downloadable as a PDF from Eduard’s website by clicking here.

Eduard’s Super Fabric seatbelts area real boon for 1/72 scale modellers, offering all of the benefits of coloured PE belts with none of the downsides. I have yet to see them in larger scales, and so I cannot comment with certainty that as the belts get larger this will hold true.

The seatbelt set reviewed here will definitely lift the appearance of any of Eduard’s L-39 kits; I highly recommended it.

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text Copyright © 2015 by Mark Davies
Page Created 17 August, 2015
Last updated 17 August, 2015

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