Seat Harnesses

RB Productions, 1/24 & 1/32 scales

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

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I discovered RB Productions’ paper-and-etch seatbelts back in 2010-11 when I was building Airfix’s 1/24 scale Mosquito as a Coastal Command FB Mk.XVIII.  Unfortunately the project stalled, but not before I got to grips with the intricacies, and satisfaction, of assembling two RB Productions Sutton QK harnesses.  Putting them together was time-consuming but justified by the quality of the finished products, which provided details unmatched by photo-etched equivalents.

Since then the company’s seatbelt range has increased to 16 – four in 1/24 and the remainder in 1/32 – and in addition to British includes harnesses for US, German, Japanese and Romanian aircraft.  Today I’m looking at two sets of Japanese and one each of British and US seatbelts.

The concept behind all of the sets is the same.  Each contains a fret of photo-etched buckles and attachment points and one or more sheets of pre-cut paper straps.  The photo-etched parts appear to be made from stainless steel – they are certainly more robust than brass, but need to be given the assembly process that follows.  I recall I went through a lot of scalpel blades when I was making the Mosquito harnesses, but notwithstanding this the parts are relatively easy to remove and clean up (nothing like the old Dragon photo etch, for example!)

The paper straps come in two types – a paler buff colour that you peel away from backing paper, and a darker brown colour that you trim away from a surrounding sheet (snipping through attachment points like those on a photo-etched fret).

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Based on personal experience, I recommend you only remove the metal and paper components needed for the section of the harness you’re working on at that time; otherwise, it’s too easy to lose or mix up the parts.

Study the instructions closely before you start putting things together.  Because the harnesses are more-or-less exact, miniature replicas of the real thing, they are complex assemblies and it is easy to get confused.  Fortunately the instruction sheets are small but perfectly formed, containing all of the information you need to bring the harness together. 

You can’t rush construction, because using superglue isn’t an option – the instructions say it will “stiffen and stain the paper” and instead recommend “‘contact glues’ or ‘tacky’ glues” such as ‘Gator Glue’, PACER Formula 560 or PVA.  I used Micro Kristal Klear on my Mosquito harnesses and was happy with the result.

Once you’ve finished your harness it will need to be weathered and in some cases painted.  RB Productions recommends pastels, powders and washes for weathering.  I went easy on washes with my Mosquito harnesses because I was worried that moisture would affect the straps, but I’ve seen some great results on forums where the straps have been subjected to all sorts of washes (including staining with coffee).

It’s good to see RB Productions’ range of seat harnesses increasing.  Paper harnesses are still less popular than photo-etched or microfibre, but I suspect this is mainly due to a lack of broad awareness about the paper product.  Each of the three types has its advantages, and if my recent builds are a guide I don’t favour any one type over the other.  However if you haven’t tried paper harnesses yet I recommend you give the RB Productions sets a go, because if you are careful and take your time they deliver a great result.  I’ll be using the 1/24 Sutton set reviewed here in my big Airfix Typhoon.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to RB Productions for the review sample.

Text and Images Copyright © 2016 by Brad Fallen
This Page Created on 11 August, 2016
Last updated 11 August, 2016

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