RF-84F Thunderflash
Martin Baker GY5/GT5 Seat

CMK Quick & Easy, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard's 1/72 Avia B.534 IV serie Weekend Edition is available online from Squadron.com

Tanmodel’s 1/48 RF-84F Thunderflash was an impressive debut release from this new kit manufacturer.  However given the RF-84’s use by a range of NATO partners, it’s inevitable that the kit does not capture all the detail variations from the type’s service history.

One example of this is the pilot’s ejection seat.  The kit seat (pictured here) is a serviceable replica of a first-generation ejection seat similar to the Canadair-built example used in the F-86E.  Other seat types fitted to the Thunderflash include the AMI seat also used in later F-84F Thunderjet production blocks and the Martin Baker GY5/GT5 seat, installed in the RF-84s of West Germany and some other NATO operators.

Czech manufacturer CMK has released a suite of enhancement sets for the Tanmodel RF-84, including ailerons, flaps, undercarriage bays, and cameras. 

Tanmodel's plastic seat

There are also several versions of the GY5/GT5 seat for modellers wishing to finish their Thunderflash in West German markings.  One of these seats has cast-on harness straps (catalogue item Q48268) and one does not (Q48269).  The second version is examined here.

CMK has well captured the shape of the Martin Baker seat.  Detail is good – not as crisp as that achieved by some other resin detail manufacturers, but fine for this scale.  The seat’s padding and other nooks and crannies will lend themselves well to painting and weathering.  Casting quality is reasonably good; there are a couple of minor, almost unnoticeable blemishes on one of the armrests of the review sample, and what appeared to be a fragment of material from the mould stuck to the top left hand side of the seat frame.  This was however easily removed with a curved probe. 

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In one way this is a simple set to use – saw away the casting block below the seat pan and install your seat in the cockpit.  However the absence of harnesses will need to be addressed, either through scratch-building your own or installing a pilot figure in the cockpit.  I’d also recommend studying photos of German and other RF-84s fitted with Martin Baker seats to see if there were any other changes introduced in the cockpit at the same time.  There are plenty of references available online to help you with this.

CMK’s Martin Baker ejection seats are welcome additions to the range of aftermarket parts for Tanmodel’s 1/48 RF-84F, because they allow a greater variety of airframes to be accurately modelled.  My personal preference would be to use the version of the seat with cast-on belts, but many modellers, I’m sure, will appreciate the possibilities associated with the stripped back version reviewed here. 

Thanks to CMK for the review sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2017 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 16 October, 2017
Last updated 16 October, 2017

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