Seat belts and Instruments

[Guest]

I am sure most of you guys on here have done this, but this is my first try.

Thanks to the very useful seat belt making threads, I have put together these belts for my current build, a Tamiya Bf109 1/48. They are made of normal masking tape, which gives a nice texture and it was folded over to give some 'thIckness'. They were painted tan. The buckles and catches were made out of 5 amp fuse wire.

I felt that the decals for the instrument panel were a little poor, so I bit the bullet and had a go at painting it myself. Once the base grey coat was painted and dried, I painted the needles on the dials, my one haired paint brush was still too thick so some of the paint missed! But once I had dripped some very thin black into the dials, the overpainting was corrected as the instrument detail was higher. Gentle dry brushing with light grey highlighted the dials. Finally, floor gloss filled the dials to level them out and give the impression of glass faces.

After all of that, I feel all cross eyed!

Thanks again to all of the tips and tricks this forum and it's people give.

Regards

Scuff

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[Guest]

Nice work, came out excellent. Great job.

Andy

[stona]

That's a fine effort. At 1/48 it's not easy. At 1/32 I cheat and by the paper and photo etch belts from RB productions. These are some late war green belts made from a synthetic material.

A fiddle to make up,here's the shoulder straps.

And the whole shebang in situ in the cockpit of a Ta152. Ignore the engine to the right!

I recommend these belts but they will leave you just as cross eyed as Scuff's. It takes me two to three hours to make a set up.

By the way,contrary to Radu's advice I do use PVA glue....carefully

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

I agree Steve. Gator glue was used for making and fixing the belts.

[stona]

I agree Steve. Gator glue was used for making and fixing the belts.

Yep and with a little care it is not a problem. It certainly hasn't done your belts any harm !

Cheers

Steve

[Dave W]

Your belts look good scuff.i made some in 1/32 out of the same materials and found it incredibly fiddly to do.I have to admit ive given up making my own and buy the prepainted Eduard ones now.

[mossiepilot]

Nice start Graham.

And the belts look great, how did you make them look frayed ? Brilliant

Keep up the good work.

Tony.

[Guest]

Nice start Graham.And the belts look great, how did you make them look frayed ? Brilliant

Keep up the good work.

Tony.

Thanks Tony. I think it is just the nature of the masking tape and the high magnification of the image that gives the frayed look.

[yak face]

Top work graham! The belts look excellent, and its definitely NOT easy in 1/48. I did some in the same method on a fw 190 , Very fiddly! Its one of the most noticeable parts of an aircraft build though, and really lifts a cockpit . Cheers tony

[BarryW]

Very impressive indeed.

[Guest]

Thanks guys. I think it was worth the effort, I tried to make them in approx the same layout as ones on real Me109's, and also drilled out the back of the seat to allow the belts to pass through. The cockpit looks reasonably convincing to the naked eye and not magnified.

Obviously, the detail is not as fine as PE belts, but I do prefer the 'depth' and fabric feel of these making tape scratch built ones.

Thank you all again for taking the time to give your views.

Regards

Scuff

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