Eduard 1/48 Yak-38 Ejection Seat Set First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Eduard from the Czech Republic is easily the most prolific producer of aftermarket details. Period. Their series of photo-etched detail sets have brought additional fidelity to otherwise bland subjects, and have taken even the best-produced models and kicked them up a notch or two with details that cannot be produced with injection-molded plastic. Many AMS modelers will collect the relevant Eduard photo-etch sets for a given project, but they'll also go out and gather specific resin enhancements as well. Eduard has stepped up with a new product line to complement their photo-etched detail series - Brassin. Brassin is a play on words with Brass and Resin, and in many sets in this series, the resin details also include a set of color photo-etch as well.

In this release, Eduard has produced a nicely detailed ejection seat for the HobbyBoss 1/48 Yak-38 Forger kit. According to the write-ups on the aircraft, the Forger was equipped with an automatic ejection system that would automatically fire should the aircraft pitch or roll beyond 60 degrees while the lift engines were operating. At this critical phase of flight, failure of a lift engine which is operating below normal flight speed of the Yak-38 would result in a sudden pitch or roll event and the seat has extracted over 30 pilots in such emergency conditions.

The set includes the ejection seat cast in multiple parts gray resin, while the actuator handles, pilot restraints, and placards provided on the color-printed photo-etched parts. You'll need two sets of this ejection seat if you're building the Yak-38U Forger B trainer.

This is a nice visual enhancement for the HobbyBoss Forger kits. Grab one (or two) set(s) for your next Russian Navy VTOL project.

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!