Pavla

1/48 TSR-2 Ejection Seats (Martin Baker Mk.8AV) For the Airfix Kit

Stock Number: S48031

Reviewed By  Andrew Birkbeck, IPMS# 27087

MSRP: $5.65 Website: http://www.pavlamodels.cz/ A number of years ago, a firm named Dynavector released an extremely nice 1/48th scale vacuform plastic model of the (and if you believe its supporters an all singing, all dancing) tactical, strike and reconnaissance aircraft, the TSR-2. Fast forward to 2009, and along comes the "new" Airfix (under the Hornby umbrella of firms) with an equally nice 1/48th scale injection molded plastic TSR-2. These lovely Pavla resin cast ejection seats will go nicely with either kit, although ostensibly released to go with the Airfix version. A modeler can add all sorts of fancy scratch built or aftermarket knickknacks to the Airfix cockpit, to transform the rather basic parts that come with the kit. However, for my money, the most economical way to "dress up" a mundane cockpit is to put in some really snazzy ejection seats. And I believe Pavla have provided just such a pair of seats for the modeler to utilize. If I have one criticism of these very nice seats, it is the fact that they are identical, including the sit of the belts. In a perfect world, the masters would have contained subtle differences in the drape of the belts, but other than this, I liked these seats a lot. Of the two seats, obviously the one with the resin-casting block is the Pavla seat! And note that the Pavla seat sits a bit higher than the Airfix version, but lacking reliable reference figures, I can’t tell which is correct. I leave the photos to tell the story. All I have done to the parts is airbrush them with a light gray, followed by a heavy wash of burnt umber oil paint to bring out the details. Highly recommended for anyone on a budget wishing to beef up what Airfix provides in their base kit. My thanks to Pavla for providing IPMS USA with the opportunity to review these resin seats. Check out these and other products in the Pavla line at their web site.