Quickboost

1/48 Su-25 Seat and 1/32 MiG 29 Pitot Tube For the Kopro or Revell 1/48 Su-25; Revell or Trumpeter 1/32 MiG-29

Reviewed By  Charles Landrum, IPMS# 26328

Website: www.quickboost.net Two recent releases by Quickboost are needed enhancements for modern Soviet/Russian aircraft kits, in this case the 1/48 Su-25 and the 1/32 Mig-29: Su-25 Ejection Seat with Safety Belts Quickboost QB 48 213 Suggested Retail Price: €4.50 Euro (approx $6.30) There are two 1/48 scale Su-25 kits on the market and there are differing opinions as to which kit is better. In either case, the cockpits are Spartan and need a lot of attention. Quickboost has re-released the Aires K-36 seat for use in these kits. This set is a small kit, consisting of 11 pieces cast in durable gray resin. The seat comes with molded harnesses which I prefer over PE one, because I find them easy to paint and wash, giving a much greater feeling of depth. The detail of the cushions and harnesses is superb, as is the detail of the seat frame. Assembly was pretty straight forward following the instructions. Component locations were clear, but I used photos of the real thing as a double check. I was especially impressed with the attachment of the headrest to the seat back. The ejection cylinder serves to hold these pieces together. Once it is glued into the hole in the back of the seat, the headrest, with a cast hole, slides right over for a solid fit - perfect! The only thing that the modeler needs to add is some fine wire for the O2 hoses. The completed seat is a thing of beauty; the kit seat should not even be a consideration. If you need a K-36 seat, this is the best that I have seen in this scale. As far as I can tell a K-36 is a K-36 so this seat will also work in the Mig-29 and Su-27 kits by Academy.

Mig-29 Fulcrum Pitot Tube Quickboost QB 32 042 Suggested Retail Price: €3.30 Euro (approx $4.60)

A prominent feature of the Mig-29, regardless of variant, is the large pitot tube at the front end of the radome. Quickboost provides a replacement that consists of resin and PE vanes for the root of the tube. The resin and PE are crisply done and all you need to do is to trim the PE from the fret and apply them to the base of the pitot tube. There are no instructions but none are needed. This set can be a replacement for both the Trumpeter kits or the older, but still nice, Revell kits. Since Trumpeter provides both a decent injection molded and even more durable white metal casting, I do not see the benefits of replacing the pitot tube it even though this set is more petite. However, as you can see in the accompanying photo, the completed pitot tube is much better than that provided by Revell making it a valuable addition. Recommended for the Revell kit.