Kits-World Decals 1/32 3D Seat Belts Decal Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

Kits-World has joined several other manufacturers in employing color 3D printed details/decals with the release of a number of seat belt sets in 1/32 scale. While the majority of their initial offerings are from World War I, you can also see some World War 2 sets as well which will be handy. Like similar sets out there, these seatbelts/shoulder harnesses are color-printed onto clear decal film and can be treated just like a normal decal with a few caveats.

I wanted to try one of these Fokkers out, and I used one from their Albatros D.II/III/V set. On opening the package, you'll note that there are no instructions or warnings on using these. Since I didn't have the appropriate crew seat out of an Albatros, I elected to use a spare Blackhawk crew seat instead. The seat is primed with Stynlerez black and no clear coat. I cut the 'H' harness from the sheet, then dipped it in water. The decal came free as normal and I laid it out onto the seat. While these are indeed 3D printed, they're not thick, so they conform to various surfaces with no issues. On the front side of the seat, I didn't press the decal to the seat near the bottom to try for a natural droop. I set the seat aside for a while to dry.

The decals adhere nicely and the harness on the front side didn't completely adhere to the seat back, which is what I wanted. The surfaces that I did press down on are there to stay, and the silver buckles at the bottom are also adhering to the seat. To keep the harness from popping loose again during handling, I applied a bit of thin cyano to give them extra help. From an appearance point of view, the printed details are nicely done from the stitching details to the metal (silver) parts, these are ready to use right out of the package. Having just used seat belts from another 3D company, those were a little thicker and less tolerant of conforming to complex surfaces without some help. Had I used the color-printed Eduard photo-etch here, the sharp turn at the top of the seat will usually cause the color printing to flake off the bent areas. No such problems here. I did not use any decal setting or softening solutions here as other 3D printed products don't react well to those chemicals. It would have been nice for Kitsworld to provide such warnings in these sets.

I'm impressed with these decal/detail sets from Kitsworld and I hope they expand their selections soon. I could really use some 1/32 or 1/35 crew restraints for U.S. Army helicopters (hint hint).

My sincere thanks to Kits-World Decals for the review samples!