1/1 Aces II ejection seat reproduction by Olivier "Red Dog" Beaumont

Beside modelism, I do a lot of military flight simulation and building a full working cockpit was a goal I set some years ago. Finally, I decided to have a go at it by starting the construction of the AcesII seat since the cockpit will be a Viper MLU pit. The seat was done in wood, aluminium sheets, resin, plastic parts and a lot of products and techniques I used in my modelling hobby. The idea was to build a full scale model in scratch that I could use for my simulation hobby. Since the beginning, I considered this advendure to be part of my modelling experience.
The seat was done is four steps. First the seatpan, then the back rest with the head rest plate and finally assembling, detailling, painting and wheatering. You'll see I used some resin after marked goodies for the seat but unfortunately, I couldn't find photoetched parts

! I did made some aluminium parts on a mill and a lathe though!

The drawings I used as basic references are the ones made by Speedone (A dutch fellow who probably started the first Aces2 reproduction) His set of drawing was modified to suit my needs. As reference I used the verlinden lock-on book on the F-16 and the well known Daco book on the F-16. The wood I used is MDF 18 and 12mm. Aluminium are 0.5mm sheets. I also used some real parts I found a little everywhere on the Web.

The back rest was much more complicated than the seat pan. Different challenges were foreseen such as the placement of the seatbelt mecanism, the three axis curve of the aluminium sheet and the headrest buiding- probably the most complicated part of the seat. The body was assembled first using mainly white glue and screws. A thin metal plate was riveted on top of the lateral side for easier detailling. It will also nicely blend the parachute container with the main body of the backrest.
The headrest was made in wood as well using some part heavily sanded in different plans and a lot of modelling filler :) Even plasticard were used. The roller mecanism is made out of wood cylinders turning on a common axis. They are inserted in a small assembly which is glued on the back side of the headrest.

It was really tricky to place the large sheet of metal on the back rest because of the multiple curves in three different plans. But starting in the middle and not cutting the sheet before placing was the trick to get a good result. I also heat formed the sheet with quite a powerful hairdryer! When correctly riveted, the metal sheet was cut with a cutter along the wood panels. The headrest was finally placed on top of the mainbody.

Here's the part I loved the most - nothing really surprising from a modelism point of view! The side panels of the seat needed extensive detailling to make all the tiny parts and handles. It was quite comparable to go fishing for parts in the scrap box. Except that I fished in hardware shops and in leftover metal parts. It is also here that some parts were cast in resin (with the help of a friend). The cable system on the side of the backrest was found in plumber hardware while the rollers were machined on the lathe from an 50mm aluminium cylinder. The seatpan sides were detailled using the resin bumps, rivets and a sheet of plasticard for making the white part below the knee protection. The emergency release handle was done in PVC and machined on the mill (quite bigger than my proxxon mini mill) as are some other pieces such as the seat arm lever, ...

At this stage, here's what the seat looked like: The seat is not inclined properly yet. I also took the liberty to install it on 2 wheels because obviously, it's not lightweight.

The seat arm lever will depress a microswitch that is wired to the computer through an X-key controller. That will allow me to make interaction with the flightsim through programming the keystrokes. The oxygen system is done in scratch as well

using sheet of metal. whenever I have to make a metal part out of the aluminium sheet, I first make a paper template and bend according to the drawing. if the part fit, then I cut the metal sheet and bend it. The seat shoulder straps will be attached to a car seatbelt mecanism placed inside the seat. That will allow the seatbelts to reel inside the seat as in the real deal.

Part 4: painting and decalling:
The seat was primed in white and a coat of gull gray was sprayed afterwards. A coat of varnish was then sprayed as well to protect the paintwork from future abuse. The decals were done with the computer and printed on sticky white paper. Before gluing them on the seat, a clear sheet of transparent plastic was applied as well. The seat was then wheathered using dark aluminium paint (for the paint chips) and some darker washes of brown and black paint. Instead of drybrushing, I sprayed some strategic spots with a lighter gray. When all was done, the black cables were placed as all the pending details such as the ejection handle (that is interconnected to the computer as well.) The cushions and belt (real parts) were placed...and I was finally able to seat in it

It has been a thrilling 4 months intensive experience between a 1:32 F-16 and a 1:48 Spitfire. I learned a lot of new techniques solving the problems I encountered. But I must confess, my modelling experience helped me a great deal in the building of my first 1:1 model. I also have to thanks a lot of guys having helped on this project!