PSJDBF

Hey Patti , hope things are good with you & Richard.
I have made a start on the pilot I found a 1/6th scale Japanese flight suit that I just extended & think it came out ok.
The painting of the face has been a new challenge, I think I have a half asian/pacific islander But am fairly happy with the result, I also have the limbs flexing well with the moving joystick & rubber pedals.
Do you have any tips for the face ? the only thing I'm really worried about is he has quite a shocked look on his face [] not a good look for the Pilot of your Pride & joy .
Thanks once again for everything & will be in touch again soon.
Steff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRBOrjIT4oU

PSJDBF

Finished Painting him up today & added some outlining to his eyes & think it has improved the shocked look for sure.
And more importantly is his weight... bugger all ...very lite indeed.
Cheers Patti.
Regards Steff.

P4Patti

Hey Steff

Good job with you pilot. That was great finding a 1/6 Jap flightsuit and as I mentioned they fit our 1/5 slim body body with some length adjusting. I can see where you've lengthened the sleeves and it works a treat. The harness is great too. Eventually we'll make harnesses in the larger sizes, when the mill is up and running to make the buckles.

That's a good effort for your first go at face painting, the outlining of the eyes made a big difference to the eyes too. The other tip I could suggest is making the whites of the eyes less prominent. Less white showing (look in the mirror at your own eyes from a distance) and not pure bright white. You can tone down the white with a pinch of yellow ochre or burnt sienna (a red/brown) just to take that snow white from the white. Also, you don't usually see the whole or nearly the whole iris, a full circle with lots of white showing gives that wide eyed startled look. Also having the eyebrows high can give a surprised expression. Have a look at photos and have one in front of you to copy when you're painting, it really helps.

If you paint the irises like a pair of ( ) with the top and bottom lids intersecting them, making the eye more of a slit than a round - it looks more natural. Also you can do the ( ) in a dark outline, fill in the centre with a light colour like yellow ochre (not bright blue please anyone!), then add the dark pupil to the centre of that. The final touch is to put a tiny white fleck (this time it can be bright white) into the top section of the iris almost intersecting the pupil, make sure you put it on the inside of one eye and the outside of the other! ie both to the left or both to the right. This looks like a highlight and brings them to life. Japanese have a larger eyelid than Europeans without the eyelid crease so by bringing the eyelid down lower it will help with that effect too.

I'm really glad you've finally got a pilot in the seat of your pride and joy. I'm off to the Wide Bay International Air Show on Saturday and there's apparently going to be a Zero there.

Our flying club has just hosted the World F3D Pylon Racing Championships so that's been quite a big deal and a real spectacle with 19 countries attending.

I have my 21 y.o. daughter Katherine sewing like a pro now and she's really loving it. She calls in on her way to work with the latest thing she's made to show it off! So now I have my apprentice as Brad suggested some time ago. Things will go ahead much quicker now, especially once the new milling machine is set up. We're still waiting for that, or at least the cnc kit part, to arrive. The mill is sitting here waiting for the bits to be fitted. Then we'll be able to produce more heads which will make the range much more interesting.

cheers
Patti

PSJDBF

Hey Patti.
Thanks for the tip,s will try them out in the next couple of days & see if I can improve the look.
Cheers Steff.

PSJDBF

Hi Patti, I gave your tips on the eyes a go, used a dark cream for the whites of the eye a dark brown for the iris & enlarged them black pupil with the white fleck on the right of both pupils.
Looks a lot better I think , thanks for the tips .
Catch ya.
Steff.

P4Patti

Steff,what a model student, that looks terrific . I forgot to add one thing and that is a darker thin line between the lips to delineate them. Also, because the lower lip usually protrudes and catches the light you can make that a little lighter than the top lip and even run a fairly light highlight along the top of the lower lip. Again have a look at some photos and take particular note of the dark and light areas on the lips, you'll be amazed at how much you'll notice that you never have before!

I look forward to the video now and some pics of Saburo in the cockpit

Happy landings

Patti

PSJDBF

Ok teach, I did the mouth & lips again looks passable for a Japanese pilot I reckon now ! , very happy with the final look.
I promise this will be the last Pictures of him ...but your tips on painting the face to a novice may also help a lot of others, thanks very much for all your help looking through the pictures it's amazing the difference it all makes.
Thanks heaps.
Steff.

P4Patti

Awesome Steff! Good on you. I'm really glad the tips were helpful, I just floundered around myself when I was learning, no professional here. I hope others might find it useful as well. I still want pics of him in the seat though!!

Off to the airshow in the morning and it's looking like good weather for it.

I will have pictures of the FINALLY finished 1/3 Manfred on the weekend and the 1/4 isn't far behind John! I'm becoming impatient for the new machine to be going now.

cheers
Patti

PSJDBF

Thanks Patti, let us know how the show was & looking forward to seeing Manfred.
Steff.

caribefoto

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Great news.....................John

mmasch

Exited to see how Mannfred turns out :-)

All the best.

Morten :-)

P4Patti

Well, he's been a very long time coming but finally he's finished. Well, almost!! The flying cap still needs straps but this was just to see if the shape would fit. It's not leather but quicker and easier to make. And, the 1/4 is almost done too. All the little bits and pieces like the buttons and badges have taken the time to finish off but I think it's worth it.

Our daughter Katherine has sewn this uniform which is amazing as she hadn't done much at all before and certainly nothing little like these guys. I'm passing all the orders on to her to take care of. I'll still paint the faces for her and develop new patterns and Richard will do the cutting but we plan to show her how to create the faces as well. She's really keen because her day job has been reduced to 4 days a week. I'm going to be do lots more on panelling plugs and moulding planes plus painting.

So here are a few pics Manfred von Richthofen in 1/3 scale.

The air show was a good day but the Australian CAC Boomerang which was meant to be there was a no show unfortunately. And the Zero was actually a make over of a Texan (I thnk?) they made for the movie but we still had a great day with lots of bone rattling war birds to see and hear

cheers
Patti

Damo260

That looks awesome Patti how things
Damo

caribefoto

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Remarkable likeness, the Baron would be proud...............John

P4Patti

Thanks Guys. Now I need one for my 1/4 scale Fokker too

I haven't forgotten your Mustang pilot Damo. The oxygen mask is giving us a few challenges and after doing a number of trials of different release agents, we'd find something that works, make a new mould and then it would stick to the mould again [:@] It doesn't stick to wax though, so it needs to be cut in a 2 part, inside and outer wax which will be quite possible with the new cnc mill. That is still on order so impatiently waiting for that. The mill is here but the cnc kit is being made in Melbourne and taking several weeks waiting for parts.
How is the Mustang coming along?

cheers
Patti

Damo260

That’s Cool Patti the Mustang is coming good haven’t done in the last few weeks been getting our first baby due any day now

Damo

P4Patti

A first baby - how very exciting for you. That will slow the building down Congratulations and all the very best

cheers
PAtti

Damo260

Yep the building has slowed down and thank you

Damo

geezeraviation

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And you can tell by the wording in post #341 that he's not the least bit excited. lol
Doc

PSJDBF

Manfred looks awesome Patti & the uniform is spot on so pass on congrates to Kathrine on the uniform.
Sounds like you guys enjoyed the show ?.
We are down in Perth at the mo getting our daughter ready for her first year at boarding school so no progress on the Zero ( these things have to take a back seat some times [&o])But she had a great day today & made a lot of new friends which makes it easier on Mum & Dad.
Damo all the best for the coming addition to the family.
Steff.

P4Patti

Hey Steff, no high schools in your neck of the woods eh?! I hope that's all sorted for you all now.

I've been showing Katherine casting techniques and now she's giving me lists of things to do! - heads to paint and bodies to make but at least she's getting it sorted and getting organised. She's signed up to RCUniverse too so can come in and have a chat from time to time and let you know what she's up to and the latest projects. Her forum name is K4Kat so say hi as she's a bit nervous about stepping into the "boys" room

I have some pics of her hard at work and she's also doing a glider pilot in casual gear as well as finishing orders for Manfred, and others! The cnc kit for the milling machine is supposed to be here next week so that will be a new phase and it will be really interesting to see how much neater the cutting will be. It will hopefully mean less work cleaning up the wax and maybe even finer detail. Time will tell but at least Richard can keep cutting panels and internals for the moulds AND we can be cutting pilot heads and bits and pieces at the same time. Now we need a bigger shed!

cheers
Patti

ledd4u

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I need a RAF pilot for my Spitfire man I would love to get one for it. Got my scale cockpit but no pilot!

P4Patti

Hi ledd4u, we have RAF pilots and will be doing more heads in the near future with the cap and goggles. What size Spitty do you have? If you want to PM me your email address I can get Katherine to send you some pics and details of what we have.

cheers

Patti

langerl

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Hi Patti!
With all the Buzz on this thread, I was just checking in to see how you're progressing. I'm impressed! I look forward to seeing how Erich is coming along.....

Regards,
Lynn

spidernad

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