Reg Hinnant

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As I have never been able to make a unpainted pilot figure come alive I hesitated on purchasing an unpainted figure. However after reading the detailed painting instructions on the web site I decided to give it a try.
The article in Jun/Jul MAN magizine shows painting the WW2 Japanese figure and the AoI web site has painting instructions along with details of painted figures. On the Ebay site where they are sold you can click on the "Details" button, to the right of the figure, to see paint color suggestions.
There are relatively few paints to purchase and you are given a list at the beginning of each step. Brush choices are also given which is a big help for a non-painter.
The painting instructions consist of the following items:Skin tones, Eyes, Eye brows, Goggles, Leather & Uniform.
Over a few evenings I ended up with a pilot that looks better than any one that I have ever purchased. See what you think.

Reg Hinnant

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The detail in these figures is exceptional and shows up very well.

Reg Hinnant

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One nice touch is the 5 min epoxy for the goggle lens. You can acheve really good pilot figures by just carefully following the AoI painting instructions and a few evenings work.

TLH101

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Reg!
When will you be home, so I can drop-off my AoI "fly guy" for the DR-1?
Looks really good!

Reg Hinnant

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Anytime, Terry!
BTW I do have plenty extra of the oil paint used. I'll be happy to share some with you for your figure.

Kmot

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Come on!! This is a ruse, right? First ever pilot painted? [X(]

Man, that is unbelievable! It looks better than the Zombie painted pilots I own. [sm=thumbup.gif]

SMUGator

Agree. The photography isn't too bad either. There is someone over on the Warbirds forum that wants to pay someone to paint his pilot. You should apply for the job.

Nice work!

Tom

TLH101

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That pilot does look good, but it is really "sub standard" compared to the models Reg builds. Actually it does look really good, and Reg is very meticulous and talanted builder.
Reg, I will get with you later, I need to get my pilot going before Bomber Field.

Reg Hinnant

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Hey Guys,
I'm not kidding! I have had very poor results painting pilots before trying the AoI instructions on their figure. The detail and texture they have on their figures is what helps you get these results. If you are careful and can follow instructions you really can turn out a respectable pilot.
All the ones I have done before were pitiful and dead doll looking at best.[]

Try one using their painting instructions! It works.

I have no interests in Aces of Iron but I like to share things that regular modelers can have success with!

pettit

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Here's "Friedrich Berg", the Aces of Iron 1/3 scale German pilot figure that's in a Balsa USA 33% Fokker DVII.

I used water based acrylic paints and loosely followed their instructions.

I made him look as if his engine needed a ring job!

Prop Nut

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Nice Job Reg, I started a thread in the Clubhouse to show off painted AOI pilots (for everyone) post your pictures there to please, they look great.

abufletcher

Ditto on the great job, Reg! Generally, I hate "chest-down amputee" pilot figures but the Aces of Iron figures are the one exception! What has always stopped me is the cost. The unpainted figure itself is fairly expensive and then I calculated I might end up spending close to $30 on paints as well.

BTW, I notice the Aces of Iron website is down for the summer.

TLH101

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The link to the painting still works OK. If you need a pilot, he is selling them on E-bay.

Bud Faulkner

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Looks great Dick! My SR eindecker pilot has been sitting on the shelf waiting for mr. courage to show up and paint.


Bud

WinterHawke

Echoing what’s already been pointed out here . . .

I’ve painted three pilots so far using the Aces of Iron instructions, and have got to say that I really had fun doing it. So far, I’ve done one Williams Brothers, one Aces of Iron, and one of the DGA pilots (I think – synthetic rubber versus hard plastic like the others). All were for OFB Doug Cox down in Zinzinnati, for his killer Tiger Moth, his 1/3 Jenny, and his SR Eindekker. Here’s “Max�, for the Fokker:





All came out pretty good IMHO, although I did fight the DGA guy – the paints behaved somewhat differently than on the hard surface of the WB and AoI pilots.

I’m currently painting my fourth (!) pilot, to drive a 1/5 scale Ultimate, and am using the 1/5 WB standard pilot. This one I’m keeping!!! and

THIS TIME . . .

The only issue I have with the instructions is very early in the list, where they call for “Cadmium Yellow� on the face for highlights. All of my efforts so far doing this ended up being a bit to the orangish side, and not a healthy tanned look. This Time I’ve changed this step to a light brown, mixing the Burnt Sienna with White, and am much happier with the results so far. So by all means feel free to experiment a little if something doesn’t quite look right!

The trick here is to just go out and invest in some paints (they’re not really that expensive, and are gonna last you a looonnnngg time!), and give it a try.

And the Really Big Payoff for all of us used to building the large models is catching just a glimpse of how the Lilliputian crowd do such marvelous work in 1/48, 1/72 scale etc. Blending paints, washes, dry-brushing are all relatively new to me, and I’m already thinking things like “I wonder how this would look on a . . . . . . . “

‘til later,

Lee McDuffee
the WinterHawke

Reg Hinnant

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Hi Lee,
Your pilots look great!
Expanding on this a bit more....There were articles by Andy Hutson in the 90's British scale R/C magazines titled "Making it Look Real". He used the same oil paint system for ageing & weathering on the whole finished aircraft.
I was amazed by how well my pilot came out and will certainly do another.
Reg

BobH

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If we can just get Chuck to get a bottom half for the pilot..we will be golden!..

khodges

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Reg and Winterhawke-- your pilots are fantastic! I've also got the Aces pilots, all the WWI guys except the SR Batteries guy. So far all I've done are the two "Eddie's" and the generic guy. They are a lot of fun to do when you're in a detailing mood. I found that using a Sharpie marker on the goggle lens works well, since it is a transparent color, just put a gold base coat down and then use the red sharpie.

I use mostly acrylic paint, the cheap squeeze-bottle stuff ($1.00/2 oz. bottle) from the local craft store, but also use some Testors Model Master enamel, and Testor DullCoat clear over everything after finishing. I went by the Aces website how-to, worked great. One of my eddie's is destined for a Nieuport 11, the other for a Sopwith Pup, while the generic guy is a seasoned veteran in a GP DR-1. He was my first effort, I read somewhere that many German pilots plastered their faces with a thick cream, or paste, that helped protect their skin from frostbite, hence his neutral face color.

For those who want to give this a shot-- take your time, and they ALL look good. Think about their flight environment when you do your details-- windburned and frostbitten cheeks, chapped lips and windblown oil and cordite; around the eyes, the area the goggles would cover, should be closer to normal, even pale, skin, but whatever effect you want for YOUR guy is what you should go after.
Oh, and Eddie's three ribbons are the DFC, Croix De Guerre, and Purple Heart

kakem

Lee, one way to tone down the orange face tint is: After you put the dullcote on the face and have let it dry, Paint the entire face with "Flake White" then immediately use a clean, dry brush (no turpentine) to remove the flake white; keep wiping your brush on a cloth between strokes until only all white is removed. The layer will tone down the orange and help to blend the layers....then spray with more dullcote to seal it.

abufletcher

I've always suspected that most pilot figures are a bit too "old and grizzled" to represent the "mere boys" who actually flew these crates. In fact, I suggest that the pilot figures are more representative of the 40+ age of most RC flyers. Below is a photo of an actual WWI German pilot.

BTW, I remember reading an account of a WWII P-51 ace who upon his return to the US after the war had to be shuttled around by his father because he was too young to have a driver's licence!

ZoomZoom-RCU

[8D]You hit the nail on the head Abu. Some of these guys could barely shave, yet these repro pilots often look like they're modeled after somebody's grandpa!? Go figure.

ZZ.

Dai Phan

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Hi all,

I too look at these Aces of Iron and I am not a big fan of it. First, they seems pretty heavy for just a bust. Second like Abu said, they looks like somebody's grandpas. And third, the facial features are too much "caricature" like. They do however have good details though. I favorite pilots are the BiBi 1/6 action figures. DP

abufletcher

Reg's pilot looks to be a reasonable "war weary" age. And some of the photos of these "young faces" were indeed much older looking after 2 years of combat missions. But the Aces of Iron painting instructions call for bushy, grey eyebrows! Personally, I don't mind the "charicature" aspect of the busts.

Has anyone build a BODY for their AOI bust?

Dai Phan

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Just food for thoughts... AOI sells for 32 bucks and you can get Bibi or similiar full size action figure for about 20 bucks! That's what I have in my Albatros. You can cut the body in half too should you only want bust. DP

abufletcher

I'm also a fan of the Elite Forces 1/5-1/6 scale "dolls." I used the WWII Luftwaffe figure for my EIII. But they are much too heavy to use stock. I only used the head and gloves and replaced the body with wires and foam. I actually placed the Rx battery in the pilots chest with the wire running out his sleeve.

I remember another RCU member (Dionysis???) who took the figure apart and made vacuum molded copies of all the part.