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