A belated happy New Year to everyone, I can hardly believe that November was my last posting! The lead up to Christmas was really busy and I was trying to finish off pilot orders and get them sent out. Katherine was almost burnt out with the sewing along with the end of year committments to her dancing which takes her priority. I decided that I was going to take a couple of months off from pilots and layup a P-47 for myself from the moulds Richard has made and get it painted and flying. Then for some reason, pilot orders and enquiries just went nuts! Maybe people had time over Christmas to sit and search?

I couldn't get anyone else interested in making them so I made the decision to commit to them. I've done so much ground work I just wouldn't like to see them die off. Having made the commitment I'm really enjoying it again and have a gaggle (or should it be a flock?!) of heads in the wings to create.
I now contract Katherine just to sew and pay her straight away for her work, that keeps her motivated and it really is a huge help having that part of it done while I create new heads, uniform patterns, accessories and paint heads, make bodies, cast bits.....

I've done a couple of Germans in 2 different sizes - based on Erich Hartmann and Adolf Galland. I've decided not to spend months trying to get the likeness absolute, rather, base it on someone and turn out lots of interesting faces, not wax museum look alikes. I enjoy it more not stressing over it too. I'm not all that keen on Hartmann with his flying cap, I'm so used to seeing him with the service cap so perhaps I'll go back at a later date and put some hair on him and add the service cap.

The little ones pictured are the 1/5 crossed with our 1/6 bodies. It makes a shorter pilot than the usual body based on the 6' tall male, but seated they are the 1/5 height from seat to top of head. The 1/6 clothing and accessories range fits the body but it has our 1/5 head. A sort of hybrid that seems to work well for a 1/5 cockpit. Sewing the leather jackets in 1/5 is very fiddly, I don't know how they manage such a beautiful job in 1/6!!

We've cut a 1/5 head of Frank Perego for the P-47 and have just recut that in 1/3 which I'm currently detailing and cleaning up before making the mould.

So it's onwards with the pilots this year and I'd really like to thank all of you for the amazing support and encouragement - and patience!!

cheers
Patti