I posted this on 1/16/02 in the one-time very popular "What scale planes do you have?" thread. I searched it out and pasted it here.
Well, he ain't handsome...but the boy can fly. I wanted to make the David Clarks functional but opted out.The kit comes with latex head, hands, boots, caps & goggles.
It includes patterns to make (sew) and stuff the body, and patterns for pants & jacket (WWII).
I only used the ugly head and body pattern (my ex let me borrow the Pfaff, a very expensive sewing machine that I bought her and she never used) from the kit. The sewing was time consuming...but nice results.
All of my future pilots will be made this way (very light). Although, I now sculpt the heads in clay, mold them in plaster, and latex the heads in the molds. Much more attractive looking people. The hands are from some plastic monster model (Phantom of the Opera I believe). The hair is from some inconspicious place on a stuffed animal (don't tell my daughter). His tennis shoes are made from scrap vinyl from a soft cooler liner. The David Clark headset is made from styrene, epoxy, thin stainless and micro screws and bolts. You shape one earpiece out of styrene, make a mold of it, and cast as many as you want out of epoxy.
My pet peeve are these stiff pilots that look like they're flying while the plane is static on the ground. Hencethe casual demeanor, the checklist, pencil, etc. After all, the only time you really see the pilot is when the plane is sitting on the ground...and I haven't seen too many stiff, upright full-scale pilots going through pre-flight. My plane also has lots of magazines, books and maps in the seatbacks and door side pockets. There's a flight bag and a cardboard box containing a couple quarts of Pennsoil and some tools in the luggage compartment. Probably the tightest scale items on the whole ship is the bungie cords holding these items down.
Now...if i could only get this spoiled little pilot guy to stop ****in' about the headroom!