Is it me, or do pilot figures, in general look bad and toy-like?. I'd much rather do without them. Question: is a pilot figure necessary for certain events? If they are mandatory for certain comp's, why the heck can't somebody make one that doesn't look like crap?

Nice Name LionHeart ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, i allways chuck mine away and replace with an Action Man, just paint them up in the colours u want and looks much better

They're expensive too! like 15 to 20 bucks for the cheap ones!

Nope not really i buy cheap ones from ebay in bulk works out about $2 dollars each

I don't like them either unless I was building a warbird. I usually just paint the inside of the canopy and forget the pilot. You can get a williams bros. pilot and paint it yourself.

I like to tear the legs off small toys and stuff the heads in. I can usually get them on sale for just over $5.00.

Something fell into my cereal one morning. I paused, and thought... PERFECT!
I also like to raid my daughters toys, and cruise the toy isle's in the stores.

haha nice i forget the name of that bird but thats funny..

also if u guys use figures like i do..

try silicone instead of epoxy..
my epoxy gave up after a few flights now
tigger just bounces around in the cockpit.

-Felix

Did you glue to the covering or to bare wood?

Tower Hobbies, www.towerhobbies.com , has some heads for $USA 2.00.
Otherwise, find a Barbie Doll and although a barbaric surgery, cut off the upper chest and head to make a really cheap, and attractive pilot.

Isn't it TuCan Sam or something like that?

My 2nd plane is a Seagull Spacewalker, two seat open cockpit. I told the kids to find toys if they want me to put them in.

I did make it clear that I'd have to cut them in half.

-Jeff

Yep, Toucan Sam in a Twist.
I use a small piece of ply that I glue in underneath the figure, then glue and screw it in place. Shouldn't go anywhere now.

I once took a crappy looking williams bros figure and made a full face helmet out of epoxy and micro balloons. After some very delicate painting, it looked great. Cheap figure, but it took some time.

I've seen some nice objects under the canopies of a lot of planes (usually pictured here on RCU). I guess I'll a.) just do without one or b.) If a figure is necessary for some competition or what-have-you, I'll modify something. But, with our planes starting to look so darn good anymore, the figures are really detracting from the realism we strive to achieve. Just my opinion....

This one started out as the top to a kid's drinking cup... Seems appropriate to my flying style...

and a closer view...

Woodpile, two of my favorites. The Sweedish Chef and good ole' Wile Coyote. You got real taste my fine fellow.

I find pilots alsmost anyplace. Dollar store,K-mart ect are some of my favorite sources. And let us not forget McSqishies. They hand out all kinds of neat things to put in a plane. A pilot is only limited to your imagination.

Mark Shuman

Finding a 'scale' figure on a shampoo bottle = $3.00 + a free bottle of shampoo/bubble bath
Not having to wander the toy isle muttering '...If chop it off here...' = Priceless

If you are looking for cartoon figure heads, check out the kids shampoo section at Walmart, a good selection.

Scooby Doo in a Tiger 60

First of all a "HEAD" is not a pilot. Neither is a "SHOULDER + HEAD" glued to a flat surface under a plastic canope. I'd rather leave the "pilot" out entirely and say it's being flown by "SPACE GHOST" or the "FLYING DUTCHMAN."

I think the question was originally addressed to finding a really scale looking pilot. For starters you can't really have a good looking pilot without at least the semblance of a cockpit. For example, the pilot figure should extend below the depth visible from the outside. The next thing is to realize that a good looking pilot is almost as much of a task and any other part of your scale finishing job. You wouldn't expect to be able to paint and weather your gorqeous warbird in an afternoon, so why imagine that you can do up a pilot figure in 10 minutes. Here's what it really takes:

http://www.acesofiron.com/uniform.htm

An easy way out (well sort of easy) if you happen to be building at around 1/6 scale is the excellent "GI JOE SCALE" figures by Elite Forces. For example, this American WWII pilot.

http://store4.yimg.com/I/badcattoys_1801_27731237

Naturally, these are too heavy for most RC planes so they will need to be stripped down. For my Fokker EIII, I started with the Luftwaffer Pilot (looked the most Germanic) and kept only the head, gloved hands, leather jacket (with modifications), flying helmet and goggles. Then I stuffed it with cotton and put some wires in. And put my Rx battery in the chest area with the wire exiting through the jacket sleeve. Then if I were as artistic as Tom (NEO), which I'm not by a loooooong shot, I could have done something along the lines of the following:

http://www.renderwurx.com/rc/SBD/html/office/crew.htm

In the end, my pilot looks pretty good unless you look straight down 'cause then you realize he has no legs -- there just isn't any room for them. The way I've got things worked out, the pilot even moves slightly when I move the rudder and elevator.

In short, if you're just flying a fun-fly plane, who cares if you have a pilot figure or whether you use a troll doll with pink hair. But if you aspire to have a "serious" scale plane then you should spend as much time on the pilot as you do on the dummy engine or landing gear doors.

Oh, and here's a rather bad photo of my Fokker's pilot.

That's VERY nice!. That is the kind of craftsmanship we need for our scale pilots!

i just rip heads off my sisters dolls =D Edux my scooby is better! lol j/k

~Matt

...

Much rather have TuCan or Scooby than a real life looking pilot. Guess its a matter of taste.