P4Patti

G'day again. How time flies when you're having fun! I didn't realise it was so long since I've posted but I haven't given the game up All the badges and buttons have been cut for Richtohofen's uniform - 1/4 scale and a friend just sent me some pictures of the back of his uniform today. I hadn't seen that before and there's so much more detail on it than I'd realised. Lots of red piping, shaping and half a dozen of the brass buttons. The head and cap is finished although I could just keep on redoing and refining and trying to make it better but I want to get the uniform finished now.

I've also been making a 1/3 scale for someone of themselves for their Cessna and have been prioritising that for the moment. It's a fun project as I particularly like working in the larger size. The 1/3 scale Richthofen will be great

We're actually going for a fly early in the morning, first time for about 3 months due to the weather and the field has FINALLY dried out enough to drive into! Talk about mad weather.

cheers
PAtti

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

Good to hear something from there, Hi Patti, hope things are beginning to approach normal.
Doc

Erwin DB

Hello all,

First of all, the pilots on this forum are just AMAZING!!! Great job
But my question is of i can make a pilot helmet for a 1/4 scale pilot. What kind of material and work do you guys propose to make something like this...

P4Patti

Hi Erwin

I'm not quite sure what you're asking sorry. Do you want to make your own helmet and asking what sort of materials to use and how to go about it or whether we can make a helmet in 1/4 scale like those pictured for you?

cheers
Patti

Erwin DB

Ok,
I just asking what kind of material i can use

Damo260

Hi Patti
Nice article in the Radio Control Model News

Talk soon
Damo

P4Patti

Erwin, look for a urethane with a shore value of about 25. That's what we've just used to make an oxygen mask and it's very flexible but strong and would allow you to pull it on and off the head without tearing. Hope that helps.

Glad you like the article Damo

cheers
Patti

www.properlittlepeople.com

Erwin DB

Thanks,
I will check it out.


Erwin

P4Patti

Hi again

I've been making steady progress on a 1/3 pilot for a guy in Victoria of himself to go into his 1/3 Cessna. He's looking the part now and far enough down the track to be recognizable but there's still some finishing off to do.

There were several special requests to personalize him and Steve supplied several photos for reference of his own pilot outfit from when he was learning to fly. It includes a gold wing badge, the head phone set, a particular pair of shoes and the hand grip for the Cessna controls. The right hand position grips a throttle knob and this proved a little tricky as we wanted the hand to fit over the throttle knob. Richard cut an actual 1/3 scale knob as a 2 part female mould in wax which we then cast this in the resin. The hand and finger position was basically cut on the machine but needed quite a bit of hand carving and detailing to finish it off and to make sure it fitted easily over the throttle knob so it could be positioned like that in the cockpit and then posed in a more relaxed manner outside the plane perhaps with the thumb hooked into the pocket . The inside of the palm had to be carved out but wax is quite a nice medium to work with, very unlike clay that I've used in the past. It's just a little hard to see with the variation of colour throughout the wax.

We're also making a 1/5 scale of the same pieces but that will be much quicker now that the shapes have been done on the computer.

There's still some painting detail to finish, particularly around the hair line and the hands. I'll get the uniform finished and then onto the 1/5 size.

Then it's back onto Richthofen to finish him off. I've ended up going with a 1/4 scale Tridecker for myself. It's a more manageable size to transport and the 1/3 partially built one we'd inherited from a friend was definitely not transport friendly. It hadn't been built and designed to come apart, let alone easily. I ordered a BalsaUSA kit and it arrived last Friday and already the bottom wing is made! I told Richard I'd have some nose art done for him by the time the Tridecker was finished so at the rate he's going I'm going to have to step on it to get the painting done!

These are the pictures of 1/3 scale pilot Steve 80% complete.

cheers
Patti

Damo260

That looks awesome Patti I can’t wait to see mine..
Damo

caribefoto

My Feedback: (2)

WOW! right down to the SHOES. Now that's attention to detail................John

P4Patti

Well Steve is finished, posted and in his new home and the 1/5 Steve will be on his way tomorrow. Steve is getting a friend to make the clothing so I don't have finished pics of that one, just these ones of the 1/3 scale. I'm sure we'll get some of the 2 guys in their planes after the big event at "Bowylie" though. The next developments are the Germans - WW1 and WW2.

My Fokker is coming along in leaps and bounds and I even put the - not even half finished - Manfred in it just for fit. He's going to look great

cheers
Patti

mario tavarez14

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i will like to have one of this pilot for my 35% tmmy cessna 182 , any body know the price for those pilot in us currency

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

Go to www.properlittlepeople.com and you will find what you need

P4Patti

Hi Mario, I'm sure Steve wouldn't mind piloting your Cessna as well if you wanted a quicker cheaper option than having yourself in the cockpit Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

How's the flying weather in your part of the world Doc, has it warmed up enough yet?

cheers
Patti

www.properlittlepeople.com

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

Yes Patti it is feeling like spring has sprung. I need to get Dougs mount out for some testing and then put some air time on it, Winter isnt long here but it was especially cold and some longer than I would have liked. Old arthritic bones ya know.lol
Doc

P4Patti

G'day to everyone again

I know I was warned and it's happened .... I'm snowed under with orders!! I'm actually not getting time to get our own projects done now. Since I wont be giving up the day job I'm going to have to put a hold on all new orders until I clear the back log.

There's still a lot of R&D to do so each new project is taking longer than I'd like. We recently made a trial oxygen mask which turned out really well. We have been trying using pigments to colour the casting material and unknowingly chose the wrong product to colour the flexible silicon. The reaction wasn't good and instead of it popping out of the mould it was a sticky, gooey mess which ruined the mould as well! It had to be recut and a new mould made Lots of trial and error! It's all fun and interesting but the orders keep mounting up so I hope you understand the need to just finish the commitments I have already.

I'd also like the time to finish my plane, paint it and do some flying .... and get back to the gym!

So I'll keep working through the list and post progress of things. I'm just finishing off 1/3 heads of Glenn Curtiss and Tom with Steve's modern head set on him which I thought was going to be a quick job. Someone was after a couple of pilots urgently for bigger than 1/3 planes for a particular event coming up in a couple of weeks and I thought we could quite easily scale and remake a couple of existing heads. I've spent the entire weekend cleaning up the wax, making moulds, casting and redoing the mould for hands which weren't up to scratch. I love it but there's just too much []

We've started colouring the casting material to give a base colour for quicker painting and also if the paint ever gets scratched it's not noticeable like white. Lots of things to try and new patterns to design for different uniforms but all very time consuming as well.

So I'll put a notice onto the website as well and then I can get onto finishing Richthofen. He is now going to be done as two separate heads, one with a moulded flying cap and the other with a moulded service cap. We have tried different ways of making removable caps and hats and there's still a lot of R&D to sort that out so have decided to just cut different heads.

Will keep you posted

cheers
Patti

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

Hi Patti, glad/sorry to hear you're busy/swamped. I have always wondered what was under Dougs creamy complexion and will endeavor to not scratch and find out. All I can say is I am thrilled with my Proper little Pilot and can only say I'm glad I got in early before the rush as I knew there would be one. Hope you find some time to do some things for yourself. Your PLP arent for everyone but even a small part of a percent of the scale flyers out there, will create a nice customer base. Thanks again for "Doug". You're the best.
Doc

P4Patti

Hi Doc

I'm so glad to hear you're happy with Doug, he's a great looking guy You shouldn't have any problems with Doug's paint as he's sealed with a matte polyurethane, oil based sealer which is extremely hard. They use it for sealing decking boards that people walk on so it's really tough! I know the PLP aren't for everyone, but then again, a moulded bust isn't for everyone either. Horses for courses as they say.

cheers
Patti

Doug54

Hi Patti,

I stumbled on this forum, by google-ingRhinoand Scale Pilots, so I decided to join.
Wow, very lovely work!.
I use towork with sculptors and the medium back them was clay.
Computers were not yet implemented to do the modeling.
I can't get over how detailed your pilot faces are.
I would like to modelface features with similar realisticdetails for small figures smaller than 1:6 scale.
I just bought a 4 axis Sherline Millto make small wooden ship parts , details and was considering getting Rhino.
This is what caught my eye, you are using it already so you are probably the perfect person to get advice from.

Are there any tips you can share, how easy it is to use,do I need a Rhino pluging to do 4th axis work?
You mentioned that you use Rhino and cut the pilot heads, hands and feeton a 4 axis cnc router.
Do youmanually sculpt the details in Rhino,from photos?,I imagine this would take a lot of time,
or use a Rhino plug-in that automaticallyscans the photos andprovides you witha ready to cut model?


Also whatCAM program do you use for the actual machining?, I was considering Mach3, but
I'm unsure if that program can do 4th axis direct from Rhino, without a plugin.
Is there any residual workafter the CNC machining process that needs to be done by hand, like sanding?
If I can avoid this it would be great it'd save me quite an effort.

I'd appreciate any other suggestions you can give an admirer of your work.

Doug

Brad330l

My Feedback: (1)

Patti I am so happy you are so busy,, it might be time to teach a young apprentice???
A bit sad though that you have no time to work on your models.
'Brad' the pilot will be flying very soon. I'll send you some pictures in the Spitfire.

I told you so.

All the very best.

Brad

P4Patti

G'day Doug

Rhino is a great program but the best advise I can give you is to DO THE TUTORIALS! Really, start at number 1 and go through to making the 3D rubber duck. Once you can do that you will have grasped it and can start drawing and manipulating 3D objects including heads. You'd be best by starting with a Daz type figure as a starting mesh then you can sculpt that using Zbrush (brilliant 3D sculpting program from Pixologic, but a totally different user interface) and Rhino.
If only it were that easy I'm afraid you have to use your photos as reference and do the manipulating manually, be it on the computer where at least you have an undo button!

The Cam program we use is MAD Cam and that works within Rhino so sort of a plug-in. It creates the toolpath (G-code) for Mach 3 and yes, that is the one we use. Mach3 reads the G-code and moves the machine accordingly.

If you want less residual you can use really tiny bits - we've used down to 0.3mm but they are so easily snapped and at $30 each you have to be extremely careful [:@] Basically, there is hand work to do after the cutting and sometimes I clean up the wax as best I can then mould and cast one which I then work on. This then becomes the new plug and I make a new mould from that. There's some tiny detail that the machine just can't do so have to be done by hand but at least you have the basics in good proportion and symmetry. Ideally if you want far less residual then you'd want a 5 axis!

Hey, I hope that helps and all the best with your new machine and cutting your bits and pieces.

Hi Brad, glad to hear you'll be in the air soon, I actually pop into your forum and check on you from time to time Looking forward to seeing the Spitty in the air.
I have started working on my model now. Richard has built the Fokker for me and covered it! So now I am going to paint it - and my other plane which is still flying around unpainted (you can do that with electrics ) I was told it looks like a bogon Commodore needing a respray [X(]

I do need an apprentice, maybe I could even get a government grant to take one on

cheers all

Patti

Brad330l

My Feedback: (1)

Oh, just (finally) saw your article in the Australian version of RCM News mag Patti. Great stuff.

Cheers,

Brad

P4Patti

Did you notice your head there Brad? Now you're really famous

cheers
Patti

Ozflyboi

Hi Patti,

I'm back from Bowylie and had a great time there with some good flying on the Saturday.

I've taken a couple of photos of mini and micro Steve which I thought I would share with the rest of you here.

Thanks again for making these awesome replica pilots of me. I had many comments about them, including Dick Smith himself who was amazed at the scale detail that you have put into these guys.

Cheers and Thanks once again!