My 1/3 scale Cessna needs a pilot too.

Oh Patti,,,,,, I did warn you that you would be busy.

[8D][8D]

Cheers,

Brad

I can think of worse things to be doing Brad And you've got Richard all fired up seeing your Spitfire coming along. He's looking at buying one from a friend now, too busy to make one at the moment. See what you've done Actually it's rather sad that when we went out flying yesterday, the Corsair was sitting there with NO PILOT in the cockpit [X(] I did cop a bit of flack over that

John, that's fine, PM me your email. Actually, Richard said the same thing before I posted, that if he was going to get a Von Richthofen he'd want it complete but I thought I'd offer a quick start in case you were desperate

As for the larger scales, it's all possible and can be accommodated, in fact they are a little easier to make clothing for, particularly since it sounds like civilian gear? Does civilian mean a T-shirt/polo shirt or sweatshirt and trousers? That really is quite quick as opposed to leather jackets and maewests.

As soon as the 1/3 body mould is finished, we still have the other half to cut, then a mould made for it, that body can be used for Cessna pilots, we'd just need a head or two to go on it to suit.

We've had local requests for 40% pilots so that is on the list Anthony, we'd just have to establish what size we're modelling the body on - 6' or 5'7.5" There'd be a couple of inches difference in that scale.

Tom, a half scale can certainly be done, that would be great to see but at this stage I couldn't give you a price because we haven't worked out any material costs on that size.

The clothing for Glen Curtiss is coming along but I want to get it right so that it fits and sits well and looks really good, not having to be held together with safety pins or a dab of glue. I want the pattern to be right so that anyone, with a bit of practice can make it and it looks great. I hate bad plans! I'm certainly no expert sewer and not a pattern maker so am a bit slow but that will be an advantage for others, because if I can do, so can they.

cheers
Patti

You're a wizzard girl, and I'm going to have to have Doug Campbell in the cockpit of #10 of the 94th. I'll PM you in a while with what I will need. Flying clothes methinks. Could be quite simple.
Doc

Wow theese are the best scale pilots i have evver seen
most rely look like dols these look rely human
I am curantle am bilding a 1/4 superscale spitfire MK2b of the drawing's of yke rusticus
The model wil be bild with ful scale working legs and wil be aqwipt with a 2 cilinderwatter cooled 100cc engine
Of my own dicine

So fore doing the model justice i need a good looking pilot to

I am from holand so my ecscuses fore my poor englisch

Your English is fine and your plane sounds like an engineering feat! I am always amazed at the incredible things modellers make from scale cockpits to engines so it is great to be part of it some way by making scale pilots. I don't have an engineering bone in my body , I leave that side of things to Richard but it's interesting to learn about it all the same. Actually it's quite a good combination with his technical skills and my more artistic ones and to be sharing the same interest is fantastic.

Doc, your Douglas Campbell will be a pleasure to make and probably could grace the cockpits of other WWI planes as well as yours. A flying suit would be much simpler as you say and a good start but I would eventually like to do him in that great dress uniform and any information on the colours of the WWI uniforms would be much appreciated from anyone.

I spent an enjoyable hour or so in Spotlight (sewers hobby shop ) looking for better fabric for Curtiss' pants and jacket, along with more stuff for MaeWests and US Pacific uniforms and even the beginning of Manfred's jacket. The material I had for Curtiss's suit was too bulky and wasn't pressing out nice and crisp which makes it look oversized and a bit toy like instead of bending and creasing realistically. I couldn't find what I wanted in greys so had to go with brown but I'm sure it will look fine, better than a bulky grey one anyway. I also found tape and crafters ribbon and all sorts of bits and pieces that could be used for straps and ties, I bet the girl hated serving me with little bits of this and that having to be measured and cut [:@]

We've been making plane moulds and laying up moulds the last couple of days so not as much sewing but back into it this weekend and now that I have material and the patterns pretty much sorted I can't wait.

The boots have been cut from wax so now I just need to mould and cast them and one hand has been cut to try the size of the grip to see if the steering wheel will slip into the hand. Richard cut a steering wheel from MDF from Bob's .dfx file and the hand will need a little adjusting in position and grip. The hand can't be a closed grip so I'm positioning the thumb slightly up leaving a gap to slip the steering wheel through. Clear as mud I know but once done the pictures will make some sense of it.

cheers
Patti

I'm building a Proctor Albatros DVa in which a pilot is desperately needed. Can you help me?

Thanks

Joris

Hi Joris

Yes I can help but I will need to know what scale and what type of pilot you are after. The more details of what someone is after including photo reference the easier it is for me. I wouldn't be able to supply it overnight at this stage but am working towards a range of uniforms and civilian clothing in a range of scales. If there is a particular head of a famous aviator feel free to suggest it and again, the more photo reference the better.

cheers
Patti

Patti
After all that rambling I did about mittens and gloves I dont think I specified a preference. The mittens cover the ends of the sleeves of the flightsuit as do the gloves to some extent. I would prefer mittens and will try to get a picture to you. If there's any problem with that I could be talked into heavy gloves if that's any easier.
Doc

Doc that's fine. Mittens would be simpler to cut than gloves too and look forward to the pics.

We're doing the hands for Curtiss at the moment and have decided not to extend the thumb, it just doesn't look right. The hand will be posed in the full grip position to fit the steering wheel and then the thumb can be cut to allow the wheel into the hand and then glued back on. I'll cast it with the thumb a little thicker. That's the current plan so will see how that looks.

cheers
Patti

Sorry for being absent so long.  Believe me it isn't because I have lost interest in the project or the pilot figure you are working on.  I am pretty excited  and looking forward to getting Glenn in the seat!  I am taking this next week off and hope to finish the plane to the point were I can start some engine tests, balancing and taxiing.  Getting very close!

Bob

Patti,

Thanks for the answer.
Does it have to be a famous aviator or can it be anybody, as long as you have e few foto's?

Joris

Great and is it posibole to make a pilot in my image
and what material do jou use to make thehad of the pipet
i want po plase a microservo in the pupet so i can rotate the had
the arms also have to bend on the richt plase and licht becode i wil alsi make the stering ip and down conekted with the steringcolom
and the leg padels wil also work vore leg movement

Hi Patti
Thanks for your post,comming from you very much appriciated.[sm=thumbs_up.gif]The work you are doing is first class and I Know you are still finding your way but I wish you all the best in this venture.

Cheers Nudger

Joris - at this stage I am just doing famous aviators to build up a basic range that would be suitable to lots of modellers. After that tho, I will be able to branch out into one offs and personalised heads, hopefully by around the New Year. The heads will fit onto the same bodies so they can be easily changed.

J.Weel - the heads and hands are cast from polyurethane resin and they are hollow. On the Glenn Curtiss that I'm doing at the moment we've made the body with a cord through the arms instead of wire (like a marionette puppet) as Bob wants to attach the hands to the steering wheel and have them move with the steering column. There is another pilot in the pipeline that will have cord from below the knees so that the feet can attach to the foot pedals and move freely so for yours it would be possible to do similar and put cord the full length of the legs as well. The main body would still have the wire to give it the structure to sit/bend. If needed you could even slice away a bit of the foam down to the cord at the elbow and knee joints to allow the bend right at this point.

Thanks Nudger, I don't normally comment on the compliments as I don't want to bog the forum down with thank you's, but to everyone who has expressed these it is very encouraging, so thanks

The hands and boots for Curtiss are ready to be moulded and I've cast a new head without the air bubble on the ear [:@] which looks a lot better and even put a coat of base colour on the face so ... moving forward


cheers
Patti

Patti,

That's clear. Well, I do not have a particular German pilot that is allowed to sit in my Albatros Dva, so do you have maybe already one build? I do mean, is there already a mold for a WW1 German pilot 1/4 scale?

Joris

Then later on I can think of a particular head on the corps.

Hi Patti,
Just found this thread and to say the least, WOW. I am building a Meister Scale P-47 and have to have one of your pilot figures. The P-47 is between 1/5 and ¼ scale. I have a pilot figure now that I could measure for you to provide a size.
I don't have a famous pilots face to model it after. I could leave that up to you, it could be your next head. No smiles on the face and a thousand yard stare. Such as looking through the gun sight.
The plane was used in the European theater flying missions out of England.
Would this be something that you would be interested in doing?
I would like a full body pilot, painted.

Thanks and best wishes,
Wayne Fussell Pres.
Solo Propellers

Joris - the first German WWI head that will be available will be Manfred Von Richthofen. I made a start on him some time ago but it was early days and he was cut from foam, that's before we discovered machinable wax. He needs a better flying cap and a little more sculpting to the face so is not ready to go yet. Once he is done though, I'm sure that not everyone will want the same head so if you have other photos of someone else then please send them to me. The more photos the better and preferably a profile too if available. I haven't researched the German pilots at this stage but if you have suggestions or ideas then please send me the photos. Just PM me for my email address.

Wayne - as it happens, Richard is moulding a P-47 at the moment as practice for the Boomerang so that's the next face we will be doing. Ours will be the Pacific theater so the uniform will obviously be different. I'll attach a pic of a group of P-47 pilots in a briefing and you can see that the uniforms are all slightly different. Once again, if you know exactly what you want the easier it is for me. It's also good that you are specific about what you want in a face - "No smiles on the face and a thousand yard stare". Left to me I'd make them all with big smiles, they look more attractive The size shouldn't be an issue as we have 1/4 and /15 scale bodies and they can be lengthened/shortened slightly by trimming the wire but if you want to send the dimensions of yours we can compare it and find the best one for the job. Just PM me for my email.

cheers
Patti

Thanks Pattie,
PM sent to you.

Patti, did you make all those pilots in the picture?!?!

Just thought I would share my progress with the group here. Here is a YouTube video of the first engine test with the plane assembled. The pilot is conspicuously absent.

Hudson Flier Engine Test

Not yet, give me time though!

Mr Curtiss is all but finished and will fill that empty seat nicely. About time, I spent way too much time on the clothing but did find new ways to do things which will speed things up in the future.

His body is made with the cord through the arms and Richard drilled a hole in the palm of the hands to pull the string through. The foam of the arm pulls down inside the forearm casting making a nice firm fit. The cord can then be trimmed - you can still see it in the photos. On a spare body we tried cutting the foam down to the cord at the elbow and the shoulder and the movement was fantastic and realistic. The cord has been cut at the wrist in that photo but there is normally a few inches sticking out.

Next weekend there is a Doll and Bear show in town and I've entered 3 pilots so now will have to get really busy this week to have them ready in time. I would like to put Curtiss in but it'll be touch and go to do another one from scratch as well as a 1/4 scale Spitfire pilot using Tom's head. We have put the cap and goggles onto Tom's head and cut him from wax. He's now been moulded and cast and is on the body so that's a start. We also cut, moulded and cast 1/4 scale boots and gloves which will add to our stock.

We're looking into a website so hopefully in the not too distant future all these products will be available easily for anyone who wants them.

After next weekend I'm planning on doing some new heads. That will be the focus for a bit and while I'm 3D sculpting them Richard can use the cnc to cut planes for a change!

cheers
Patti

SPECTACULAR!  What a great centerpiece to the Hudson Flier!!!  I can't wait to add him in!

I am finishing a service and transportation stand out of PVC today.  I have some additional pulleys on order and they should arrive any day.  (I need them to make the rudder controls.)  Adding some keepers to prevent the long bracing wires from shaking so much is the last thing to do!

Maybe the plane will be making straight hops down the field next weekend.

Patti
Your Mr. Curtiss is absolutely stunning......WOW!

Well, a bit of a week. I posted Curtiss off to Bob on Tuesday then turned my attention to the doll show. I intended putting 3 entries in but it turned out just not to be humanly possible with all the normal life stuff going on so ended up with 2. I already had Eric and started from scratch with another Curtiss and by Thursday night had him ready to go. Eric wowed the ladies as he did back in the '40's and took out a prize with Curtiss hard on his heels. The judges comment on the score sheet was "love a man in uniform" Wait til they see Manfred and Erich Hartmann!!

Now that that little diversion is over I'm back to finalizing and documenting the spitfire uniform - I haven't been back to that since sending the prototype to Brad. Then it's on to the American Pacific theatre uniform with their MaeWest.

I received some leather samples on Friday and they are absolutely beautiful - the thinnest, supplest, softest leather imaginable and would make fantastic bomber jackets. I'm very excited about that and I also have some faux leather samples on the way from England as well so that will be interesting. The European theatre will look magic with the right stuff.

cheers
Patti

Patti, that is a wonderful report.
Well done and congratulations.[sm=thumbs_up.gif]
As we have said, you are at the top of your game and deserve all the praise and trophies you get.

Nice to hear about the 'Spitfire' uniform as well.

Cheers,

Brad