Aircraft pilot sets with interchangeable heads and arms?

[Davie muddlin]

Hi guys, here is a subject I've saved as my first post to you alI. I have recently heard something alarming from a youtuber that Airfix are considering removing the pilot figures from thier future kits in order to save plastic? As far as I understand it most modellers disregard the figure as abit of 'folly' preferring to have the safety harness instead draped over the pilots chair?

If this is true it'll be a truely disappointing day as I always thought the standard of sculpture in uniform detail, especially on the larger scale pilot figures, was par none!

However, as a modeller that likes including the pilot and crew I do have a suggestion to this problematic issue. What about new sets of pilots and crew with interchangeable expressive heads and posable arms? They can be separated by scale, era & nationality? I have bought resin crew sets recently for my Airfix kits so this idea has kinda already been done but in resin! It'll bring the Airfix multipose idea back from the 1970s and raise the bar in aviation figure sets. Yes there's an argument here that this could be left to the aftermarket industry but Airfix mustn't forget its traditions forging ahead.

Living in Portsmouth we have numerous historic ships here begging to be reimagined in miniature. I think the Airfix brand needs new tooled ships and figure sets within its product range?

More business opportunities I hope Airfix will strongly also consider that'll help support museums like Portsmouth historic dockyard?

[John Symmons]

Davie I couldn’t agree with you more, it was always one of the main selling po9ints of all the early Airfix aircraft kits, OK maybe some of those early figures left a lot to be desired, like Jimmy Goggles a very underweight pilot with huge goggles. (See the early Airfix WW1 models, or virtually anything from the 50’s.) Airfix did improve even if they were a bit generic. At least they sort-of looked the part which is more than could be said for the He 177 crew who looked a bit like 1950’s space-men, and let’s face it when installed in the cockpit with the thick canopies of the era you couldn’t see much anyway. To me the best figures figures Airfix produced were the one in the 1/72 boats, the “E” boat and the “RAF rescue launch” easily being up to the Revell standard, who were once regarded as having some of the best 1/72 scale figures. The other good figure set was with the DH Heron including two or three passengers and an air-hostess plus civilian cockpit crew. Were these still included with the recent re-release?

With the modern detailed cockpits, and open canopies, not including pilots could possibly be excused, but with the myriad of other optional parts being included, (Which I’m sure must add to the cost, although the cost of the plastic is negligible, and does add to more unused plastic.) especially the open or closed canopies, and in-flight options not offering pilots seems to be cutting-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face.

One of the main problems I see is trying to get the uniforms right. The European and U.S. were all a much of a likeness that just painting the flight overall would probably be sufficient, just remember there weren’t that many 6’ pilots and those that were often found themselves flying the roomier bombers. See Sailor Malan who preferred the Hurricane as he found the spitfire to cramped for his 6-foot frame. The same thing applied the allies testing Japanese aircraft that many of the allied pilots found the Japanese aircraft very cramped. As a side note; this was still true when Japanese cars started being imported to the Europe in the 1960’s that the original Datsun’s and Toyotas where very cramped, especially if the driver was over 5’8”.

If you compare the figures in the Hasagawa big flying boats and the G4M Betty bomber to those supplied with the Airfix Zero and the B5N Kate you’ll find they are substantially smaller and do not use a May-West, but had a completely different type of life vest, which is probably why the now standard Airfix WW2 pilot doesn’t fit into the Zero cockpit. I can’t comment on the Kate as it’s still waiting in the stash, but one thing I have noticed is that two crew seem to be the standard Airfix figure, but the third in the rear gunner’s position is different with a much slimmer body and legs??.

The modern Airfix figures are a far cry from those used even a few decades ago and they have even produced some very nice multi-posable figures, see the new Ju 87 Stuka and the Me 110 being two that I’ve come across. And for WW1, crew the figures supplied with Hannover CL IIIa, and the Roland C-II are brilliant as are the figures in the Handley Page 0/400, personally I feel the figures in the far newer B.E. 2c are not as good as the previous ones I’ve mentioned. Now if only Airfix could combine these figures with some ground crew and an officer or two plus some horse drawn carts and equipment I’m sure they’d sell by the bucket load, especially with the recent re-assurgency of WW1 aviation.

If the rumor Davie mentioned is true, then hopefully the terrible RAF and Luftwaffe set in the awful soft vinyl type plastic will finally be retired for good, (I actually have two sets and one has so much flash it almost looks like it could be a vacuum formed.) and replaced by something more modern. If anyone is interested to see what can be done you can do far worse than the Luftwaffe Ground Crew set by Zvezda, OK it might be a push-fit gaming set, but it’s really good in fact when saw just how good it was, I promptly drove the over one hour there-and-back to Cape Town’s southern suburbs to get a another set, it might be 1/72 but I’m sure figure painters would have a ball, and it’s in proper hard styrene plastic. If you ever see this set, and you’re into WW2 Luftwaffe, don’t hesitate just grab it quick.

One final thought why has the new tooling of the Mosquito only got one crew member, and an under-sized one at that, when the previous tooling, which incidentally had nothing wrong with it except for the canopy. The wing to fuselage fit was brilliant, easily up to Tamiya standard, and you got the chance to build 3 versions. Hopefully, all-though I doubt it, Airfix will re-release it with a new canopy, then we can build an intruder, the Mk VI night fighter, a Mk XVI bomber, a PR XVI photo reconnaissance and the anti-shipping Mk VIII with the big canon. Now that’s a juicy line-up.

So Airfix don’t you dare think of retiring your pilots they are part of what makes Airfix “Airfix” and hopefully, with the rise of doing dioramas, you’ll give more than a passing thought to issuing some new figure sets in both WW1 & 2 eras plus maybe some sets for carrier decks as you seem to favouring the fleet-air-arm in decent styrene plastic. It can be done, You’ve done it, Revell have done it in the past, Italeri have done it with their Do 217, and just look at what Zvezda have done with their push-fit sets.

Remember we do this for fun JtP

[Ratch]

I like to have people in my aircraft too, but now we enter a minefield. Military uniforms change through time, and then take the size of model cockpits. Due to compromises in scale, one pilot will not fit all (if he had the correct uniform on).

It's true, some of Airfix's new releases do not contain pilots. Many 'serious' modellers don't use them and think that only children put figures in aircraft. I think it's because they're useless at painting them. However, other new tools do have pilot figures - the new Lightning II for one.

Airfix won't be able to meet everyone's needs/requirements. There are other sources of figures which can be used with your Airfix aircraft.

[null_null981707818191]

If you build with the aircraft "in flight" (i.e. with the undercarriage up) then surely a pilot is rather necessary?

[Davie muddlin]

Hi guys, the resin sets out there, especially WW1 subjects holding the wings and spinning the prop let's say, are really overly expensive! The lure is of course it makes for a very interesting diorama subject. Ive recently seen an entire 1/32nd Lancaster bomber crew, in resin, walking away from an aircraft after what seems a very fraught mission. Very much in the same style as masterbox 1/35th scale figures. The differing sizes of pilots seems a problem that in the 21st century shouldn't happen really? However, I still find the standard of sculpture on most Airfix figures from the 1970s onwards still captivating. Also it was educational.

[peebeep]

The differing sizes of pilots seems a problem that in the 21st century shouldn't happen really?

 

 

Sometimes the figures have to be compromised, due to it being impossible to replicate scale thicknesses within cockpits, seats etc. For example the gunner figure in the 1/72 Defiant is decidedly under-nourished in order to get it to fit within the turret. Revell made a really good set of 1/72 RAF figures as a stand alone set, one of the constant complaints about it is that the seated figures that are intended to fit into cockpits require modification to get them to fit.

[vimal_indrasoma]

Separate heads, arms and legs would also allow moulding the figures in rigid plastic which could be sanded and take paint better.

Airfix BV141:

Airfix Ar196:

[Ratch]

The old kits with their lack of cockpit detail, certainly offer a better opportunity for figures to fit in. Ironically, these were the kits that came with crew too.

[modeling maniac]

If they have interchangeable heads, could you leave them decapitated?