1/72-scale "Space Suit"

[sequoiaranger]

Someday I will be making a "super-high-altitude" WWII-era fighter (He-121),

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=3826

and I wanted a crude and obvious pressure suit for the pilot.  The idea is that though the cockpit is pressurized, any bullet puncture or other malfunction would immediately endanger the pilot, so he wears a back-up pressure suit just in case. Something bulky with a clear dome on it (I can make the clear dome if your figure doesn't already have one). I suppose I COULD just take a 1/48 pilot and cut him down a bit to add bulk without additional size, but...

Anyone got a "space shuttle" model or something with unwanted crew, or even deep-sea divers???

[Mossie]

SR-71 & U-2 crew might work, MiG-25 & MiG-31 for skinnier look.

If you could get hold of a mini-robot figure set, they would work, as many of the early attempts at pressure suits looked like a costume from a bad B-Movie.

I've got a Tie Fighter pilot from a Revell Star Wars Pocket kit, the pilot is 1/72 even if the model isn't.  He'd work with a head transplant, or even just a re-shape.  You're welcome to have him if you want him.

[kitnut617]

EvilBay ----

http://shop.ebay.ca/i.html?_nkw=airfix+astronauts&_armrs=1&_dmd=2&_from=&_ipg=

But I might have a figure from one of the Shutlles I've got, give me a day or so and let me dig around the stash.

[sequoiaranger]

Mossie and kitnut617,

Thanks for responding. The Tie Fighter pressure suit might be too "modern" looking (if "THE FUTURE" is indeed modern!) and close-fitting, but I appreciate the offer. I'm searching for a clunky, bulky look.

The astronauts are more "bulky" and more what I had in mind for the body, but it looks like the helmet and/or faceplate would be "solid" plastic. For "real" space use (that is, EXPERIENCED space folk, not my "stone-age", first-timer high altitude guy) they coat the faceplate with thin reflective stuff that, from a distance, looks solid. I could get away with paint on the faceplates of the astronauts for use with modern spacecraft, but I wanted a clear spherical bubble if at all possible for "my guy". Both Astronauts and deep-sea divers only "need" to see forward, but my pilot would need more peripheral vision.

Hmmm.

[Cobra]

Hope I'm not causing any Trouble but, You may want to Check with Squadron.com! they or Megahobby might have what your looking for.Dan

[sequoiaranger]

Tried them both--no luck. Megahobby had 1/32-scale astronauts with a head-inside-an-open-faced-helmet that would have worked had they been in 1/72 scale, but..... 

[deathjester]

Would it be possible that local craft shops would have clear beads that you could drill out to fit over a figures head?  Fiddly, I know, but it might give the right effect...!

[Captain Canada]

You can have any or all of this rag tag collection of 'crew'. They've been causing problems amongst the rest of the spare 72nd scale pilots anyway...what with their big puffy suits and ill-formedness.

The grey dude second from right might fit the bill with a little work.

[Mossie]

I guess this is pretty much the look you're going for, the MX-117 'Tomato Worm' pressure suit developed for USAAF crews in WWII.


Or there's the Draeger suit, which might be more suibtable for your German subject, but more difficult to pull off:

[ysi_maniac]

^^^^^
What plane is this cockpit from?

[JayBee]

Gotha Go-229

[Mossie]

Specifically, I think it's the V1 glider version.

[sequoiaranger]

Leave it to the imaginations of whiffers to come up with this stuff! L-O-L!  

YES, the "tomato worm" is the look I was going for, however, the "Draeger" is FANTASTIC! (and German, but then, I guess the diminutive Japanese might not fit well into their German suits for my project!      )  But with the framing and aerodynamic look of the helmet, what does the pilot need a canopy for? Why doesn't he just stick his helmeted head into the airstream??  

Now I'm thinking a "Draeger"-like helmet might be made from a 1/144 Lancaster nose with a section of the middle taken out!

Anyone got a spare 1/144 Lanc??

Indeed, dj, a clear "bead" from a craft store might work, especially if it is already hollow with a thin wall.

[Mossie]

Minicrat do one for a reasonable amount of dosh if you can't find one, I'm sure you could build the kit & find something windswept & interesting to do with the nose.

[sequoiaranger]

I recently contemplated the pop-in closure on a clear plastic package of strawberries. The lid had a round head in the corners which fits into a slightly smaller hole in the body. That got me thinking (not necessarily a good thing).

I may be able to make my "Tomato Worm" bubble top by taking an appropriately-sized ball-bearing, mounting it carefully on a cut-down golf tee, and then using my Vac-u-form machine to "smash" clear plastic over it. If all goes well, the base of the bubble top will be only slightly smaller than the equator, and I can pop the ball bearing out. If I can't pop it out, I can make a small slit in the "rear" of the bubble to release the bearing, and disguise it somehow.