Cloning prone pilot figures.

[JayBee]

Some time ago I was looking for the 1/72 prone gunner figure from certain Airfix kits. Having put a request on the forum I received from Army of One  (Cheers Hank!) the figure that I needed work began on this project and here it is :



It did need a little bit of cosmetic surgery (good old fashioned Airfix moulding) :


So we then had to think of how to prepare him for making a master mould.
A bit of plastic tubing with a piece of clear plastic rod (courtesy of a British Airways cocktail swizzle stick (well you do not leave them behind, do you?) inserted in it, was the next step.


Then it was reshape it. This was done using a good old fashioned pencil sharpener.



Then glue the victim on.



Next was to create a mould for the latex rubber that would become the mould for the resin final bit. This required the use of a plastic shot glass with the base cut of, a bit of plasticard and a short length of plastic rod.



Right the rubber mould is ready to come out, but sadly the plastic shot glass had to be sacrificed in the process.



We are now at the point of adding some resin, and note another plastic shot glass has been drafted in to hold the mould tightly in shape.
Looking good so far.



The resin has set, you can tell by the colour, and it has been lifted out of the shot glass straight jacket.



Now to remove the first attempt at casting resin. This explains the little bit of plastic rod, it was to give me a guide as to where to cut the mould to enable the master and subsequent mouldings to be removed.



What a failure, a great big air bubble!



..and yes I know the pilots feet are the wrong way up, but that is the only way they would stay in place for the photo.


The next effort was not perfect, the pilot's hands were missing but not bad at all. Some body putty will fix that.



And now to the final effort.
I produced a small run of prone figures, and I am happy with them.
Well they certainly satisfy my current needs.



They almost look like a group of acolytes praying to the great God Plasticus.

[PR19_Kit]

Yes, yes, yes Jim, really wonderful work, but what are they FOR? 

[JayBee]

I will only say that one of them will represent "Winkle" Brown in an aircraft he never did fly. 

[Rheged]

The Miles M52 was a prone pilot, if memory serves..........

[Gondor]

The Miles M52 was a prone pilot, if memory serves..........

There were also prone pilot aircraft being developed by Germany towards the end of WWII too.

Gondor

[The Wooksta!]

The Miles 52 had a normal seat.

And there were quite a few aircraft that Winkle didn't fly that he claimed he otherwise had...

[Nick]

Prone Meteor F.8 ?

[NARSES2]

Impressed with your work Jim although slightly concerned how many of your building materials seem to have started life associated with alcohol 

Love that last shot "all hail the Great God ........" 

[The Wooksta!]

He's Scottish!  From an area near Galsogow.  That, I think, explains everything...

[zenrat]

Attack of the prone clones...

[JayBee]

He's Scottish!  From an area near Galsogow.  That, I think, explains everything...

Oh please Lee, we in SW Scotland do not consider ourselves even close to Glasgow (yes. I kinow it is only 30 miles away) but they are not in the same country.
Consider our own TSRJoe (who is a Glaswegian), I think you will agree he is not even on the same planet as the rest of us.

[Gondor]

Consider our own TSRJoe (who is a Glaswegian), I think you will agree he is not even on the same planet as the rest of us.

That's just TSRJoe anyway..... 

Gondor

[NARSES2]

He's Scottish!  From an area near Galsogow.  That, I think, explains everything...

Oh please Lee, we in SW Scotland do not consider ourselves even close to Glasgow (yes. I kinow it is only 30 miles away) but they are not in the same country.
Consider our own TSRJoe (who is a Glaswegian), I think you will agree he is not even on the same planet as the rest of us.

I've always been amazed by how quickly you get out of Glasgow, even when not being chased  . I used to go to Motherwell quite a lot for both Ravenscraig and Dalzell steelworks and used to stay in what was almost a country inn just a few minutes taxi ride from the works. And yes I know you could say neither of those are in Glasgow, but they felt like it 

PS : I can even pronounce Dalzell properly 

[PR19_Kit]

PS : I can even pronounce Dalzell properly 

How DO you pronounce it? 

[NARSES2]

PS : I can even pronounce Dalzell properly 

How DO you pronounce it? 

Easy.

It's D L. A young lady called Pat who worked in the RMP Mill's sales office taught me