RAF spitfire pilot bust 1/10

[lunarhighway]

I finally put the finisching touches to my 1/10 scale young miniatures RAF pilot bust

 

It's my first figure in this scale and i had previously only painted some 1/72 and 1/48 scale figures, and a long time before that some warhammer tabeltop wargame miniatures

 

i'm glad it turned out the way it did. the kit has quite a few parts for what looks like a simple bust, mostely the seat and backrest parts, but also some hoses and a mask.

the only parts i replaces where the electric wires for the headphones and mask as these had to be bend but where difficult to mine up and rather than to fight out that battle with superglue i twisted two metal wires together, wich gave the same look as the kit parts but was much easier to work with.

the figure was screwed to a wooden base, I will probably hide the visible thread at some point with i find a suitable tube to slide over it..Perhaps i drinking sraw or something.

it's been a nice to try something different from building aircraft and i'm looking forward to trying something similar sometime

IMG_20191025_103557(1) by Jan Legrand, on Flickr

 

IMG_20191020_190637 by Jan Legrand, on Flickr

 

 

 

IMG_20191026_142633 by Jan Legrand, on Flickr

IMG_20191026_142635 by Jan Legrand, on Flickr

IMG_20191026_142632 by Jan Legrand, on Flickr

 

 

[Farmerboy]

Wow! Never done a large scale figure myself so no expert, but to me that is awesome work.

[giemme]

Impressive! Young busts are beautifully sculpted, you did a great painting job on this.

 

Ciao

[GREG DESTEC]

Fantastic work 👍

 

Cheers Greg

[Ratch]

Very nice ⭐

What type of paints did you use, and what's that thing on his head?

[mick b]

35 minutes ago, Ratch said:

Very nice ⭐

What type of paints did you use, and what's that thing on his head?

I’m guessing it’s fold down shades for his goggles? Didn’t realise they had them?

 

Mike

[Ratch]

I've never seen them before either 🤔

[Black Knight]

They are anti-glare lenses for the goggles. They dropped down with a flip of a finger to cover the main lenses and darken the view. All googles had the fitting for them but they were only used by pilots by choice. They were especially used by night-fighter pilots who took off at dusk. They used the lenses just before firing their guns so they didn't loose their night vision. Some gunners in bombers used them too, often just keeping them down all the time

[lunarhighway]

6 hours ago, Ratch said:

Very nice ⭐

What type of paints did you use, and what's that thing on his head?

 

I mostly used Vallejo paints (regular and air) but also some other acrylics (Ammo Mig, Ak, Revell, Italeri, Hataka).

 

The secret ingredient if you will, was i thinned all paints with HG parquet gloss finish (nr 51), which i think might be similar to future... bit of a gamble when i got this but it's been a very versatile product, it also works as a satin varnish, to dip canopies, and as a wash (although you can't remove it once dry)
https://uk.hg.eu/products/parquet/hg-parquet-gloss-finish-protective-coating-pe-polish-product-51-1l

(no affiliation, but that's what i used)

They have many related products so specificity look for nr 51!  you get one liter, but i decanted a little into a vallejo style bottle so i can add a few drops to the mix as needed! the only disadvantage is it leaves a satin to gloss finish, which actually helps to spot where highlights might go, but all for a final flat coat for realism, especially on the face. It looks milky with a hint of yellow, but it dries clear.

 

The main reason is that it has a lower surface tension than water, so it will allow the pained to be thinned down quite a bit and become translucent but still cover the surface and flow nice. and this allows to apply many layers without loosing detail.

It also dries quite fast so you don't have to wait hours to apply the next layer, although i usually works on this in short sessions.

like this i was able to slowly build up shades and highlights, but also cover both with a single filter to tone them down and tie them together. and like that build everything up, if something looks to dark or to light it can be tweaked in the next coat. i did this quite a bit

 

thanks @Black Knight for explaining the visors... all i know is that it was a pain to glue... had i know some pilots didn't use them i might have been tempted to ditch it, although they add quite a bit of interest to the model.

painting wise the interesting thing about the visors is for painting the reflection on the lower part i used regular water  so it would pool and create a more tight demarcation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ratch]

Thanks, it almost looks like you used oils. It sounds like thinner, gloss and retardant would give similar characteristics.

[brodiebear]

Good 1st try, If i was to be critical his right iris needs better definition. To be fair yes are a right royal pain in the bottom to paint, It just looks from some angles that the iris has bled into the lacrimal gland. 😀

[flyingpiggy]

Oh my good god! I was unaware of the scale until I noticed the coin..brilliant I've forwarded to non forum members and family, hope you don't mind...superb

[Homer]

"STUNNING " well done 👏 

[Black Knight]

On 27/10/2019 at 11:27, Ratch said:

. . . and what's that thing on his head?

 

On 27/10/2019 at 12:50, Black Knight said:

They are anti-glare lenses for the goggles. They dropped down with a flip of a finger to cover the main lenses and darken the view. All googles had the fitting for them but they were only used by pilots by choice. They were especially used by night-fighter pilots who took off at dusk. They used the lenses just before firing their guns so they didn't loose their night vision. Some gunners in bombers used them too, often just keeping them down all the time

 

A piece of film just recently posted up;

Go to the 4 minute mark and from there you'll see the lenses on the pilot's goggles

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I zoomed out to see it at the right size. It's very good that way. well done.

[rockpopandchips]

Those outside shots look fantastic, nice work.

[roginoz]

You've got his "thousand yard stare" down to a "T".

 

A very nice build and subject.

Rog