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1/48 FAA Personnel all eras


Chewbacca

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Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong forum but the aircraft forums seem to be specific to different era and my query is more generic covering everything from WW1 to the present day.

 

The vast majority of my modelling represents the Royal Navy or the Fleet Air Arm.  When it comes to aircraft, my preferred scale is 1/48 and always prefer if possible to display them on a small diorama showing the flight deck with one or two aircrew or ground crew to put the human element into the model.  Now there are literally hundreds of options for 1/48  figures available, provided I want to model RAF, USAF/USAAF, Luftwaffe, Russian, Japanese etc, even some US Navy.  But no-one that I have yet found seems to currently offer FAA or even wider RN personnel in that scale.  I've modified  the Eduard USN WW2 personnel to represent WW2 and Korean War FAA groundcrew, I managed to pick up a couple of resin RAF aircrew (can't remember the make) that with a little modification (including shaving of moustaches) could be made to look roughly like late WW2 RN Pilots and Observers and years ago I even managed to pick up a white metal Sea Harrier Pilot and 2 ground crew but they don't seem to be available anymore.  Alley Cat supposedly do a 1/48 WW2 FAA Pilot in cold weather clothing but if you look carefully at the box art he appears to have a moustache and is an RAF pilot.

 

So does anyone know of any FAA or RN figures that are available in 1/48 scale please?

 

Many thanks

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A couple of options for you:

 

Aerobonus produce a Falklands era Harrier Pilot figure, I haven't seen the figure "in the flesh" but I think the head and helmet look slightly out of proportion.

 

PJ Productions produce a seated RAF Fighter Pilot but he looks equally at home in a Sea Harrier or JFH Harrier

 

It might be out of production, Skunkworks produce a Royal Navy Tractor set which also included a couple of flight deck figures

 

Reedoak in France produce a number of 3D printed US Navy flight deck figures some of which are fairly generic so may also pass for FAA figures

 

The white metal figure you mentioned might be an Airwaves  product

 

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Thanks both.  I agree the comment about the Aerobonus head.  It does look a little like Sharkey Ward though.  Of perhaps more concern with that one is the life preserver which looks nothing like the ones that I used to use (and which were very similar to the FW variant)

 

It would appear that my best bet for ground crew is the Skunk Models tractor which I can get from Hong Long for about £17.50 though its showing on backorder.  It's 2-3 times that from a UK supplier!  The US Navy personnel are actually a fair bit different to the RN dress but could be used if I can't get the Skunk Models set 

 

Very best regards

 

 

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I could be wrong but I seem to recall - some time ago - buying a couple of 1/48 FAA crewmen in immersion suits that were sold as helicopter crewmen, they were in whitemetal. I think they were intended for the Revell Wessex HAS.3 as they were out long before the Sea King or Lynx were kitted, talking early 1990s here.

One fellow was stood upright, the other one was definitely kneeling and I used him as rear crew on a 1/48 Fujimi Royal Marines Gazelle that I built, the pilot for that was seconded from a Hasegawa Hughes 500. Will have a look to see if I still have the RN chaps.

 

Are the Fujimi or Hasegawa US Navy deck crew too far removed to be adapted to RN crew? Bit of cross decking perhaps?

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I agree with @Chewbacca,  FAA aircrew are hard to come across.  I would like some late War Pacific Theatre 1/48 pilots.  By then the majority of pilots trained in the US and wore US style flight suits with UK equipment.  A Mae West looks very different to a US Life Vest..  Handling parties look like they wore shorts and plimsoles.  It would be good to have aircrew In North Atlantic flight gear also, deck handling crew in duffle coats etc..  

 

Maybe I just need to find someone with a 3D printer..

 

 

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On 4/16/2020 at 10:32 PM, Chewbacca said:

Thanks both.  I agree the comment about the Aerobonus head.  It does look a little like Sharkey Ward though.  Of perhaps more concern with that one is the life preserver which looks nothing like the ones that I used to use (and which were very similar to the FW variant)

 

It would appear that my best bet for ground crew is the Skunk Models tractor which I can get from Hong Long for about £17.50 though its showing on backorder.  It's 2-3 times that from a UK supplier!  The US Navy personnel are actually a fair bit different to the RN dress but could be used if I can't get the Skunk Models set 

 

Very best regards

 

 

G'day,

 

 I have used built/painted both the "Sharkey" figure and the RN tractor (posts 159 and 155 respectively)

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

 

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Thanks everyone.  I have looked at those Shapeways figures.  They actually look very good but as far as I can tell they are all in either No1s or duffel coats, neither of which were worn on the flight deck very often.  Daft thing is I have access to a decent 3D printer but not the software to convert photographic 2D images into CAD otherwise this would be easy!

 

I've emailed Hubert at Reedoak to see if he has any plans to produce RN personnel

 

The WW2 USN personnel can be converted into Pacific fleet and 1950s personnel because the US dress was the basis for the Action Working Dress that the RN introduced as a result of operations with the USN in 1944/45 (actually it stemmed back to HMS VICTORIOUS's deployment to the Pacific in 1942 but not widely introduced into the Pacific Fleet until 1945).  With a push they can be modified to modern RN overalls though sculpting the hazardous duty lifejacket is a challenge.  And the RAF aircrew can be used for RN aircrew to a certain extent but I cannot understand why, when the Fleet Air Arm has made such a contribution to aviation and there are so many models of Fleet Air Arm aircraft that you can get so few if any figures to go with them when you can get such a wide range of everything else.

 

 

Edited by Chewbacca
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If it helps I managed to dig out the couple of whitemetal 1/48 RN crew from long ago. I suspect they might have been Airwaves in origin.

15C88D55-5021-4B30-BF7A-0FD325CF7D25

 

4AFD9FFE-3B0C-4CAE-8A1D-ED996FE987E4

 

Edited by peely20
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Airwaves did, indeed, produce a number of white metal Post-War FAA pilot figures in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale including the unpainted figure shown at Post 11.

 

Apart from their Sea Harrier pilot, PJ Productions also do a Royal Navy Lynx Crew set (Pilot and Observer in two different poses) and a kneeling crewman that could also be used in a Wessex, Sea King or Merlin (PJ481125).

 

Some years ago AIRframe Extra (part of the now defunct Aviation Workshop range) did a "Royal Navy Modern Helicopter Crew" set. I put the title in "s because one of the two figures is clearly sporting a 'G' suit so either the FAA have a secret helicopter programme on the go or the sculptor got carried away. That said, they are both very nice resin figures (the second one has a donned helmet and immersion suit) so would look good alongside a FAA Sea Harrier, Harrier T.8 or Hawk. Sadly they are long OOP but you may find them available at a model show. 

 

I have some pre-painted figures, which I inherited a while back, of unknown provenance.

 

Now With Photos !

 

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The two on the left are (I think) resin figures......The one on the right (with the thumbs up signal) and pole in its foot is White Metal. As I said, not sure of the makes but the WM one could be an Airwaves figure from the mid to late-1980s. 

 

 

       

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23 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

If you contact Luis (Holden8702) directly, he is on facebook, he has some more recent Royal Navy and RAF figures which he can print at any scale, and also cheaper than going through Shapeways, sadly at the moment he is unable to dispatch them to the UK (or anywhere else) as he is located in Spain but he is very helpful and will presumably be able to supply when things start opening up again after this current mess!

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PP Aerokits did a nice set of RN Pilots (2) and deck crew (2) in1/48  for late 40s and early 50s aircraft,  the leaflet says mastered by a chap called Robert Lane and the set (FIG402) is dated 1994. I don't know if Tim Perry is on this forum, but he is around ,he was at Telford last year, and he may have more information.  

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