It always surprised me how much attention is payed to cockpits and aircraft interiors, considering how little of this work ends up being visible. However pilot figures (especially the heads and upper torsos) are pretty visible. This is one of several reasons why I'm building aircraft with figures in them.
I'm getting back into aircraft modelling after a very long hiatus. What's been surprising to me is how difficult it is to get pilot and crew figures to FIT inside a model. Part of the problem is that kits rarely come with seated figures designed to be placed inside the aircraft, thereby forcing the modeller to cut off legs and arms and remove all sorts of material to force a fit using figures from other kits. Considering the lengths to which modellers go to make accurate, detailed cockpits, it's starting to dawn on me why so many do not add seated figures to their models. Oftentimes the only way to make those little guys fit is to radically amputate various parts of them. For example, the only way I was able to get the tail gunner to fit in my Marauder was to cut off his feet. And this was with a figure from a new, expensive resin figure set. His feet won't be seen, but still - how inaccurate is that? (not to mention inhumane...)
Does anyone out there in model obsession land have any experience with this? Do you have any tricks you'd like to share on how to make this work? Also, I've noticed that figures in a particular scale can vary widely in size (not to mention quality - some of the best I have were made in the'70s). Ever noticed that?
I'm getting back into aircraft modelling after a very long hiatus. What's been surprising to me is how difficult it is to get pilot and crew figures to FIT inside a model. Part of the problem is that kits rarely come with seated figures designed to be placed inside the aircraft, thereby forcing the modeller to cut off legs and arms and remove all sorts of material to force a fit using figures from other kits. Considering the lengths to which modellers go to make accurate, detailed cockpits, it's starting to dawn on me why so many do not add seated figures to their models. Oftentimes the only way to make those little guys fit is to radically amputate various parts of them. For example, the only way I was able to get the tail gunner to fit in my Marauder was to cut off his feet. And this was with a figure from a new, expensive resin figure set. His feet won't be seen, but still - how inaccurate is that? (not to mention inhumane...)
Does anyone out there in model obsession land have any experience with this? Do you have any tricks you'd like to share on how to make this work? Also, I've noticed that figures in a particular scale can vary widely in size (not to mention quality - some of the best I have were made in the'70s). Ever noticed that?
