Aircrew and Ground Crew Figures
Prices: From £13.50 to £30.00
Review by Dave Coward
PIC 00
Our thanks to David Allen of Wings Cockpit Figures for sending through our review samples.
Available from Model Design Construction – you can find them here
Initial assessment
I’ve been eagerly waiting for the release of these figures for some time now. I`m a great fan of adding figures to models internally or as an accessory to stand alongside an aircraft as I think they bring a model to life. I`ve used many different figures from many manufactures and some were very good and some have been quite frankly awful. I`m glad to say these figures rank up there with the best I’ve seen.
The range covers the First and Second World Wars and the masters have been produced by Steve Warrilow, Mike Good, Nino Pizzichemi, Alan Ball, Bob Naismith, Andrew Cairn and the casting is by Bob Brown of MDC.
Each figure has been exquisitely produced and the detail is fantastic. There are some figures that have been produced for specific models and other that can fit a variety of WWI or WWII aircraft and additionally there are two female figures of Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich if you fancy something a bit different to stand next to your finished model.
Some of the figures come as one-piece castings and others come as multiple part castings and these fit together without any issues and are all cast in light grey resin. Many of the WWI figures have been specifically designed for Wingnuts Wings kits and there is a word of warning when using these:
With all the seated figures designed to fit inside the aircraft cockpit the golden rule applies – test fit him to check the position and fit in the cockpit first before assembly. The classic problem with seated cockpit figures is that they sit in a tighter space than they would have been in the original full scale aircraft. Whilst the outer dimensions of the model are usually pretty accurate, the inner dimensions and the cockpit are distorted by the thickness of the plastic, and generally in scale around a minimum 6 inches up to a foot or more tighter than the original cockpit space. The Wings’ figures are designed to fit the aircraft specified, but they still need care in fitting. `
David does provide specific notes for fitting these figures as a document with photographs in MS Word format and can be obtained by e-mailing him at: david.allen@wingscockpitfigures.com
The Range
World War 1
RFC 01. Steve Warrilow’s standing wrapped up warm and scarfed-up RFC pilot wearing a leather flying coat with angled map pocket is perfect to accompany any Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service or Royal Air Force (from 1st April 1918) aircraft from 1915 – 18. Most of the modellers buying him are doing so for the beautiful Wingnut Wings DH-2. One of the delights of this figure is that you can choose the colour scheme of the flying coat, scarf and boots as, particularly earlier in the war pilots generally obtained their flying gear from gentlemen’s outfitters rather than as standard service or uniform issue. He is the perfect generic pilot to pose by your model.
RFC 05A and 05B. Two seated scout pilots, RFC or RNAS, Steve Warrilow’s choice of two seated figures offers a pilot with his arms inside the cockpit, or left arm out thumbs up. Both figures have a choice of three heads, offering goggles up or down, and scarfed-up goggles down. Designed for the very tight Wingnut Wings’ SE5a, they may also fit other scouts where tight.
RFC 06. A seated DH2 pilot modelled on Major Lanoe Hawker VC designed for the Wingnut Wings model, Steve Warrilow’s figure has a choice of right arms waving or holding the Lewis MG (for the kit option placing the forward Lewis in the central position), and a choice of two heads: Major Hawker, and a scarfed-up goggles down head.
