Another WWI RC modeler

[RAGIII]

Welcome from another Plastic Modeler who is absolutely blown away by the Snipe! I did my WNW kit in the Markings you chose but it pales in comparison, and yours flies!
RAGIII

[bobs_buckles]

Lovely builds, Abu 

vB

[abufletcher]

Thanks for the complements, guys.  Here's another shot of the Snipe awaiting take-off in the morning mists.

[abufletcher]

And another of the EIII showing the "business end" with a Gnome dummy engine made by heavily modifying a Williams Brother Le Rhone kit.  You can also see the undercarriage with functional independent suspension. 

[Monty]

wow! Those are great models and some stunning photos! To think that they fly too... You have my rapt attention and admiration! Well Done!
Marc

[coyotemagic]

abufletcher,
   
" I don't have the skill set to do quality plastic modeling"

   I am absolutely blown away by the detail and incredible realism portrayed in your Snipe and SE.5a. You are modest to the extreme! Beautiful work, Sir, and all the more impressive given they fly; it's like a scene at TVAL in your flying shots!
    Welcome to the Forum and the more photos of your project(s) the more we'll enjoy them. If this isn't Scale Aircraft Modelling at an exceptionally high standard I'm at a complete loss for words!!
    Thank you for sharing these beauties!
Cheers,
Lance

I couldn't have said it better, Abu!  Each of those photos could pass for photos taken at Vintage Aviators.  Even the pilots look real.  Truly remarkable work, my friend!
Cheers,
Bud

[Borsos]

My deepest respect, these airplanes look, as others said before, like real airplanes. Just wonderful!

Well, maybe not dozenS but is it realistic to build a dozen models in a year?  I get the impression that people do the  1/72 kits fairly quickly.  But then the gems I have seen here suggest much more time (and care) is taken.  I still can't fathom how you guys do such exquisite rigging on such tiny models.

Ahem, well, I manage three 1/32 planes a year - if everything works as it should...
Borsos

[abufletcher]

Looking at some of the scratch-building threads on this forum I can see how it would take months and months to finish a fine model.

Even the pilots look real.

Regarding the pilot figures I use, it seems crazy that guys that build the most incredible details into their aircraft models won't take equal care with the pilot dummy.  What I have been doing is using (and modifying) the 1/6 scale head sculpts (available on eBay).  Weight is critical on a flying model (particularly any weight behind the CG which is almost always where pilots and observers are seated).  So I never use a full-figure dummy.  My philosophy is "what can't be seen from an observer on the ground needn't be included.  (By the way, my cockpits are generally sparse.)  I only use the head and sometimes part of a DID coat.  The coat can be made to look more like leather but painting it flat black and then dry brushing with brown and then maybe a clear coat (because glow engines cover EVERYTHING with gunk..just like the real deals). 

In this photo there is literally nothing inside the jack except for a piece of wire holding the head in place and a bit of foam for the chest.  And the pilot figure ends where the basket seat begins.  The "arms" are DID 1/6 scale gloved hands attached to wires.  Positioning the pilot is key to creating a realistic effect.  I always have my pilots looking off to one side.

[abufletcher]

Sometimes, to save weight, all I use is the face from the head sculpt.  (It's hard for most people to create a realistic looking face.)  The face is then stuck onto some ultra-light paper-based "clay" that I can get at the Japanese 100-yen shops.  It's about like working with a spit-wad and once it dries it weighs almost nothing.  Detailed with some more bits of clay and paper, then somewhat crudely painted (flat black then dry brushed brown for the leather helmet) and it looks good enough not to distract the viewer from the model.

[abufletcher]

This was the "flying pilot" I used from my Snipe vs. the ginger sitting in the cockpit above.

[abufletcher]

And here are the yet unmodified "Franz und Emil" for my CI.  Both will be getting brain surgery since both will be wearing the typical German crested "fliegerhelm."  (BTW, I'm informed by a very knowledgeable source that these helmets were made of treated linen, not leather.)  I picked these two head sculpts because to me they seemed to have the right personalities.  The pilot seems older and more experienced.  The observer looks like a scared young kid, which is probably about right.

In terms of positioning, I have a photo that shows the observer/gunner almost complete within the turret with the MG pointed upwards.  That's great for me since it means less dummy and therefore less weight.  (I have the rotating turret slaved to the rudder servo such that when the rudder moves right the gunner swings left.)  I might have the pilot leaning to either the left or right since he wouldn't have been able to see anything with that honking great Benz BzIII inline in front of him.

The "great coats" will also be severely cut down.

[abufletcher]

Here's a sort of prototype, which looks a bit goofy without the leather cap parts but it's the right scale size.  Once I get it right all of the back of the head and the neck will get cut off (to save weight).  The goal is to have him looking like the kid in the photo (enlarged to a scale size).

This is made from wood and primed.  I'm not sure if I just want to make two of these or whether it might be better to somehow mold them or vacuum form them (which I've never done).

[gbrivio]

Compliments, as these are all beautiful, but if I was you I do not dare to fly them: too scared by models crash rate 
Ciao
Giuseppe

[lcarroll]

    Incredible detail and realism, both the figures and the aircraft. The combination of true scale detail and flying ability is a remarkable achievement, thanks for providing all the detail on your work here. Just remarkable stuff!
Cheers,
Lance

[abufletcher]

Regarding the dummy pilots, the DID Toys head sculpts deserve most of the credit and at about $3-6 bucks a piece on eBay they are a bargain compared with the ugly commercially available dummy pilots.  My painting skills are limited so I couldn't capture the realism of these faces.  But modifying them is easy enough.

If I end up building a 1/4 scale model though I might have to learn how to do my own head sculpts.