WW2 Figures

what scale?

LOL sorry forgot to say that, it's a 1/48 Corsair

Bud

Verlinden makes some pilots and ground crews for WW2 aircraft in 1:48.

Hasegawa has a set and so does Preiser.

Thanks, I will look them up

Bud

I have looked but could not find any. Anyone have any other ideas ?

Thanks

Bud

A quick search gave me:

Roll models has a few of the figure sets that would work for your project.

Great Models (has Hasegawa, Verlinden, Tarmac, Legend, CMK, Tekniks, Wings, Warriors, all in 1/48 some with personalites like Richard Bong, Marseille,  and plenty of ground crews and pilots from Luftwaffe, US, RAF, Russian)

VLS

Internet hobbies has plenty of these sets

And there are more. Good luck.

 

Thank you, I found a lot in the Great Models web site. I never looked for figures before and that helped.

Thanks

Bud

Well I looked around and from the links you gave me I found these 2. Are they the right ones for a WW2 fighter for a F4U-1A Corsair ?

Thank you again

Bud

 

They could work, though the uniforms are more typical of USAAF personnel in the ETO, rather than USMC or USN (or USAAF for that matter) personnel in the pacific. If you can find guys in the A-4 summer flying suit, or the AN-S-3 or -31 summer flying suit, and the A-8 or A-10 summer flying helmet, that would probably be better.

 The figures that came with some of Monogram's kits would work well, like the P-61 kit. You can always kit bash heads too, if you have a good figure with an unsuitable head. I'd check with the aircraft modelers to see if any of them have some spare figures in the parts box.

Are you doing just the plane and figure?  Or planning some sort of diorama?  If a dio, you might want to look at "O Scale" model railroad accessories, such as from Walthers.  I am working on a 1/48 scale coast guard boat dio, and have found a number of different structures, tools, and detail things great for making a complete scene.  You might also find figures of use through that venue as well.

I found an interesting article on scale handy for crossing between various types of modelling (railroad, aircraft, etc).  http://www.thortrains.net/scale2.html

I just would like to have a figure/pilot with the plain. I am not, right now looking to build a Dio. Just want to get a pilot from the USMC, WW2 that would look right for the Corsair. Something that looks like a pilot from what the Black Sheep would have worn in that time.

Thanks

Bud

Any figure with a basic flying suit (coveralls, essentially), Mae West, parachute, and flying helmet (which is just a soft hat that covers the entire head) with goggles should suffice. Most Monogram kits provide one for the cockpit in thier WWII fighter kits, and some of them are actually not bad figures, while others kind of suck. Some come with standing figures in the same gear. The pilot and co-pilot figures that come with the B17G kit could work, though they're wearing A-2 leather flight jackets. But that could be plausible, since those jackets were pretty universally popular, no matter the theater of operations.

 My suggestion would be to grab a book or two, with pictures of what pilots looked like, either in general, or in the specific theater of operations you're modeling, and either look for figures that have the right gear, or use what you've learned from your books to modify a figure to have the right gear.

 If you're not up to the modification work, check with the aicraft modelers. I'm sure that if they can't hook you up with some figures from their scrap boxes, they can certainly point you in the right direction.If I had any, I'd be happy to part with them, but I don't. I suppose I could make one for you, if worse came to worse, but there's plenty out there. Check the kits at your LHS too. There's usually pics on the side that show the finished model on the side, along with the figure.

 Perhaps you don't want to blow the money on a kit just for one figure. Understandable, but you're just not a kit builder until you've spent $32 on a Sherman tank kit, just for a set of idler wheels and a turret.

This book may be of some use.   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1855325306/ref=nosim/102-1069570-1776921?n=283155

 All Opsprey books have great color plates showing people and/or vehicles. This one, I've not seen up close, but I have about a hundred of these books in my library, and they're all the same, so I'm sure it has several useful color plates in it.

Also, Google  USMC aviators in WWII, and see what you find.

One of the Tamiya F4U-1D kits comes with the type of pilot figures you are looking for and a deck hand as well. There is an old Monogram TBF that has crew figures and thier vindicator kit also comes with
crew.
A search on squadron for 1/48 pilots turned up a figure of R. Bong from Legend Products from Korea and a PTO Pilot set from Verliden.

Yea, I was thinking about getting one of these and just painting them the way I need them to look. Do y'll think that would work ?

And i want to thank y'll for the help here too.

Bud

I'd run with number 1, the seated pilot in number 3, or the guys in number 4. I'm not fond of the thickness of the arms in number 2 and 5. Aside from just looking too big for the rest of the figure, it looks like he's bundled up for a high altitude bombing mission over Germany, which a Marine aviator in a Corsair would never be.

 The guys in number 4 look the best, and are painted in the right color for the most common uniform for that theater and branch of service, though the poses may not be suitable for your needs. You can certainly get one of the others and paint them in tan, as the flying suits seem to be close enough, and the Mae Wests cover enough details that if they aren't quite the right suit, it won't be too noticable.

 You'll want to stay away from the guy in the thick B-3 flying jacket, with the wrench, standing beside the pilot in the cockpit seat, for obvious reasons.

I like number 4 the best. But as you said there poses may not be suitable for my needs. But they do look good. At lest I am getting closer. Thanks again for the help

Will let y'll know what one I get

Bud

Here's another really good source for figures that I've just learned about: http://www.coloradominiatures.com/index.asp

Eric