| Scale | 1/72 |
| Manufacturer | PJ Productions |
| Kit ID | 721113 |
| Type | Transport Pilot Figures |
PJ Productions has for a long time provided beautiful tailor made resin pilot figures for most countries and eras that allow the cockpit of an aircraft to look lived in. The only kind missing until now had been transport pilots suitable for aircraft that didn't require parachute packs, G-suits and bone domes.
At the last IPMS Nationals, I had approached Phillipe and showed him some figures with headsets I had adapted from the Hasegawa Ground Support set. We also discussed, that packs of 3 would be ideal in order to allow for a pilot, co-pilot and navigator/engineer. Some thought was also given to suitable headgear.
Thereafter, Philippe spent the winter putting words into action. At the end of April 2010, the new transport pilot set became available. As discussed, they come in packs of 3 on 3 individual resin sprues. There are 2 figures with baseball caps and one bareheaded one, but all with "Mickey Mouse" ear head sets. The behatted figures have separate arms, while the bareheaded one has the arms joined in the middle where he holds a sack of papers or perhaps a clipboard. Inerestingly enough, the hatted figures can also be made so as to hold the paper work.
In his cover art, Philippe painted his hats red. As I required figures from the 50s and 60s, I painted my hats Olive Drab, as baseball caps had not become such a fashion statement yet in this era.
The figures also lend themselves not only for C-141s, C-130s etc, but also for lighter transports, such as the DHC U-1 Otter in the attached pictures, or perhaps Cessna Bird Dogs, light trainers or even helicopters. The modeller does need to figure out how to make the hands fit to the steering columns. In aircraft with very tight cockpits, the modeller might have to chop off the legs in order to make them fit.
If push came to shove, the figures could also be painted so as to look as if they were wearing civilian trousers and button down shirts suitable for a civilian aircraft, but that is a different market niche.
The figures are crisply moulded and look very representative. When sitting on a pencil, they tend to have a bit of a head down attitude, but look more lively in an aircraft. A better modeller might be able to paint the headset mikes a little more finely.
All in all, PJ Production filled an other extremely useful niche and a long neglected market segment.
Review and photographs by Alex Hunger
