PJ Productions

1/72 USAF 1950s Pilots For any 1/72 Nifty Fifties Jet

Stock Number: 721115

Reviewed By  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: €4.20 Euros ($5.95) Thanks to PJ Productions for the review figures. (www.pjproduction.net) Some time in the last 20 years, the manufacturers caught on to the fact that we don't put pilot figures in our models. Or they figured out that if we really wanted them, we'd buy them in a separate set. This is really a good thing, because most of the pilot/crew figures in most kits were pretty awful. So there is a market for well-done pilot figures in multiple scales. PJ Productions from Belgium has produced a set of 2 pilot figures to go in your "nifty fifties" jet. The Figures: You get two figures in the same pose, looking off to their right, with one hand where the control stick should be, and the other arm separate, to be put on the throttle, the coaming, top of the panel or wherever your imagination wants it to be. The faces are mostly covered by the O2 mask, but what can be seen of the face is pretty well defined. They wear parachutes and helmets, and the flight suits have those pockets down by the ankles. I always thought these pockets were kind of useless, until I was trying to get my cell phone out of my pants pocket while riding in the right seat of a Luscombe. Those pockets DO make it possible to put things away and get to them in a cockpit. Painting: The example shows the pilots wearing a brown leather jacket. OK, but not where I was. The pilots wore a nondescript green flight suit, and the MA-1 Flight Jacket. These are short jackets, the waist rides up about 4 inches above the normal "belt level". Again, it was one of those things which looks awful, but works out in the cockpit. The waist allows free movement where a longer one would bind and become intolerable after an hour or so in the cockpit. The flight suit and MA-1 were sort of the same color, but not really. I used Testors' 34079 for the flight suit and 34092 for the MA-1. Same for the parachute. It's Faded Olive Drab, mostly for contrast. The gloves and boots are black, with the white helmet and black anti-glare visor. I also added a touch of white at the throat to simulate the silk scarf most fighter pilots wore. It's not just an affectation, think about turning your head left and right every 10 seconds or so for an hour, and think what that flight suit collar and label would do to the back of your neck. Installation: The very first PJP kit I ever built was an F-84F an aircraft I worked on at Peoria, Illinois. It had been painted in the Vietnam camouflage before I got to it, but this is how it looked in the late 50s, early 60s. And the pilot does add something to the kit. I put the pilot in the cockpit, and then glued the arm on. I thought it looked good resting on the top of the panel coaming. Then I reglued the headrest I knocked off, and the fin on the drop tank which separated in handling. If you're planning on putting one of these pilots in a current project, make him part of the interior process. I had to cut the feet and part of the right leg off of my pilot to get him into the cockpit, because the F-84F has very narrow foot holes, and the legs were just a bit widely spaced to fit. On the other hand, he certainly looks like he belongs there. Recommended Thanks to PJ Productions for a nice add-on to my Hog, and to John Noack for sending me something I didn't even know I needed.

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