PJ Production

1/72 US Pilots seated in a/c (WW2)

Stock Number: 721120

Reviewed By  Jack Wade, IPMS# 45604

MSRP: Euros €4.20 (Approx. $6.50) Website: www.pjproduction.net New from this manufacturer of fine quality resin parts, are sets of seated pilot figures in 1/72. Having already been a satisfied customer with some of their figures and a conversion set under my belt, my expectations were high for these samples. They were surely met in terms of both detail and fit. Yes, I said fit; a feature often ignored in the design of 1/72 crew figures. Of course this is a well known fact for the small minority of us who like to ‘detail’ their cockpits with well sculpted crew figures. To me this is a sensible solution for dressing up a bad or just too plain looking kit seat. Of course I also belong to an equally obscure bunch that likes to do in-flight builds on a stand and a good figure is a must for this. The parts are all nicely and crisply detailed - the best I have seen in this scale. These are not generic crew figures either; the various details are all accurate for a particular era and nationality. The raw parts have some wispy flash left over from the casting process, but the parts are very easily and quickly cleaned up. I simply ‘pecked’ off the flash with a sharp blade as it is fine and brittle enough to break off cleanly. You don’t have to carve away at it as with injected molded flash. As I said, the figures are nicely proportioned. They fit most of the seats with which I tested them including a Tamiya P-51 and a Trumpeter Lightning (one of these guys will improve the office tremendously with the latter example). The back and seat of the figures are mostly flattened out making for a nice mating surface with the kit seat. Another nice design feature is that the shoulder harnesses are molded high on the shoulders so as to appear to actually be holding the little guy in instead of just draped hopelessly over his shoulder. This is something I have never seen from any other manufacturer and it looks very nice to my eye. These two US Pilots (WW2) figures are posed very interestingly. One is portrayed with one hand on the throttle the other on the stick with his head cranked up looking for the "Hun in the sun". This would look great in an in-flight diorama with a P-51 and FW-190 dueling in a barrel roll, canopy to canopy. The other figure has two right arms from which to choose – one on a stick, the other option as resting up on the canopy sill. This one also has an oxygen mask dangling so, obviously, it is for a parked aircraft or a pilot on an overly relaxing sortie. I painted these figures per the photographs on the paper insert with the packaging. They took paint nicely with an initial spray of Tamiya Brown and brush painting for the rest of the colors. I did not wash the parts before painting and did not experience any problems. The detail is pronounced enough to take a wash and dry-brushing nicely. I photographed them with the optional arms placed temporarily with Blue-Tac as I have not yet decided what plane these guys will be flying. I will likely flatten the finish a bit depending on whether or not I use them with an open or closed canopy. I will also have to touch up some of the spots where I cut the parts as I had painted them while they were still on the pour stubs. Concluding Remarks These sets are top drawer products. They will add a lot to a cockpit with less expense involved than with your typical cockpit detail set. They add a bit of life and action to a display that you will not get with a cockpit detail set. It’s a different sort of animal really to be making such a comparison, but I like using figures from this manufacturer to take the cockpit finish to another level in a different sort of way. You get two figures which means you can dress up two single seat projects cutting the expense of dressing up the office in half again. As I said, I think these figures are a great alternative to a cockpit detail set. Many thanks to IPMS USA for sending the samples for review. A very whole hearted thanks to PJ Production. Not just for supplying the samples, but for producing a great line of products that are largely overlooked by other manufacturers - both large and small scale operations. As you must know after reading this far, I am a big fan of PJ Production’s product line and will not hesitate to recommend this brand to anyone.