Ultracast

1/32 "Pappy" Boyington

Stock Number: 54010

Reviewed By  Jack Kennedy, IPMS# 12511

MSRP: $17.95 Website: www.ultracast.ca I have reviewed several Ultracast 1/32 resin figures and love them all. This is, in my opinion, the best one yet. It is a figure of U.S. Marine fighter ace from WW II, Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. Some of you may remember the TV show "Baa Baa Black Sheep" that depicted the life of "Pappy" and his fellow Marines. The star of the show, Robert Conrad, didn't look anything like the real man. After seeing many photos of "Pappy" and meeting him at the Albuquerque IPMS/Nat's I was well pleased that someone decided to sculpt a figure of him. The reason I liked this figure of him is that the face is exactly right. Whoever sculpted this piece covered all the distinctive features of this man, right down to his squinty eyes and puffy lips. Now on to the figure. It is made in Ultracast's hard, tan-colored resin. The molding blocks are attached to the parts via a fine membrane that is easily cleaned up. There were very few seam lines that needed cleanup. The parts consist of a torso, the legs, two arms and the head. Not a major undertaking to assemble. The arms are keyed to fit properly, and they do. Assembly took about 10 minutes. After assembly, I mounted Pappy to a working block and primed him with light grey automotive primer. The next day, I painted the entire figure with Andrea and Vallejo acrylics. I let them dry overnight and then gave the flesh parts a light wash of burnt sienna oil paint. This made the features pop out. To finish the Mae West (life vest) I first painted it white. I then covered it with yellow mixed with a drop of red. When this was dry I applied a darker tan wash in the shadows and seam lines and then gave a highlight painting of pure yellow. After all of this was dry I mixed some Polly Scale matt clear with Future Floor Polish for a semi gloss effect, and painted the Mae West with this to give it a rubberized look. Overall, I loved doing this figure. From start to finish I would say that it took less than 5 hours. I would highly recommend this piece and all of the others from Ultracast. For the price, they can't be beat. I am looking forward to their next release. I wish to thank Ultracast and IPMS/USA for allowing me to do this review.