Background

Aires began in 1995, making 2020 their 25th anniversary. They are based out of the Czech Republic and include not only the Aires brand name, but QuickBoost, Aerobonus, and Wheelliant.

Kit

A perfect addition to your diorama or display base is this Aires Aerobonus figure. This German or Austro-Hungarian Pilot figure is designed to be used with any German or Austro-Hungarian WWI aircraft (Albatross D.II, Albatross D.III, Albatross D.V, Albatross D.Va, DFW C.V, Fokker E.I, Fokker E.II, Fokker E.III, Fokker E.IV, Fokker D.II, Fokker D.VI, Fokker D.VII, Fokker Dr.I, Pfalz D.III, Pfalz D.XII, Roland C.II, Hansa-Brandenburg NW, Hansa-Brandenburg W.12, Hansa-Brandenburg W.20, Hansa-Brandenburg W.29, Lloyd C.V, Aviatik (Berg) D.I, etc.). Aires Aerobonus provides you with a resin figure with a separate head on one pour stub. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Aires Aerobonus uses that makes the parts easy to checkout before assembly and painting and then stuff back into the package securely. The supplied instructions provide color drawings for painting.

Assembly

Aires Aerobonus has molded the figure in light grey resin with no bubbles that I could find. There are mold seams on the heads and there is flash apparent on the body, especially between the legs, that will take you a bit to clean up. The resin sprue is easily removed from the shoes with a razor saw. The head is currently attached with Future. The jacket and pants are well executed with appropriate wrinkles and folds.

Painting

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. I primed the figure with Vallejo light grey, and then followed up with additional Vallejo paints to match the colored illustration in the instructions. I followed that with Tamiya’s Panel Line Accent Color in Grey, Dark Brown, Pink Brown. This was followed with some Vallejo Model-Air dry brushed in some highlights.

Highly recommended!

Thanks to Aires Aerobonus and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this set.