Product provided by: Master Details via the reviewer’s wallet

Master details produces and distributes an expanding range of pilot figures and details for 1/32 scale projects; for now their focus is on the HK B-17, but they have other items in their lineup including an HE-111 Cockpit for the massive Revell kit.

In this case, the pilot figure is an early Vietnam-era U.S. pilot with four different heads cast in metal (One with just the helmet and chin strap, one with the visor up and oxygen mask in place, and one with the visor down and oxygen mask in place, and one with visor down and no oxygen mask), an oxygen hose for the mask in metal, and seven resin body parts including two legs, and four separate arms, with a torso. The kit also includes a unit patch decal sheet for the shoulder patches frequently displayed on the flight jackets of the time.

The parachute assembly is accurate, and the straps and harness/buckles are all molded in place and look great under a wash and drybrushed. The color of the flight suits back in the 1960’s were either gray or dark sage green, which is totally up to you and your research. I have my fathers’ gray lightweight flight suit, and with the exception of the brass zippers and Velcro, looks very much like the green ones we now use. The much-hated crotch pocket for the parachute knife being the exception…

The helmet is the single visor type with one central locking/position knob, and the different heads have the visor knob in the correct up or down position for each visor position.

Figure painting is an art in itself, which I am working on but have not mastered. The resin body parts have a “G” suit in place, and since I was using this pilot for the Roden O-1 Bird dog, no G suit was required.. It was an easy job to carefully remove the G-suit details for this build. I did leave on the parachute details. Whether or not the pilots wore parachutes in the O-1 was a detail I could not verify, so knowing how our AF likes to take care of pilots, expected them to be wearing them.

The assembly is simple, and I certainly believe you could modify the positions of the various limbs and head to make an excellent figure for just about any situation. As it is, I was able to place the figure in the cockpit within the spindly seat of the O-1, and have his hand on the control column while holding a cigarette in the left hand, a common situation back in “the day”.

The pictures tell the story; I believe this worked out very well, even though I didn’t spend too much time on it because it was in a review model and had three other items holding until I was able to finish up: the Bird dog model itself, the metal landing gear to hold it off the ground, and the decals to add variety to the kit build.

Well done Master Details; I’ve got several other of their 1/32 B-17 items and figures as well, and it’s the beginning of a great run for more realistic modeling using their expanding catalog!