To start, my thanks to Aires for providing IPMS/USA with this figure to review! One of six in this review series, each shows a passion and dedication Aires have to providing the finest resin products. We appreciate your support, with the usual nod to IPMS/USA leadership for allowing me to review these figures.

Produced under the Aerobonus branch of Aires, this 1/48 scale figure is a Russian pilot sitting in a KS-4 ejection seat. The pilot, consisting of a torso in the seat, two separate arms, and a separate head/helmet, can be assembled in many ways. As designed, the head is supposed to be looking left, the right arm and hand are positioned for a grip on the control column, and the left arm is where the throttle would be. Also included with each set are painting instructions in color!

It took about 10 minutes to clean the casting up (there is a web between the legs), remove the arms and head from their spots on the pour stub, and superglue the parts together. I primed the figures with Tamiya fine spray primer and used Vallejo for the detail and uniform painting. I then used basic colors that were mixed as required to get a better color match to give the figure a proper look. Finally, I ran a wash over everything, and I then drybrushed the figure to bring out details.

Although the pictures make the figure’s white highlights look “grainy”, the actual kit under normal light looks superb. I’ll be using more of these Aerobonus figures in the future.

There is nothing more to add here, other than to simply state that this pilot figure is a worthy upgrade. Simply assemble the parts, paint, and install the pilot in your vignette or diorama for a great visual effect without too much work!

Thanks again to Aires for providing these to IPMS/USA!