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U.S.A.F. Fighter Pilot, Pressure Suit, 1960-1975
Published on
Review Author(s)
Frank Landrus
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$10.00
Product / Stock #
AB 480 096
Company: Aires Hobby Models - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Aires Hobby Models - Website: Visit Site
Kits
Figures & Dioramas

A perfect addition to your diorama or display base is this Aires Aerobonus figure. This figure is designed to be ascending a ladder to a 1960-1975 USAF Fighter. Aires Aerobonus provides you with a resin figure with separate arms on one pour stub with side bars to protect the figure. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. The supplied instructions provide color drawings for painting.

Aires Aerobonus has molded the figure in light grey resin with no bubbles that I could find. There are no mold seams to sand off and the resin plug is easily removed from the bottom with a razor saw or Dremel. Clean up was quite easy and the arms attached with superglue. I added a just a bit of putty to refined the transition on the shoulders to the arms. The sculpting is great with the proportions of the figure perfect. The pressure suit is well executed with appropriate wrinkles and folds.

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 painted the figure with Vallejo light grey, and then followed up with additional Vallejo paint to match the colored illustration in the instructions. I followed that with a wash and then dry brushed in some highlights. Now I just need to find a fighter that needs a pilot….

Highly recommended.

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

Box Art

Reviewer Bio

Frank Landrus

Pic

Frank retired from the Ophthalmic industry with over thirty-six years of Research and Development experience. Frank's first model kit was a 1959 Hawk 1/72 US Marines Vought AU-1 Corsair and has been building models for over sixty years. Frank's first encounter with IPMS was attending a North Central Texas ScaleFest show in 1984. Frank soon became more involved in Make-N-Take activities and became the IPMS Western Coordinator for Make-N-Takes [West of the Mississippi River]. Make-N-Takes quickly became a local model contest and airshow staple reaching a high of reaching over 1,300 children before the COVID shutdown. Frank has volunteered to assist in contest judging since 1985 and is currently the Nationals Head Figure Judge until he is dead or they find someone better.