Background

Aires began in 1995, making 2026 their 31^st 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 USAF Korean war era pilot is perfect for your North American F-86 Sabre, North American F-51 Mustang, Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, Republic F-84D Thunderjet, Boeing SB-17 Flying Fortress, etc.. This is part of a set of four figures with the additional three figures including a USAF Pilot B with his helmet on [320 191], a USAF Aircraft Mechanic A [320 190], and a USAF Aircraft Mechanic B [320 192]. 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 check out 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 you will need to clean up. The resin sprue is easily removed from the shoes with a razor saw. The head is currently attached with Future. The arms required some filler at the shoulder joins which I filled with Black Super Glue. The jacket and pants are well executed with appropriate wrinkles and folds. The helmet fits nicely into the pilot’s left hand, but it will also need to be Super Glued once painted.

Painting

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts in Dawn to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. I primed the figure with Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black and then let dry for two days. I painted the inflatable vest and straps Reaper Amarylis Pink [29154] and followed up with Tamiya Camel Yellow [TS-34] after two days for drying. The helmet exterior was painted Tamiya Brilliant Blue [TS-44] with the inside of the helmet painted Squadron Scale Colors Skin #4, Flesh Mottle Brown. Once dry, I used Tamiya Panel Line Accent Colors Brown and Dark Brown to give the inside of the helmet a leather texture. The baseball cap was painted AK Blue RAL 5001 and the gloves were painted AK Brown. The overall uniform was painted AK Olive Drab and the Parachute straps and pack were painted AK RLM 76 Light Grey. The boots were painted AK RAL 7021 Dunkel Grau with the boot heels and soles painted AK Rubber Black. The metal buckles were painted AK Aluminum and AK Dark Aluminum. I painted the face with Squadron Scale Colors Skin #2 Flesh Base Tone [SCF 002], #3 Flesh Mottle Rose [SCF 003], Skin #4 Flesh Mottle Brown [SCF 004], Skin #5 Final Flesh Tone [SCF 005], and Skin #6 Highlight Flesh Tone [SCF 006]. I would note that the Squadron Scale Colors are meant to be airbrushed, but I was able to slowly build the face color up with wet blending using a brush. Once everything had dried for two days, I followed that with Tamiya’s Panel Line Accent Colors in Grey, Dark Brown, Pink Brown. This was followed with Tamiya Flat Clear [TS-80] to flatten the Tamiya Panel Line Accent sheen.

This is a nice figure that will add to your display of 1/32 Korean War era aircraft. One can easily go further with all four USAF Korean War figures to incorporate into your vignette or diorama.

My thanks to Aires Hobby Models and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great product.