BUILDING YOUR PILOT
This is a Williams Brothers pilot figure—they are inexpensive, lightweight and simple to finish: just glue the halves together and paint. Original they are not, and they lack the realism that many scale builders desire; however, they are much better looking than some of the things I’ve seen in airplanes. Some guys cut the heads off rubber bathtub toys or stuffed animals and stick them in the cockpit. Their creations are certainly unique, but there is another way.
For this application, attach a block of foam or balsa to the bottom of the Williams figure because he wasn’t tall enough to see over the instrument panel.To prepare him for the next step in his transformation from William to Wilhelm, file or sand off the flashing around the plastic. Then shape the block and blend it with the plastic to form a “body.” Use some balsa filler and a couple of coats of epoxy or finishing resin to give the foam a smooth surface for sanding prior to painting.

The original pilot figure has a nose that would look cute on a teenage girl but is hardly suitable for a fighter pilot, so he needs a proboscis that a man could be proud of out of Epoxolite—a two-part epoxy putty made by Sig Mfg. Co. As it cures, it takes on the consistency of modeling clay and can be molded into just about any shape you can think of. He also had eyes that were shaped more like those in an Egyptian wall painting than any human’s, so eyelids are added and some character lines at the outside corners. Epoxolite enables you to be as creative as you like. If you don’t get it quite right the first time, it can be carved, sanded, or filed into shape after it cures.

The transformation continues. The original has a smooth, heart-shaped face like you would expect on a nine-year-old — just not manly enough for a WW I pilot. Use Epoxolite to fill out the face and add a double chin, simply put an approximate amount of putty on the area that you want to change. After a few minutes of cure time, you can shape it with a wet finger or tool (any device you think is the right size and shape).You can use toothpicks, Popsicle sticks, a small pocket-knife blade, a no. 11 hobby blade and a plastic coffee stirrer, but it is important to keep whichever tool you use wet as you shape the putty. After the face and chin is filled out, he just looked like a fat guy wearing a helmet with a tight chin strap — not macho enough to be a rugged fighter pilot. An old-fashioned “soup-strainer” moustache would give the look you want. It is simple to make; just roll some Epoxolite on a piece of plastic sandwich wrap until it looks something like a long hot dog with pointed ends. Roll it on plastic wrap because Epoxolite is very sticky stuff until it cures, but with the help of some water, you can get it off plastic. Then just stick it into place, positione it with a wet toothpick and trim off the ends with a hobby knife. When the Epoxolite is nearly cured, use a wet no. 11 knife blade to make “hair” lines.

The original figure was wearing a long collared shirt, like something you’d expect to see on Elvis in the 1960s. No pilot in his right mind would fly an open-cockpit airplane wearing an unbuttoned shirt with long collars—they would whip around in the wind and beat his face bloody. Build a nice, big, lamb’s wool collar that he could pull up around his face on those cold early-morning missions out of a few more globs of Epoxolite smoothed with a wet knife blade. Just before the putty becomes completely hard, wrap eight pins with tape and “prickle” the whole thing to simulate the texture of lamb’s wool. Compare this picture with step 1, and you can see how a little putty can add a lot of character to just another pretty face. William has now made the complete transformation to Wilhelm. A paint job is all that is needed to make him flight-ready.

PAINTING THE PILOT
A good paint job on a pilot figure can enhance the overall appearance of any airplane. On the other hand, it can also spoil an otherwise good-looking model. The first step is to get yourself the proper supplies; a few colours of paint and some brushes are all that you’ll need, and since hobby paints are available in very small containers, you don’t have to buy large quantities or spend big bucks. There are many brands to choose from in all sorts of pre-mixed colors. The largest selection can be found in hobby stores that sell plastic models. “Flat” paints (as opposed to “glossy” paints) are most useful for painting pilot figures because people and their clothes are not usually shiny, although you may want gloss paints for eyes or buttons. You’ll need a few small brushes as well; use sizes 10/0, 5/0, 00 and some ordinary small brushes. Once you’ve stocked up, it’s time to start painting.

Apply the lightest colours first. Any overlap onto an unpainted area can later be covered with a darker colour. To speed up the process, apply two or three colours at a time. This works well as long as you have a dry spot to hold onto and the paints don’t touch each other when wet. I painted the eyes glossy white tinted slightly with black to achieve a very light gray. (Most people don’t have refrigerator-white eyeballs.) I painted the collar flat white tinted with a little flat yellow and flat brown to simulate the color of lamb’s wool.

More colours are added to the figure. The face actually has four different shades of skin colour. People’s faces are not all one colour; cheeks and lips are redder, while the forehead and bridge of the nose appear lighter because of overhead light. First apply the face colour — a combination of flat white, flat red and flat yellow (the color in the center of the mixing dish). While the face is still wet, add a small amount of white to get a lighter colour for the bridge of the nose. Then, mix in a little extra red to get the cheek colour (that colour is in the upper right part of the mixing dish). Even more red is added to get the lip colour at the bottom of the dish. If the face paint doesn’t touch the scarf apply the orange colour during this step also.

After the face paint dried, add the moustache and eyebrows. Most pre-mixed brown colours are too dark or too reddish to make a realistic medium brown hair colour. Lighten the flat brown with flat white for these features. Remember, facial hair is not usually glossy. If you want extra detail for hair, use two shades of colour in separate applications; this will create a highlight effect. Also add irises for the eyes; this fellow has blue eyes. If you use light blue paint straight out of the bottle, your pilot will look like a Malamute, since most blue-eyed people really have gray-blue eyes. To get a realistic colour, make a light gray by mixing gloss white and gloss black. Then mix the gloss blue until you have a subtle bluish-gray. The same technique can be used for toning down brown paint for brown eyes. When painting the iris of the eye, don’t make it a round ball. The eye’s iris is partially hidden by the eyelids. It appears almost flat on top and slightly flat on the bottom. Take a look in the mirror to see for yourself. After the irises have dried, it’s time to add pupils using gloss black. The pupils are round and are positioned in the center of the iris. Wilhelm also needed eyelashes; he’d look strange without them. A thin brown line on the upper eyelid simulates eyelashes. Also add a small pink spot to the inside corner of each eye. The eyelashes, pupil and the corner spot really brighten up the eyes and make this plastic dummy look much more realistic. Also add the leather part of the helmet at this sitting. It is a mixture of flat black and flat brown to simulate old leather.

Here is Wilhelm, almost ready to go flying. The helmet and coat colours are added at different times because you need a dry place to hold on to while you paint. While waiting for one colour to dry, paint the goggles. The coat is an olive color made by mixing flat brown and flat green. The helmet is glossy black because it is to be shiny. If you look closely, you will notice that a small white dot is added to the upper corner of each iris. This simulates the light reflection that we usually see in people’s eyes. One last note on paint: this type of hobby paint is not fuel-proof. If you intend to mount your pilot figure in an open cockpit, you should give the flat colors a coat of clear flat urethane and the glossy colors a coat of clear glossy urethane.

If all this seems a little time-consuming, you might find someone in the household who would like to help with this hobby. Those human beings who paint their faces and nails regularly are usually pretty adept at this kind of work. Either way, the time it takes to make a realistic-looking pilot contributes a great deal to your airplane’s overall appearance. If anyone accuses you of playing with dolls, don’t get angry. Just take a look at what that person is flying, and consider the source of the comment.