Hey all,

I am building my first aircraft model (an Italian SM79 WWII bomber) in nearly 10 years and wanted to put a couple of pilots in with it. Unfortunately I am at a loss as to where to find 1/48 scale pilots (from any nationality). I searched on Squadron.com and found one kit (German pilots).

Are there any good kits out there that have seated pilots (like they are flying the plane not sitting on the ground talking with ground crew)? I would prefer Italian pilots (probably fat chance) but beggers can't be choosy I suppose.

Also, why is it there are no seated pilot kits on balance (any era). Very strange in my mind considering the thousands of aircraft kits.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Marty

P.S. Does anyone have a link or pictures of the interior of a SM79 bomber? What I really need is some reference shots of the interior of the open "hump" behind the cockpit. I wanted to model it with the hump open.

Try a category search at Great Models Web Store for 1/48 figures. Not too many seated, but there are some. Also search for Hecker & Goros figures on The Red Lancers web site. They even do an Italian pilot and mechanic, albeit standing figures. CMK also do a similar pair of figures. As for aircraft kits that contain pilots, only the older kits still contain them eg Monogram, Airfix. Most curret production kits have dropped the inclusion of figures except for the Tamiya fighter kits, which still have them.

Hi Marty!

Unfortunately, there are almost no seated pilots in modern kits anymore. Tamiya does include them in their kits but Hasegawa for example do not (at least in their 1/48 kits). In short run kits there are never figures. I guess it's because people "hyperdetail" their cockpit so much that they don't want to hide all the work behind a pilot figure.

For Italian seated pilots I wish you good luck! Maybe a resin manufacture did some. I have a set from CMK (Italian Pilot and Mechanic - ref: F48062) but both the figures are standing.

You can take a look at the 1/48 WW2 Aircraft Diorama Figures and AC if you want some more info on aircraft figures.

Jean-Luc

Figures are indeed a rare species nowadays. The only more recent kits I remember seeing with seated (or any kind at all) figurse is Eduard's P-39 series and Mirage's PZL P.23 B WMC Special.
Although Eduard makes several 1:48 figure sets, they're all groundcrew (or standing pilots) maintaining, repairing and re-arming.

I have a couple of the aforementioned tamiya kits with pilots, that i don't intned to use - if you want them - the pilots that is they are your's for the asking - just PM me.

The figures are from a mosquito and a beaufighter, so they are RAF, but i have pilot and navigator for both.

Andy