Dwarf pilots?

[Gern]

Hi folks,

I've just been having a play with my 1/48 Airfix Canberra B (1) 8 - as you do.

I looked at the pilot figures and they seemed a bit small so I checked.

As near as I can judge, the figures are only about 30 mm high. In 1/48 scale this gives a real size of just 1440 mm. In real money that's only about 57 inches or 4 ft 9 inches.

Have the RAF decided that they should use children or dwarfs to pilot their airplanes, or have Airfix got it drastically wrong?

I have to say, that's not put me off the kit so far. I've trial fit the fuse and wings and I'm thinking they will go together without any visible seams - which has got to be good; but does anyone know how accurate the airplane dimensions are if the pilot figures are that far out?

Gern

[Guest]

I was always of the understanding they modelled the figures based on a 6ft standard?

Maybe they got a telling off for being size-ist?

[Ian M]

LOL I know what you mean. I was looking in the bits box today and found a couple of pilots. Both 1/48 and both from a spitfire, the one was airfix the other Tamiya.

The Airfix figure was a total wimp of a man. A good blast of prop wash and he would be airborn in no time...... The Tamiya pilot is much more belivable and would laugh at the other one as he drifted away in the breeze!

So out with the calipers and measured them up. Foot to knee, kne to hip, wrist to elbow, whole lot was the same +/- half a mill. Go figure. The signifigant difference was in their build. The tamiya pilot being much chunkier and by far the more beliveable of the two. Why take my word for it.

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So maybe not so hard to see why it was so much fun putting a Tamiya pilot in an Airfix Spitfire!!!

Interesting point. Any one got ant other 1/48 pilots from other brands. Been fun to see how they line up?

Ian M

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[Guest]

Well, if you put Tamiya soldiers at 1:48 at the side of ICM, the Tamiya ones look like the Airfix figure in your shot above. So if you get an ICM pilot, he probably couldn't squeeze his bum into a Spitfire.

[Gern]

I got some 1/48 ICM figures so I checked. They come out at about 37 mm tall - which gives us 1776 mm for the real height. That's 70 inches near enough which translates to 5 ft 10 inch.

That's much more like it! I reckon that's a good value for average height. I also compared the width of the shoulders and the ICM ones are a good 3 mm wider than the Airfix - which confirms that Airfix did indeed use a midget wimp as their original model!

Wonder why they got that so badly wrong? I think I'll check out the dimensions of the 'plane. I'll be back!

Gern

[Gern]

Well at least the 'planes the right size! As far as I can judge with my rough measurements (I might be a couple of mm adrift) the 'plane itself is smack on according to Wikipedia.

There's no way I'd get any bigger figures to fit in the cockpit space available. And as I always prefer to have a pilot, it looks like I gotta use the figures supplied. Still, the canopy doesn't open on this 'plane so you won't have that clear a view. I doubt if anyone will notice the midgets sitting at the controls - will they?

Gern

[Ian M]

As I said Dave, you can get a tamiya Pilot in an Airfix Spit. Its a bit of a tight fit but then I understand there was not that much room in a real one.

Ian M