Neil's 1/32 Fine Molds Douglas Bader

[Neil Merryweather]

I found this on the Bay of Fleas, and I thought he would be a nice little quick project to finish up with.
I haven't heard of FineMolds before, but the date on the instruction sheet is 1998, so what do I know?
They do some other well-known pilot figures, but this is the one that floated my boat.
Bader is a controversial personality in the BoB, as discussed elsewhere on here, but he is very much a part of the story, and remains an inspiration regardless of his opinions.

[Guest]

Have fun Neil :smiling3:.

[Neil Merryweather]

Your wish is my command, Oh Ralph!

I cleaned up the multitude of parts and sharpened up the detail here and there.

He is holding his flying helmet in his left hand and I struggled to make sense of the other blobs -it was only on looking at the instructions that I realised it is actually goggles and oxygen mask. So I tried to define it all a bit better- especially the filled in areas between the eye-pieces and the underside of the oxygen mask.

I was thinking about the challenge of painting glass goggles on solid plastic, when I decided to see if I could actually make them clear.

I did a little experiment with U/V cure glue(which I will discuss later) and I think I can manage it, so I trimmed out the lenses altogether, along with the underneath of the oxygen mask.




Then I made the wiring for the headphones and the oxygen hose.
I was trying to figure out how to make a corrugated, hoover-type hose but my research showed that the early type of masks had a thinner, smooth, cloth-covered hose, so that got me off that particular hook.

I scratched the jack plug and oxygen connector, and now I think we are ready to go.

Thanks for looking in

Neil

[Guest]

Very nice work Neil :smiling3:.
Finemolds do a lot of 1/700 ship parts.

[Guest]

A very nice looking figure Neil. Good to see that you couldn't resist cutting as usual.

[stona]

Great subject, a great man, however flawed he may have been.

You've improved him, or his kit, a lot and you've barely started

[Lee Drennen]

Neil. Nice looking fig. I’ll be watching this one

[Neil Merryweather]

Very nice work Neil :smiling3:.
Finemolds do a lot of 1/700 ship parts.

Cheers Ralph. and 1/32 scale seatbelts as well, I've discovered.

A very nice looking figure Neil. Good to see that you couldn't resist cutting as usual.

Yes it does look a bit like the man himself- I'm sure I can obliterate that with my painting.....
It's only a little bit of cutting

Great subject, a great man, however flawed he may have been.

You've improved him, or his kit, a lot and you've barely started :smiling3:

Very kind of you to say , Steve, thanks

Neil. Nice looking fig. I’ll be watching this one

Thanks Lee, welcome aboard

[rtfoe]

Hi Neil, I don't know if its possible or noticeable but Bader stood awkwardly because of his artificial legs. You're doing good so far with his headgear and goggles.

Cheers,
Richard

[boatman]

WELL looks ok to me as at a RAF COLTISHALL airshow back in the late 6o's he pushed past me when i was in the flight line an i thought who do you think you are by pushin past me an when he wandered over to a spitfire i think it was people were sayin thats bader an then i saw how he was walking an thinkin there goes a living legend an i was filled with awe
chris

[Steve Brodie]

coming on nicely

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi Neil, I don't know if its possible or noticeable but Bader stood awkwardly because of his artificial legs. You're doing good so far with his headgear and goggles.

Cheers,
Richard

Cheers Richard.
I think he's leaning quite unnaturally forwards, so that will do for me

[Neil Merryweather]

WELL looks ok to me as at a RAF COLTISHALL airshow back in the late 6o's he pushed past me when i was in the flight line an i thought who do you think you are by pushin past me an when he wandered over to a spitfire i think it was people were sayin thats bader an then i saw how he was walking an thinkin there goes a living legend an i was filled with awe
chris

That's quite a claim to fame, Chris, barged by a living legend!

[Jim R]

Hi Neil
Iconic figure. The work you are doing is worth all the effort.
I will always see DB as Kenneth Moore in Reach for the Sky. Any controversy does not prevent Mr Moore doing a cracking job portraying an heroic character.
Jim

[Neil Merryweather]

coming on nicely

Cheers Steve
Didn't you do a 1-10 scale Bader in his cockpit? don't judge my painting too harshly