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1/16 figure - Air Transport Auxiliary pilot

yak face

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Heres something well out of my comfort zone , a 1/16 resin figure . After doing the spitfire GB and the associated background research I was reminded of the amazing stories of the ATA women pilots ( see the Amy Johnson tangent ) During the war the ATA consisted of more than 1200 civilian pilots and engineers , responsible for ferrying aircraft from factory to squadron , a small percentage of these were women .
They faced a lot of discrimination but proved themselves just as capable as the male pilots and even attaining equal pay - a first example of this .
The subject of this figure is Maureen Dunlop , an Argentine national born of English and Australian parents , who came to Britain and joined the ATA in 1942 . The famous picture of her just after she got out of a fairey barracuda pushing her hair back was featured on the front cover of Picture Post magazine and highlighted the work these amazing women did .

The resin figure is in multiple pieces which all need cleaning up and assembling but the sculpt looks really good, I just hope I can do it justice . I’ll be trying out a wet palette for the first time and any help or pointers along the way will be welcome . Wish me luck !:eek:IMG_6776.webpIMG_7059.webpIMG_7058.webp
 

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Great choice Tony,and good luck. I've got her at 1-32 scale in the grey army to go with all my other pilots.
Looking forward to this
 
Thread owner
Great choice Tony,and good luck. I've got her at 1-32 scale in the grey army to go with all my other pilots.
Looking forward to this
Cheers neil ,and you can see Ive also got Arnie to do as well , hopefully good practice , cheers tony
 
What a wonderful sculpture of Maureen Dunlop. This is a nice follow up to your Amy Johnson build Tony. Arnie looks ideal for going in under doors or through keyholes.
 
Lovely project Tony, I didn't knew there was a figure made of her. Have fun :coffee: cheers
 
Looks a nice model, watching along...I'd be interested in the wet palette stuff too, not yet dabbled in that area, but will do some day....
 
Thread owner
Lovely project Tony, I didn't knew there was a figure made of her. Have fun :coffee: cheers
Yes , I stumbled upon it when I searched woman pilot figure on ebay , absolute bargain too only £11
 
Thread owner
After a clean up of the pouring stubs and a few mould seams the main parts were assembled and it was all primed white . The arms ,head and one of the harness straps can be added after all painting is done to make things easier . The figure has been fastened to the improvised painting handle ( foot drilled and screwed to the lid of an empty airbrush cleaner bottle , which was then filled with sand ) and the trousers have been painted in RAF uniform blue .
Handily the figure came with two heads , not sure if this is standard practice or if they thought one was slightly imperfect ? Either way its very useful for a novice like me in case I cock one up completely ! The head(s) and arms have had a base flesh colour applied , quite a pale one but hopefully she’ll get a bit of colour in her cheeks soon . IMG_7062.webpIMG_7073.webpIMG_7074.webp
 
Looking superb Tony. Some of that detail is going to be intricate paint work. Looks like you are having lots of fun
 
Hi Tony
looking good, but looks like you've chosen RAF grey for the uniform..?
Apologies if I'm commenting out of turn, but the ATA uniform was very dark navy with a white shirt and black tie.
But at the end of the day it's your figure so you can paint it pink if you choose!
 
Thread owner
Hi Tony
looking good, but looks like you've chosen RAF grey for the uniform..?
Apologies if I'm commenting out of turn, but the ATA uniform was very dark navy with a white shirt and black tie.
But at the end of the day it's your figure so you can paint it pink if you choose!
Thanks neil , I tried googling to find out the colours of the ATA uniforms but didnt find anything so presumed they would be the same issue as RAF regulars . No probs I’ll soon repaint the trousers and shirt ,any help and advice is always welcome. cheers tony
 
Thread owner
A very detailed model Tony. Great work and a lovely tribute to those often overlooked heroes of the ATA.
 
This is Mary Ellis in her original uniform in 2018
What a star Mary was. I saw a lovely program that contained the story of a Spitfire that Mary delivered during the war and put her signature on. The aircraft was restored but they kept her signature on it. They called her back to sign it again. She was quite a character bless her.
 
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