elanlane13

Here are some snaps of our current 1/32 scale WW2 Pilots. https://www.facebook.com/Elan13-Miniatures-142358882597130/photos/pcb.1756486681184334/1756486527851016/ https://www.facebook.com/Elan13-Miniatures-142358882597130/photos/pcb.1756486681184334/1756486627851006/

New in the Elan13 Miniatures range: RAF Pilot Mediterranean/North Africa WW2. 1/32 scale. £14.00 Part of our growing range of WW2 pilots. Available from www.elan13.co.uk

New release from Elan13 Miniatures RAF Pilot With Dog WW2 1/32 resin figure £15.00 www.elan13.co.uk

My apologies for lack of communication recently. Here is an update of recent releases in 1/32 from Elan13 Miniatures. I have also attached pics of two RAF figures to be released in Autumn. This will take the total of pilots in 1/48, 1/32 and 1/24 scale up to 44. www.elan13.co.uk

Stormer, Thanks for getting back to me, I do appreciate it. I do take time to measure out proportions when I pose the mannequins prior to sculpting. I also usually use 360 degree photos of me in the pose too. Perhaps I have a big head in proportion to the rest of me I will continue to keep checking proportions when sculpting and look out for the observations you have made. I recently released the 100th Elan13 Miniatures figure hopefully more are right than not.

Stormer, thank you for the feedback, I would be interested for you to elaborate more on the "off Proportion" of our figures. Anything that helps make the sculpting better is a good thing.

Below are some snaps of Elan13 Miniatures new release. 'Are you going to throw that?' Luftwaffe pilot and dog WW2. 1/24th scale (75mm). Sculpted by Robert Lane, Prie £20.00 Box art by Edward Sage. Available from the website now.

Thanks to Coogrfan for the link to the Elan13 Miniatures US Navy Pilot. We also Have a Fleet Air Arm figure for the Hellcat in 1/24. Both figures are £20 each and are available from the website http://www.elan13.co.uk

I have now received the box art photos for the FAA Pilot from Mike Butler in New Zealand Both pilot are now available on the Elan13 Miniatures website. I hope this series of posts was of interest to LSP members.

Here is the new 1/24th scale FAA pilot designed to go with the new Airfix Hellcat. More pictures are available on the Elan13 Miniatures site www.elan13.co.uk Sculpted by Robert Lane Painted by Mike Butler

Hi Max, This is one of the resin castings painted by Edward Sage. He does most of the painting for the box labels for me. The FAA figure is currently being painted by Mike Butler in New Zealand.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not currently planning a seated version but could be persuaded if there is enough interest.

After a long delay, here Is the first of the finished pilots. US Navy pilot, painted by Edward Sage. This figure is now available. I'm waiting for the box art for the FAA Pilot to arrive from New Zealand.

Here is the first of two pilots we are producing for the new 1/24 Hellcat release by Airfix. US Navy/Marine pilot in flying gear. Resin kit Sculpted by Robert Lane Box Art Edward Sage Available from the Elan13 Miniatures website Price: £20.00

New from Elan13 Miniatures German Two-seater crew WW1(1/32 scale) Pilot and Observer; as a set or singly. Available on the website now. Single figures £14.00 Set of two figures £22.00 Sculpted by Robert Lane Box art by Edward Sage

Elan13 Miniatures New Release. Italian pilot WW1 1/32 scale Sculpted By Robert Lane Box Art by Edward Sage Available on the website now £14.00 Trade enquiries welcome

Tim, at the moment the scanning isn't happening, but I will look into it further. However, more 1/32 RAF/FAA figures are planned.

A quick Smudgysnapovision update on the 1/24 (75mm) Hellcat pilots. Below are some snaps of the castings, produced in the usual excellent way by MDP. Examples have winged their way to New Zealand and Hove for box art magic. Full release date is still on track for May. (Though I may have the odd pre-release at shows where the Elan13 Miniatures roadshow is in town.)

Tim, Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend my club meeting. I will email my friend about 3D scanning this week.

Hellcat Pilots build log. Part: The Last (sculpting) Things have advanced since part 4 and the final set of smudgy snaps show the two pilots primed and awaiting their final checks before heading off to sunny Newport for the Welsh Wizard (and Tom) at MDP to perform their moulding and casting magic on them. The Fleet Air Arm pilot now has two fleet air arms and his parachute has been added, carried over his shoulder. There were no real problems with this stage of the process. The US Navy pilot (who looks rather grumpy!) had to have his legs altered ( possibly why he looks grumpy) and straps amended to match up with the strapping of the parachute that he is wearing. For both figures the extra additions were sculpted in Magic Sculp or Duro both from Sylmasta. Although it seems I am well on target for having both these pilots finished in time for the proposed May release of the Hellcat by Airfix, things will actually be tight. Moulding and casting has to be done. Boxart and photographing has to be completed and resin castings boxed ready to be dispatched. I'll keep all of you loyal readers (optimistic use of plural here) informed of how things are going.

Max I'm afraid both the FAA and US Navy pilots will be in Newport on Tuesday in the queue to be cast into resin at MDP.

Thank you for the feedback. That is the clamp I use, though mine is now covered in primer and has been baked in the oven a few times too! I hadn't thought about scanning masters and reducing them in scale. I am at my local club meeting this Thursday and there is a member I can ask about the viability of this. Max, The Mae West was sculpted in Magic Sculp because I didn't want to re-bake the figure after I had baked it for too long initially. The next instalment shows the arms, which are also sculpted in epoxy putty. This is because I currently use plastic tube for the male joint to the body. This would melt a baking temperature. I need to obtain some appropriate size brass tube to overcome this problem.

Hellcat Pilots build log part: The Fourth It was time to commit the body of the Fleet Air Arm pilot to the 'oven of terror ' (TM), so the clay could be baked before going on to the next stage. The title 'oven of terror' has nothing to do with the culinary skills of any member of the Lane family, but more to do with the feeling of nervousness I get when committing a clay master to the heating process. I had several problems with cracking when I initially used Bees Putty. However, after consulting others who had used the putty successfully, I learned that the trick was to leave the figure in the oven after it was turned off until it had cooled down. This had resulted in several bakings that had gone well. Unfortunately knowing what to do is an inefficient foil to rank stupidity. I placed the master in the oven and retired to the computer to do some Elan13 Miniatures admin. I didn't set a timer, because they are for sissy's, allegedly. After the requisite 30 minutes baking when the oven should have been turned off, I was still doing admin...after another 30 minutes I was still doing admin (probably playing a game by now, but let's keep that between the two of us). Suddenly it dawned on me I had forgotten to turn the oven off. Language that would only be appropriate for a lads night out in the 1970's filled the house as I rushed into the kitchen. Fortunately I remembered not to open the oven door once it was turned off, but I did have a worrying time while waiting for the oven to cool. Clearly the modelling gods were with me as the only effect to the figure was that it was a rather darker colour than usual, but there were no major cracks! Huge sighs of relief all round. I could now begin the next stage which was adding the life preserver. I decided to do sculpt this in an open position, to show off some of the detail of the shirt and give a layered effect to the piece. The work was carried out with Magic Sculp epoxy putty. (I get mine from Sylmasta in the UK.) The smudgy snaps below show this done and the beginning of sketching in the left arm. I do feel rather guilty about the lack of information about the US Naval pilot. Since we last saw him, he has moved on and now has a torso and head. The snaps below show this. The head is baked but the rest is still un-cured clay. This was a good job because those straps around his thighs are in the wrong place and will need fixing. More of that in Part: The Fifth.

Bryan, the two Hellcat pilots will become part of the Elan13 Miniatures range. The aim of this series is to show the different stages from concept, through sculpting to casting, box art and finally bringing a product to market. Yours Robert

Thank you all for the further feedback. Tim; I'm using Bees Putty 100g, grey, tripple firm for these two figures. Max; For 1/32 figures wire around 0.50mm should do. I must admit for this project I used the wire that was wrapped around a roll of chicken wire that I bought! The key is enough rigidity balanced with enough flexibility.