Quote from: Anyun on May 21, 2026, 01:38 AM... and the pilot looks very realistic as well. Is it carved from styrofoam?
Following on from the Sopwith Batboat thread and since the topic in question is of more general interest, here is a short "how to" about the pilot.
Most of my scale pilots are usually carved from balsa or high density insulation foam (pink, blue, grey, whatever...). I have also tried Hearty, an air drying paper putty.
Occasionally I have gone another route as well, that of molding pilots in silicone rubber molds. The two main advantages of this way are a relatively ease of reproduction of more copies if needed and a very light weight of the finished pilot.
The first step for that is to have a prototype"master' pilot. This can be carved from scratch, if you are an artistic person (I am not...) or an existing figure can be used as is or slightly modified. Or a combination of, say a ready head and a custom carved body.
For my needs I found an STL file online that looked like the pilot I wanted to copy, Harry Hawker in 1913. A resin print was made to the needed scale. The STL was at 1/40 scale but it was printed to double the size, at 1/20 scale.
Having suitable pictures of the pilot in question helps a lot in capturing the intended result. A search on colors of 1913 men's clothes provided an appealing color as well.
Next came two major modifications, a flat cap worn backwards was added to the head, matching existing photographs and the posture was slightly modified, by cutting, reglueing and adding filler when needed.
Could have spent more time to make it perfect but did not have any.
Once satisfied with the master model, it was time to make the mold. A rectangular "cage" was made using Lego bricks and the master figure was inserted head first into the cage. 2-part silicone rubber was poured inside the cage (liquid rubber + catalyst) and given a full 24 hours to cure.
Next it was removed from the cage and using a sharp knife, it was split in two halfs. The main thing to notice here is to try and be as much to the outer line as possible, in order to reduce negative cavities. The rubber is very elastic and forgiving, so this does not have to be very exact.
Next, the mast was removed from the mold, the mold was again put together inside the same "cage", to stabilise the external shape.
Last step, the fun part, PU foam was sprayed inside the mold and allowed to expand and fully cure, another day to be sure. PU foam does not stick to the rubber mold so no release agents are needed.
And finally, some hollowing out to further reduce weight and painting for the final visual result.
What you see came at about 0,5 grams finished weight.
Inside the pilot there is a small magnet, with a matching one in the seat. This allows easy removal if and when needed, while keeping him in place during the flight.
Luckily, the Batboat could not loop so there is no risk of him falling out of the cockpit...
The result is good enough but has some small imperefections.
When time permits I will try to make a better one but for now it will do.
George
That looks great George.
I was just considering doing the same for a pilot for the Deperdussin project . I have a 1/12 scale resin figure of an Edwardian gentleman sat at a table coming and I was planning to use the same method of making a silicon mould and using up foam.
Your thread has already altered how I was thinking of doing it, no extra coating is needed for the exterior finish, the pu foam is smooth enough ?
yes, it is very smooth.
what you see is just with brushed on paint. You might need to make a few parts to get perfection though. The one in the pictures is missing a slight area of the cap. An occasional bubble may appear somewhere. The cost of foam is ridiculous, 3 Euros for a can that can make >50 pilots...
It is also possible to apply neutral color paint on the mold surfaces first, let it dry and then apply the foam. The paint will stick to the foam.
If you just need a little urethane foam, mix a tiny bit of water with Gorilla Glue or similar.
This thread is timely as I have been experimenting with moulding pilots and tyres for some time.
For WW1 peanut models there are really nice resin printed 1:35 pilot figures and not so good Scaletrix drivers that can be used.
Hobbycraft, in the Uk, sell a blue and white wo part silicon called Siligum that can be used to make molds. While it it is somewhat expensive, you don't use much each time.
I have experimented with 2 part PU
Polycraft 010 soft foam and Mouldcraft NG09 rigid PU. These I mixed in a plastic shot glass, poared in the mould before they stopped expanding. Even though I closed the mould; I could not get a solid surface. Great for making Spongebob Squarepants, but not for a solid surface suitable for painting.
So, what foam did you use George? Was it bog standard squirty foam from DIY stores?
I have had some success with Delight lightweight air drying clay to make a hollow shell. This material drys once the large packet is opened and I haven't got it back to its original consistancy. It gets close by microwaving the dry material with water.
Hobbycraft also sell a more rubbery Superlight Air drying clay. This seems ideal for moulding tyres, but I have not managed a good example yet. Neoprene O Rings can be bought online with a wide range of sizes and moulds made from them. But, I have not yet made a single useable tyre yet.
Thanks for the detailed description George! I have used a similar technique making a silicon mould around a master figure, but making the pilot in two half-shells of papier-maché instead of using PU-foam. The weight is about the same, 0.5-0.6 grams for a 1/20 scale pilot.
From where did you get the STL-file? I'm considering recruiting him, he looks just like the chap needed for those tempting Edwardian aircraft projects :D
Unfortunately my plans to mould a figure have come to nought as I actually received the figure in the post. Frankly not worth the effort of moulding from that :o I'll have to think again
I'll have to have a look for STL files online and see if can someone to print one for me. Can you point me in the right direction George?
Over the past weeks I've been experimenting with generating my own STL files for small indoor free‑flight pilots. The files can be created and printed at home without much trouble, but so far I've only used an FDM printer. With my Creality Ender 3 V2 and a 0.2 mm nozzle I'm definitely hitting the limits of what is possible in terms of surface quality and fine detail. For that reason, using a resin printer to produce masters for moulds would make a lot of sense — the resolution is far superior. I haven't had the chance to test this workflow on a resin machine yet, but it's clearly the next step.
A possible workflow looks like this:
Start with reference photos — for example, the pilot figures that George has shown.
Upload the photo to Google Gemini and write a prompt describing the exact figure you want. Getting the wording right takes a bit of practice, but with some trial and error you can get surprisingly accurate results.
Take the generated image and upload it to Bambulab MakerLab – "Image to 3D Model."
MakerLab offers several conversion models. You need to experiment a bit to find out which one works best for which type of image.
Once you get a good result, simply export the STL and refine it as needed.
This approach allows you to create custom parts — pilots, — without having to sculpt them manually. For FDM printing the results are usable, but resin printing would almost certainly produce cleaner, sharper masters suitable for moulding or direct use.
These were the original photos from George in this post
These were pilot figures I generated with AI for a friend (using either Gemini or Copilot — both have their strengths and weaknesses). I converted the generated images into 3D models using the "image‑to‑3D" function in Bambulab MakerLab, exported the results as STL files, and sliced them in Cura. The prints were done thin‑walled on a Creality Ender 3 V2 using ESUN PLA. I printed them without a bottom layer and then thinned the inside carefully with a Dremel. The final painting was done with Citadel colours from Games Workshop.
I was left somewhat speechless when I saw these... :o :o :o
Both for the result and the process... Quite amazing, both.
Markus already sent me the STL file to experiment for a new pilot 8)
Looking forward to trying it out.
George
Hi George,
Can you tell the type of PU foam that you used?
Was it standard DIY aerosol stuff?
Tim
Sorry MockwingF, I didn't understand most of that but what an amazing outcome.
Quote from: Piecost on Jun 04, 2026, 03:31 PMHi George,
Can you tell the type of PU foam that you used?
Was it standard DIY aerosol stuff?
Tim
Hi Tim, it was a very basic, stndard PU aerosol foam.
Same brand and type as this, only for hand application instead of a gun mentioned.
https://macon.gr/product/tekapur-standard-top-foam-enos-systatikou-afros-polyourethanis-genikis-chrisis-efarmogi-me-pistoli/
George
Thanks George,
I will experiment with DIY foam
I attach a photo of a very nicely detailed resin printed 1:35 scale French pilot that I found on ebay. Inhave moulded him with 2 part silicon.
MockwingF, thanks for the explaination of the impressive modern technique for generating print files.
Tim
I like your resin pilot Tim, I'll be interested hear how you get on making a mould from him
I have tried again after the disastrous dolls house figure and bought a purpose designed resin pilot from an ebay seller called 3dclever. It's a rendition of Wilbur Wright but I'm more interested like George in the cap on backwards look of the pioneer aviators so I thought him suitable student pilot for a Deperdussin or infact a Bleriot. His arm's a bit high for the wheel but as I hope to do multiple moulds to create a full figure in foam I can lower it easily enough and he clearly has the confident look of a beginner to fly one handed !
3dclever do a small range of pilots in different scales but most are quite large and aimed at RC modellers. They do 1/12 which suits me and 1/24
Success and sa monstrosity
I bought the cheapest can of "Soudal Gap Filling Expanding Foam", for about 8 quid, from the B&Q DIY store in the UK.
I taped and rubber banded my recent mould of the lovely ebay pilot and some old moulds of a home made pilot bust.
The can stated that the foam should be applied to fill only 1/3 of the void. So, I tried to do so; but it came out with such violance that it filled each mould.
I straped of the excess, like removing the froth from the top if a glass of European lager. To my supprise; after a while the foam shrank back into the mould hollowing out the bottom of the torso.
To my supprise; the middle pilot in the attached photo cane out really well. He only weighed 0.123g and his torso was nearly perfectly hollow. I am pretty happy with that for a peanut model.
One of the other pilots were less lucky and featured an incomplete head!
I am not sure why my experiments strayed away from squirty foam and concentrated on 2 part PU which required mixing. But, i did not have much luck with that. It foamed in the mixing cup rather than the mould so did not make a complete skin.
So, thanks Goerge and others for the tip. This turned out much easier than I thought.
That looks great Tim and very encouraged to hear it was more straightforward than you feared
The 3d printed pilot today and looks very promising.
He looks great in the Bleriot though his arm will need lowering..or maybe he's waving to crowd ??? not sure
As both the Bleriot and Deperdussin have open cockpits it would be nice to do a full figure if I can so I may have to make a top half and bottom half mould or maybe even three top, bottom and right arm ??? again not sure
Hi Tim,
I also struggled with 2-part foam and got very average results. That said, there must be tens of different foam makes and type for specific applications, so finding the correct one might take some time. The Czech guys make their pilots like that and they look amazing and are very light, so they must know better.
The spray foam proved good enough for me. The problem with imperfect filling has to do mainly with air pockets. You might try some ventilation holes or cuts to allow the air to escape and let the foam fill the cavity. Extrq foam (like flash in plastic parts) can easily be removed when everything is cured.
Also, no point to remove the excess, just let it cure and cut it afterwards. It helps with better filling too, since it solidifes first and forces the foam to expand inside the mold more.
It seems to work best if you fill the cavity with foam, by allwoing it to somehow flow through, by cutting a hole at the head top for example. When cured, you can cut adn sand to shape. You can also hollow out quite easily. Worst case, cut it in half, hollow out and glue back together...
Just some ideas.
Nice looking pilot, Chris.
About the arm, mold it as it is and decide later if you want to raise or lower it. Foam is flexible enough... I see little need for multiple molds. You can make more parts and cut accordingly. Air pocket prevention is more important, to allow proper filling of the cavity, as already stated above.
Back to my Batboat pilot, Mr. Harry Hawker, or at least a good look-alike of him.
Having received the STL file by Markus, I did some print tests on my FDM printer (courtesy of another german friend...) to setle on the proper size for 1/20 scale, arriving to 65% of the original file size.
As it came out of the printer with all the support structure
20260605_131600.jpg
clened up, next to the existing dummy pilot
20260605_160945.jpg
3D print software allow you to scale up or down the STL file, to create different sizes of physical models.
This pilot does not look great, it was not printed with full detail and the highest resolution, but that was not the point of the test.
Now the file has been sent to a friend to be printed to the desired size with a resin printer which will provide much better results, since the STL file looks of very high quality.
More to follow when I get it and make a new rubber mold.
20260605_205458.jpg
20260605_205517.jpg
George
Unrelated..
I just found out how to avoid double appearance of pictures when they are inserted in the message... Looks better
Made a start on the 1/12 Bleriot/Deperdussin pilot today. As I want a full figure if possible for the Bleriot at least I've decided it will be easier to do split around the top of the legs with some overlap to allow it to be joined.
The mould is cast into a takeaway container and I'm thinking I will split the mould along the line of the extended arm and then in a line across his chest sort of indicated by the 1/16" sq stick but in more of a quarter to one position
Only after I'd poured it did I think about mould release spray but good thing I didn't use it as looking it up, silicon release spray can act as a binder for silicon rubber actually sticking it to the part - no release is needed for the silicon rubber
Maybe I should have bought some lego to make a box to cast into as I could then make sure the mould stays in shape but I didn't think of that soon enough
This does NOT look dignified! :o
I'm building a peanut scale BD‑4, and for the pilot figure I used an original 1987 photo of Jim Bede (old.bd-4.org/gallery). I tweaked the photo with AI to add a headset and complete the lower body, then turned it into an STL using Makerlab's Image‑to‑3D feature and printed it in resin.
Now I'm getting ready to make the silicone mold — excited to see how this experiment turns out.
Markus
Love the BD4 pilot Markus he looks great
I had a first go at foam PU moulding today.
The pilot figure figure came out fairly easily, though I snapped his leg off which glued back on with some cyano
There a few small bubbles in the silicon but nothing to drastic so i thought I'd give it go with some foam. I was a bit concerned about getting the foam up his arm so I made a 90 deg turn for the applicator and started by squirting some in the first then quirting in the head and finally filling the rest ... lets see what happens when it dries
The stick on his head is so it vents to the outside, there's a similar arrangement at the end of his arm in an attempt to prevent trapped air pockets
Well that has worked very well, thanks for the thread George I couldn't have done it without the reference from your pilots
As Tim has already said the PU foam is very simple though I'm glad I had air exits at the end of his arm and top of his head to prevent air pockets which seems to have worked well
Taping the mould together has worked too, in fact the silicon had slightly re-stuck itself along my parting lines and needed gentle encouragement to open again which has minimised the flashing
Untrimmed weight is 4 g for a 1/12 3/4 figure. As a guide my current 1/12 Dave Banks pilot is 5.5g painted and with magnets
Mockwing F that is amazing technology, well done and thanks for sharing.
Chris that all worked out all right you should be pleased
Very happy Dave, thanks
I'm actually wondering if I could make a mould from some of Dave Bank's pilots as I have some silicon left over and make some more of my own (Dave seems to have given up)
For the Bleriot at least I'd like a full length pilot so I've made another mould today for the bottom half. I've found having air exit at the extremities seems to reduce or even stop the formation of air pockets and as its tricky to cut them later the easy way seems to be adding them to the master in the form of cocktail sticks. This has the added benefit of sorting out the thickness of silicon on the lower surfaces by adjusting their length and allowing something to attach to the pot the mould is formed in as most things will float in liquid silicon and need attaching to the forming box
I now have two pilots, the second is better and a third drying ...well two heirs and a spare
The lower half leg mould had to be cut into 4 to get the master out as it's such a funny shape but I now have a set of legs and another drying
My wife says I should make another model with just the legs sticking out of the bottom of the fuselage ;D ;D ...tempting
I joined the two halves together today, lowered his arm and gave him a trial fit in the Bleriot. He looks the part I think , well worth the effort . I ended up cutting his lower legs off to straighten them up so his feet sit either side of the control column. UHU POR seems to work well with the foam
Total weight so far before paint is 4g so I didn't attempt to hollow him out and anyway as he's stuck together I could probably use the internal surface area for the glue
I think Wilbur will feel at home in the Bleriot, at least the wing warping technique was copied directly from the Wright brothers.
Good idea using the cocktail sticks as you do when making the mould! /Andrea
Sorry to hear about Dave Banks, I've delt with him for a long time.
I'm running out of words with all this magic happening, seems the possibilities are endless.
Very hot here but I have managed a bit more with the pilots. I now have a small squadron or wing perhaps. The Bleriot pilot now has a coat of base paint which showed up the 3d print layers so there's a bit more lw filler gone on to hide that a bit. I don't mind it on his trousers as it makes them look like cords ! I have one for the Deperdussin project though he will need arm surgery so his hand holds the wheel so I have a couple of spares ...and a spare arm
The down side to using the expanding foam with just two moulds is the cans only seem to do two applications then the valve sticks shut the rest of the contents useless. As a result it took 3 tins to get this little group together. I presume when Dave Banks was doing it he had multiple moulds so he could do as many at one squirting as possible. I remember him coming to own of our Oxford meetings with a plastic container full of them and offering them round free to competitors so he certainly produce them in numbers
The Bleriot pilot now has the magnets in his bum so he sticks to the seat and now weighs 4.5g which compares very well with the Dave Banks previous pilot which is 5.5g
In the picture my Dave Banks recruit looks less than impressed by his novice pilot usurpers
Here's a photo taken from Harald Penrose's British Aviation, The Pioneer Years showing Harry Hawker (right with cap turned around) and Fred Raynham with his cap peak forward!
Pilots.jpg
Clever people could make pilots of these!
Harry Hawker is great. If I was designing my own rather than buying someone else's 3d print I would have gone for the suit and tie look
..Well at least someone is enjoying the heatwave !!! Bleriot Pilot is now painted in oil paint. It's bit hot to sit out in your tweeds but he seems to be enjoying it.
No doubt it will take a few days to dry after which he gets a mist coat of matt acrylic varnish to take the shine off but I couldn't help giving him a trial fit. Very happy with that and well worth the effort and ..well the expense. With the silicon and expanding foam the chap and his 3 and 1/2 fellow novice pilots have cost me about £50 so about £11 each
Being an obvious novice pilot in his country shooting attire I have made a slight addition to the Bleriot . The fullsize I've modelled is the 1909 Bleriot XI at Shuttleworth, now one the oldest flying aircraft in the world which spent it's early years at the Bleriot School at Hendon so I have added the conceit to the fin....or if any scale judges are looking ..meticulously researched the early Bleriot's that were available to hire for lessons and added the totally correct insignia. Actually the font and wording are all from a 1911 advert for the Bleriot School so close enough ?
Very nicely done! He looks well up for his first solo. (And the writing on the rudder is the icing on the cake.)
I've uploaded one of my AI‑generated pilot figures as an STL file on Makerworld.
Feel free to download it and use it in your own projects. More pilots will follow soon.
Have fun with it — and if you have questions or ideas, just get in touch.
Markus
https://makerworld.com/de/models/3010266-1913-etrichtaube-pilot-2 (https://makerworld.com/de/models/3010266-1913-etrichtaube-pilot-2)
EtrichTaube Pilot4 (https://makerworld.com/de/models/3023499-1913-etrichtaube-pilot-4#profileId-3397320)
EtrichTaubePilot3 (https://makerworld.com/de/models/3023794-1913-etrichtaube-pilot3#profileId-3397683)
EtrichTaube Pilot1 (https://makerworld.com/de/models/3012077-1913-etrichtaube-pilot-1#profileId-3392269)
I have uploaded three additional historical pilot figures that I originally designed for the Etrich Taube to Makerworld. All of them are suitable for both resin and FDM 3D printers. Feel free to take a look, download the STL files, or use the ready‑to‑print 3mf files directly with your Bambu printer.
I would be very happy to see your printed results on Makerworld. Uploading photos of your prints and sharing your printing profiles helps the entire community and supports my work. Likes and comments are also greatly appreciated.
Since Makerworld has changed its credit system, I rely on your feedback and downloads to continue creating and publishing more pilot figures. I will keep designing and uploading new pilots, and more will follow.
Best regards, and thank you for your support.
If you have suggestions or wishes, feel free to share them here in the forum.
Superb pilots Markus. Thanks for sharing them on here
Pilot and observer to 1:35 scale moulded from 3D Printed figures with aerosol spray PU foam. They will crew my peanut Morane-Saulnier L. Luckily, the top wing hides the fact that the pilot is missing part of his cranium due to a large bubble. The observer kept missing most of his neck in several attempts at moulding. His head is hanging on by a piece of flash and he might even loose it if the aeroplane crashes.
I vented the moulds, fron their heads, as suggested, but that was only partially succesful. Frustratingly, most attempts featured an air bubble below their nose, giving a wide open mouth resembling the famous painting "The Scream"
It was intersting that their heads and bodies where often hollow. So no hollowing was required. Their arms were often solid foam, for some reason.
There was significant flash between the mould split lines and some mis-match between the halves. Combined with the air bubbles; they looked rather rough close-up. But, their proportions are excellent and they look realistic from a distance.
I was pleasantly supprised with the fidelity of the fine detail of their faces. I might even buy a fine brush and attempt to give my next crew some coloured eyes.
I am generally very pleased with them and they came out just under 0.2g, which I feel is a reasonable weight.
Pilot on left with wide open mouth caused by a bubble. The observer, on the right with a lovely moustache, but missing most of his neck.