Full sized, re-created military aviators.

[SportySpiceFan]

Hello all from this disgusting rainy Piedmont,

got so many precious suggestions, advices and tips on the Forum as regarding the S&W topics, in exchange for so little by me (just some pics of my 29-10, and me pretending to be some kind of Dirty Harry),
so here I permit myself to post some characters from my other great passion other than S&W, Winchesters and Peacemakers. My collection of military aviation items is presently a much thinned down one, back then it was larger and beautiful but I cannot complain - after all, within family they never sent me to sleep under the greenhouse since a fair number of full-size pilots were hosted here and there.

Researching had been done mainly in years of no Internet for me, so things were way more difficult than what could be presently. Sources were books, magazines and photos to be watched often under the magnifying glass, plus contact with other buffs (this means, mainly outside Italy).
Each item is strictly original: even the T-shirts as worn by a Top Gun or F-104 pilot, the pencils, or the 'Florsheim' shoes from the '40s as worn by the USN Hellcat pilot. To not mention the 'painful' efforts (through 4 years) in getting the complete emergency oxy. kit KP-27M for having it interfacing the P.V.O. stratospheric MiG-25 pilot.
Will post pics later, a few at once when some time available.

* As a really 'mad' collector of charming items from this particular field, I simply cared nothing of flags' meanings and/or any political links to anything that wasn't stricly within my hobby.
When complete back then, collection mixed up the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys' together. So any comments and critics are welcomed if, possibly, leaving out this very aspect.
A friendly greetings - Franco.

 

[SportySpiceFan]

here a F6F 'Hellcat' USN pilot, very early 1945, Pacific sector.
Dressed in the less-known green nylon one-piece suit instead of the much widely seen whitish suit or two-piece daily uniform.
Parachute harness (Q.A.S. type) detachable, the true pack + raft pack usually was left on the seat.

Neck scarf is a true piece of (silk) Navy parachute.

Unique US Navy earphones, ANB- H-1A, by 'Perm-O-Flux', made in metal (the R-14 and the USAAF ANB-H-1 were plastics).

Florsheim shoes from mid-'40s.

 

[SportySpiceFan]

Ultra rare-to-find, original USN summer leather gloves. Copies and fakes do abund in the whole Galaxy, however the real stuff is agonizingly hard to come out (unless they're truly horrible relics, of course).

.. to be continued

 

[HARDWARE]

thats fantastic. cant wait to see the rest

 

[HARDWARE]

wouldnt a navy pilot carry a S&W victory .38?

 

[SportySpiceFan]

wouldnt a navy pilot carry a S&W victory .38?

Thanx HARDWARE for your appreciation.
Yes a S&W .38 Victory would be a more appropriate classic, however the (mock) one I had back then I had put on the AAF P-38 guy - that too, I'll post later.
When a M-1911 Auto came available, I decided to have it on the Navy pilot and a swapping is still to be done... maybe one day.

 

[HARDWARE]

Thanx HARDWARE for your appreciation.
Yes a S&W .38 Victory would be a more appropriate classic, however the (mock) one I had back then I had put on the AAF P-38 guy - that too, I'll post later.
When a M-1911 Auto came available, I decided to have it on the Navy pilot and a swapping is still to be done... maybe one day.

i see. a little artistic licence does no harm. it looks great.

im curious about the shoes also... was that common? i would have thought they wore boots of some type.

 

[SportySpiceFan]

Original Navy markings on the silk scarf, as derived from a slice of parachute:

Original China-Burma-India Theater patch, often carried by Navy aviators late in the war:

Here not yet hidden by the 'chute harness, the M-592 Survival Kit Back Pack is evident. In my instance, 100% empty (to have it full of original items would have costed like the harness + life preserver).

 

[SportySpiceFan]

Yes they wore often the more usual USMC 'roughout' boots, but simpler (civilian) shoes also did well.
Moreover, quicker to doff when in the water.

 

[HARDWARE]

is that a marbles knife by chance?

 

[SportySpiceFan]

Thanx to all for watching. That F6F pilot is among my preferred ones.

Here instead, a 35 year (at least) leap and another country.
This MiG-25 'Ivan' pilot is a guy from the mighty P.V.O (Protivo Vozhdushnoj Oborony) STRANY of the Soviet Air Forces of the Home Defense, somehow equivalent to the U.S. Aerospace Defense Command.
Timeframe about 1982-85, this pressurized semi-astronautical bloke would have zoomed to 70,000 - 75,000 ft. to guard the Soviet borders against possible (even though, ever less realistic) strikes of B-52 or other threats from the Western world during Cold War.
All original and functioning, oxy. lines + regulators and interfaces, high-pressure oxygen to inflate the VKK-6M suit (NOT air !!!), de-fogging device for helmet's pressure visor, electrics for communications, pressure gloves, rare (brand-new) seat harness for the KM-1M ejection seat, rare Life Preserver, etc.
In all, about five years to complete it.

Name written crudely with brush + paint reads 'Pushkìn'. Top rare to find ANY type of markings, names, personalizing, on Soviet (not Russian) helmets... maybe back then it was kinda forbidden?

Ivan standing (rightly, after all ) before his flag in the 'ready room', waiting for the 'scramble' alert...

 

[SportySpiceFan]

is that a marbles knife by chance?

it should be a generic hunting knife, if remember correct by the Great Western firm.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

M-592 Survival Kit-
Wow! That kit has a lot of items.
I have one of the bolos.
It’s an unused Case with cosmoline.

 

[SportySpiceFan]

M-592 Survival Kit-
Wow! That kit has a lot of items.
I have one of the bolos.
It’s an unused Case with cosmoline.

Hello PILGRIM,
glad to see you know the M-592... temptation had bitten me back then about selling my wife in order to be able getting a full M-592 + the COMPLETE parachute pack, however sure some remorse soon would strike back ah ah... Charlotte doesn't deserve that, after all .

 

[SportySpiceFan]

of course copied from US-designed Partial Pressure Suits of the '50s, however always cool to see when worn in super-tight condition.

Here together with a Su-24 pilot, fighter-bomber, tactical air force

to be continued

 

[Rustyt1953]

Excellent work. I look forward to more pics.

PS: my Florsheim's were black and saddle oxfords. I used them for dancing, not flying.:

 

[SportySpiceFan]

Thanx Rusty !!


Again a leap back to WW2 and again in a tropical environment but this time, the guy is a USAAF P-38 pilot of late 1944.
Maybe from Saipan or one of Indonesian islands, much possibly from the 318th Fighter Group before transition to the P-47 model 'N' - in fact, I had virtually copied this from a color photo taken there and tried to stay as most adhering as possible.

* HS-33 headset is put onto the flight helmet (summer version, AN-H-15) even though an unusual choice for a fighter pilot. Just copied from that wartime photo.
* summer suit (AN-S-31A) with rolled-up sleeves, made in Khaki cotton fabric (unlike the Navy guy who had got the Green nylon one),
* slight wound at left arm wich is wrapped in original 1944 bandage - blood is not original.. -
* B-3 Life Vest,
* some original items in pouch (1944 'Tropicals' chocolate, cigarettes, anti-mosquito cream etc.).
* hard-to-find B-8 parachute is complete with Life Raft C-2 in original container.
* M-1944 goggles (the Navy guy has got the iconic, metal + glass AN-6530),
* A-14 oxy. mask and carbon microphone,

 

[SportySpiceFan]

Rare B-3A summer gloves, still today mistaken by many collectors as the even rarer Navy summer gloves.

 

[SportySpiceFan]

Super-rare C-2 survival raft kit in original case, excellent condition, with separate cushion. About six years (when not Internet) to have this one.

Civilian-made sunglasses so-called 'rose smoke', a later variation of the light green AN-6531 as made by Bausch & Lomb.

 

[HARDWARE]

looks like an M3 fighting knife. was that correct for army aviators?