Gloria Model has been releasing several aviation 3-D printed figures in a few scales of recent. Gary Wickham has two of these sets to examine in the news today. See their quality in detail in his review...
Review: Gloria Model 48th scale F-35 pilot, crew & ground crews.
From Gloria Model
1/48th scale
Reviewed: Feb 2024
Gloria Model have been hard at work creating new aircraft accessories and figures for our modern jets in 1/48th scale. Gloria Model is part of ET Model based out of China.
In this review I'll look in more detail at the following sets:
-F48001 - USAF Ground Crew & F-35A Pilot - Vol.1
-F48002 - USAF Ground Crew - Vol.2
USAF Ground Crew & F-35A Pilot - Vol.1
From Gloria Model
1:48th scale
Kit No F48001
Three resin figures included
First up are two sets of modern US Air Force ground crew figures plus an F-35 pilot. There are six figures overall split into two sets. Volume 1 contains the standing pilot and two standing crew figures, one male and one female, in fairly relaxed poses.
The pilot figure looks nicely sculpted with complete with helmet. The modern flight suits look very clean by comparison to the suits and accessories required in the 80's and 90's. The detail on the 3D print is sharp with no visible layers or voxel artifacts. With 8 and 12K printers being considered entry level these days such printing by-products should be a thing of the past. An F-35A Lightning II fighter pilot assigned to the 421st Fighter Squadron shakes hands with a 421st Aircraft Maintenance Unit maintainer prior to launch during Red Flag 20-1, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, February 3, 2020 [US Air Force]. The male crew figure is standing at ease, as if waiting for the aircraft to arrive or depart. Not a very dynamic pose but one that you often see ground crew adopting on or near the flight line. As with the pilot the figure is well sculpted and printed. The headset is nicely reproduced and will only need a small section of wire to simulate the connection between the earphones and mouth piece. The last of the three in Vol.1 is a female ground crew, in the classic USAF salute pose. This is the last thing the maintainers do when handing off the aircraft when departing. You will notice (as I did) several marks on the back of the figure, which look oddly like ejection pin marks. I'm not really sure what would have caused this on a 3D print but they will need to be filled and sanded before painting.
USAF Ground Crew - Vol.2 From Gloria Model
1:48th scale
Kit No F48001
Three resin figures included
Volume.2 of the Gloria Model figure sets contains three ground crew in more dynamic poses. These would be well positioned in a flight line vignette or diorama.The first figure is using hand signals (perhaps to the pilot) for the purpose of ground marshalling or communicating. It's kind of hard to work out what the signal is because he is not animated but it's a nice change from the static "standing" poses we all too often see with ground crew. This figure also suffers from those marks on the back of his shirt and pants which will need some filler. Maintainers with the 421st Aircraft Maintenance Unit recover an F-35A Lightning II during Red Flag 20-1 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, February 3, 2020 [US Air Force]. The second figure from Vol.2 is perhaps my favourite because it seems tell a story. The crouching figure looks quite natural to my eyes and she is looking up ever so slightly as if communicating with someone over the radio. My figure has a very visible defect line in the print which runs through all the parts at about the vertical mid point. This is often a one off print anomaly which can happen with 3D printers from time to time. I am sure Gloria would replace it I asked nicely. Maintainers with the 421st Aircraft Maintenance Unit wait to recover an F-35A Lightning II during Red Flag 20-1 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, February 3, 2020 [US Air Force]. The third and final figure in Vol.2 is presented in a walking pose while dragging a pair of wheel chocks. Another interesting (and different) pose from other sets I've seen in the past. The figure and ropes are printed in one piece while the chocks themselves are separate.
CONCLUSION - Gloria Model 1/48th scale 3-D Printed Figure Sets
It's encouraging to see Gloria Model coming out with more new detail sets. Much like their first launch sets I have to say I continue to blown away by the quality, accuracy and detail they have achieved.
-F48001 - USAF Ground Crew & F-35A Pilot - Vol.1
The figure sets are nicely done and I hope they continue with USN and earlier crew/pilots with a mix of poses. I'm no figure painter but I do like to have humans around my aircraft to give that sense of scale and more importantly to bring some life to the model.
-F48002 - USAF Ground Crew - Vol.2
Previously Gloria products have been hard to source but they seem to have sorted that now with several well known retailers stocking Gloria such as the48ers.com and super-hobby.com. They also seem to be reasonably priced, and that is coming from someone who buys things in Australian dollars !!
I certainly have no hesitation is recommended these detail sets for your next modelling project.
You can see more of Gary's model making on his website Scalespot.com
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