I’m working on the George H.W. Bush TBM-1C in 1/48 and am detailing the interior. This aircraft had an oxygen bottle that fed 3 oxygen regulators with hoses and masks in the cockpit, turret gunners station and radio compartment. I want to add the hoses and masks.
So, the hoses are no problem, but I’m looking for a way to make the rubber oxygen masks attached to the hoses and that hang near each of the crews’ stations. I was considering using fine or super fine milliput to get the basic shape and then carve and sand to the final product. It’s just that the masks will be so small, I’m not sure how to tackle this or if there’s another way to do it.
Can you guys give me some pointers, tips, and ideas on how to do this? Thanks for you input.
Steve
Have you thought of taking some 1/48 crew members and cutting off the oxygen masks? All you would have to do then is carefully trim them and maybe a little sanding.
actually a good reference is war movies like Flying leathernecks and Memphis Bell these movies show accurate replicas of the oxygen masks used during WW2
Miekym_us,
I have a good idea of what they look like from photos of masks in the TBF/TBM Avengers. It’s just the the thought of trying to make something so small. I want explore any method to make it easier.
Berny13,
This is a great idea. With a motor tool it should be pretty easy to grind away the head and leave just the mask. But I haven’t seen any WWII figures with oxygen masks, do you know of any available?
I guess I could use modern 1/48 pilots with masks also. The size and shape of the masks probably hasn’t changed much, at least not so much that you could notice the difference at this scale.
Thanks for the replies, fellas. Keep’em coming.
Actually oxygen masks have changed a lot from WW ll to the present. Lucky most kit manufacturers haven’t kept up with the technology. Only Hasagawa has produced modern air crew members with correct equipment. They are correct as far as the 80’s and 90’s but not what pilots use today.
Your best bet would be to try to find pilots from WW ll to the Korean war. Even though pilots in the Korean war used different oxygen masks very few kit makers actually show the correct ones.
Another thought is this: Oxygen masks are “personal gear” and aren’t left hanging in the aircraft. So, unless you want them there, you don’t need to worry about them.
Ray
How’s about making them from aluminium baking foil? A small piece perhaps pushed onto a figure’s moulded mask and carefully pushed into all the nooks and crannies with the end of a cocktail stick might give a result like vacuum-forming? Then, using a pair of small, sharp scissors, simply cut it out and carefully paint it?
I haven’t tried it, but it might be a better bet that using a Dremel on a small lump of Milliput…
How about “painting” the mask on over a figure that has one with the liquid masking or the RTV they use for resin molds let it dry and then carefully pull it off. The foil idea sounds good too. Both would be extremely fragile.
Thanks for the great ideas. I’ll try both the foil and liquid mask methods.
Though oxygen masks are personal gear, the reference photos I’m using show masks and hoses connected to oxygen regulators in the plane and hanging on the inside of the fuselage.
There are several ways to make the masks, I personally would use a piece of lead foil to simulate a WWII fabric mask.
I simulate hoses especially the ribbed type, by dipping a filament from a busted lightbulb directly into a jar of paint. the paint fills the inside of the filament and you get a really cool ribbed hose effect. drybrush and you’re done.