I can get my hands on some 1:72 WWII ETO ground crew and pilots. My next project will be two Academy P-51Cs made up to be the 332nd’s gruesome twosome. Unfortunately, there are no pilots included with the kits. I’m actually going to create a diorama and thought if I had to pick up the pilots I might as well pick up the ground crew and maybe some equipment as well. It’ll actually be a gift for my wife, who is a history teacher for the local I.S.D., which has a fairly wide ranging demographic. One of the problems she’s running into is that many of her lower income students have little in the way of role models and/or heroes. So they feel that it’s not possible for them to succeed. My degree is in sociology and as part of my honors thesis I focused on collecting. There’s something I dubbed “emotive symbolism” that acts as a powerful motivator with people who are interested in a particular this or that. I’m hoping that if there is something available for these kids to see and touch it will trigger part of this symbolic response and encourage them to work towards a fruitful goal… More than anybody wanted to know, I’m sure, but… Raymond
Try Eduard?
Mate…HobbyLinc has some stuff you might be interested in…have a look at their web page:
www.hobbylinc.com/…/hsg35008.htm
It’s a 1/72 WWII Pilot Figure Set - Product Number: HSG35008, from Hasegawa.
And another:
www.hobbylinc.com/…/arx01748.htm
1/72 USAAF Personnel - Product Number: ARX01748, from Airfix.
If you do a search for 1/72 items (lower left on the front page), a whole bunch of stuff comes up. It’s a start, at least. Both sets show “In Stock”…so…I’d go for it.
Good luck!