Firstly a bit of history on the 531st Bomb Sqd

Source : Wikipedia

The squadron was activated at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona on 3 November 1942 as one of the four original squadrons of the 380th Bombardment Group. After training with Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the squadron moved to the Southwest Pacific Theater in April 1943.[1][2]

From its home in Australia, the 531st attacked Japanese installations in the Netherlands East Indies and the Bismark Archipelago, including airfields, ground installations and factories. In August 1943, it participated in a series of raids on oil refineries in Balikpapan, Borneo in what at the time was the longest bombing mission flown by an Army Air Forces bomber unit. For this mission, the squadron was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). During April and May 1944, the unit conducted a series of raids on enemy airfields in western New Guinea to support landings in the Hollandia area, for which it was awarded a second DUC.[2]


The bust comes in the standard dolman packiging; plastic clip box, with a picture of the figure on the front, opening the box, there is a piece of bubble wrap and two plastic snaptite bags. It only took 5 days to arrive from europe.

Steve Brodie, on Flickr


In the one bag are the main parts, torso, two arms and a choice of two head. In the smaller bag is both hands, a bomb, with a seperate fuse. The right hand seems to be 3d printed, as its in a darker material and the ciger has been moulded in place wtih releif between the ciger , fingers and palms.


To save me repeating myself and the reader getting bored of the same statement, every part is superbly sculpted and cast, without any casting plugs that usually need removing.

Main Torso

Cast with the familair WWII leather A2 jacket, unzipped to the waist showing Cindys (got to give the bust a name) standard issue blouse, which is unbuttoned to reveal her lace bra. The zip detail is noteworthy as is very sharp as are the pockt buttons. The texture of the leather is very visible.




On the front left breast area is a Fifinella patch worn by women pilot trainees in what became the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). According to British Royal Air Force pilot lore, Fifinella was one of many winged gremlins that played havoc with their airplanes.



On the back is a large 531st Bomb Sqd patch, featuring a rather angry Donald Duck about to launch a round '8' ball bomb, whilst standing on a cloud. Surrounded by the words of 'Great Balls of Fire'. The beloved Disney character, in his early incarnation, was rather cantankerous and prone to outbursts. He therefore made an ideal mascot for this wing of the Air Force.



Continued in next post.........

Heads

The Bust comes with two heads, one with a 2 star General Garrison cap and the other with a Type B-6 Flying Helmet.



The facial details are superb, great definition for the nose, eyes, lips and the teeth, The hair has a nice curvy wave to it and everything is cast to a very high degree, even subtle marks on the lips. Very small casting line on the back of the neck, again no issues with removing it foreseen.

The 2 star General Garrison cap has the piping cast on along with, obviously, the 2 stars denoting a general and a nice crease on the top of the cap. Cindy must have friends in high places ;-), There is a slight mould line on the back of the Hat.




The Type B-6 Flying Helmet is another great piece of sculpting and casting, again a lovely cast leather texture is apparent, with some nice creases in place. Buckles and straps have nice sharp defined features as do the googles perched on Cindy's head.




Left Arm

This goes into a socket on the torso with a nice fit, wont need any filler on this one, the leather again has a lovely texture to it. On the upper arm is a nicely detailed US Army 8th Air Force patch.




Right Arm

As with the left arm this fits very nicely into its corresponding socket on the torso, again superbly sculpted leather shows in the casting, on this sleeve is a very nice 8 ball patch.



Hands

Both hands have very fine details and good fingernails. The right hand, looks like its 3d printed as its in a dark grey material, is cast with a large cigar, you can even see the leaf details on the cigar and the burning end. The left hand has a slight mould line, nothing a quick scrap with a scalpel wont address and a bit of flash between the fingers.



'8' Ball bomb and fuse

The final part of the bust is the bomb, cast as a round munition with the '8' cast onto it, underneath is a few indentions to assist in placing it on Cindy's left hand. Onto the bomb fits a short fuse, now how it feels.



And that's it. A superbly sculpted and cast bust as we have come to expect from Eduardo Sanchez Barbero and the team at Dolman Miniatures. 100% recommended.

Fine Fig, Ruck On, Steve, Ruck On!

Here is cindy in all her dry fit glory. Any gaps are due to blue tack

Great review Steve. I fear the bra may be somewhat modern... but who cares?

After some research I would tend to agree about her lingerie choice, but like you said

research is a MUST

Even when, as in this case, it brings us some "sacrifices"!

Great review of a great bust!