Stuka - TLC repairs...

 Found in a box of distressed 1/72 die-cast model planes in a local charity shop - a Stuka, missing one of its dive flaps and propeller blades. I thought it would be a nice item to add to an airfield game, it can also take to the air on a suitable stand.

dive flap replaced with pice of thin cardboard..

propeller blades replaced using some metal 28mm swords, not quite the right shape but Ok for a game piece...

Painting done and a coat of satin varnish .... ready for an outing on the game table ....

Airfield - hard standing area...

 Things are going slowly on the french resistance game plans, however I've been looking at improving the concrete hard standing areas for airfields.  I found a nice image online with some texture, one of the images from the following https://spaces.hightail.com/space/7UNLYEEs21.  I printed out a few pages and stuck them onto my existing my existing hard-standing board (small MDF sheet)

and also made some smaller sections than can double as a taxi way

if I need more for a game scenario, I can easily make some up

1/72 Walrus - painted ...

I went for the simple pre-WW2 silver dope paint scheme (markings & decals to be added later... sometime ...); also useable for inter-war period (so could be used as piece in my adventure games).

The hand-crafted cockpit has come out reasonably well; in addition I made a short stand from a small lid and a wooden hibachi skewer.

1/72 Revell Walrus - WIP

I am working on a 1/72 Revell Walrus I picked up as an already started kit cheap off Ebay - the instructions, decals and cockpit glass piece were missing. Well it has been assembled (the struts for the engine are wrongly positioned, but look ok).

I have taken a bit off the bottom so it sits flat - ostensibly to represent it on water (with a weight in the nose). Currently making up the cockpit glass from clear plastic pieces.

I will be drilling a hole in the underside so that it can be put on a stand; it will mostly be used as a game backdrop/storyline item.

Airfield control tower and concrete apron .....

Things do eventually get finished... the Airfix control tower has now been painted up ...

 I wanted a section of concrete apron for aircraft display and also for use for story lines and games. I had a spare piece of MDF 16" x 24" in size to use up, I managed to find a suitable concrete texture image online, tweaked it and printed out a few; cut and stuck to the MDF looks quite reasonable

taxi-ways and runway next ? maybe ....
storage space is the enemy of modeller's - I wish I had a Tardis . 😃

Airfield control tower - WIP

I picked up a cheap Airfix airfield control tower kit at a Toy&Tain fair a while back. I built it recently an left it for a while to let all the glue go off before I did the hand rails. I was going to use thread but after a try this was way too fiddly, I did consider some thin plastic rod but hadn't got any so I went with some thin wire - fixing it with super glue..

few more bits of wire to add then I can get it painted...

making the best of a battered JU52 - WIP

I picked up a very cheap JU52 of EBAY, in a sorry state with no propeller blades and with some loose bits .  So after sticking the loose bits back on, main issues were:

• damaged tailplane, top of vertical stabiliser and the rudder missing, made repairs with some thin card with edges hardened with superglue.

•  a missing wheel strut - a pice of thick wire and some green stuff for a basic repair

•  cockpit glass - rather fogged with glue damage. 

sanded it down with wet and dry paper

then applied some gloss varnish - somewhat better 

Well with some basic repairs it sits level and looks ok enough for use as a backdrop/story line piece

will leave all the glue and filler to set hard and then paint it......

Fighter dispersal pen ...

Airfix fighter dispersal pen from the Airfix A50015 RAF Battle of Britain Airfield diorama set, with an Easy Model spitfire....

renovating a Lysander ...

A nice Ebay buy for  £3.99, a poor distressed Airfix Lysander - wings not straight,  wheels on back to front, missing propeller blade and an interesting paint scheme. A bit of careful wiggling and use of a craft knife got the cockpit and wing off plus the wheel assemblies...

wheels back on, gaps filled, new propeller blade made using wire & green stuff, wing re-assembled and cockpit & crew painted...

the wing and struts were carefully stuck back on and then it was painted, I had to paint round the transfers which was bit tricky, and touched them in as needed.

 on its maiden flight (using a small stand intended for aircraft strafing runs)

Aircraft stands ....

I've been making some aircraft stands recently, mainly for some WW1 aircraft, but re-usable for WW2 as well.

a couple for the games table, for low flying aircraft (bases are tops from my partners empty makeup pots I'd been keeping, I knew they would be useful eventually...) . Hibachi skewers for the uprights which fit in a small hole drilled in the underside of the aircraft.

 something a little taller, with height variation. Adapted legs from a camera tripod, these extend up to 3 foot long; the tripod rubber foot is drilled out to take a small length of a Hibachi skewer. These bigger stands are for use in a larger area (outdoors or indoors), the variable height gives a visual portrayal of altitude

 Six of the big stands made up, enough for 3 planes each side.

 Need to find a suitable paint scheme for the bases.

Various bits of transport and a fire engine..

A few die-cast items that can be used without much work (mostly Lledo 'days gone by')

Airfield ancilliary buildings - work in progress

Currently making some ancilliary buildings for the airfield. Two barrack blocks, stores and a small office/store

Need to finish off the roofs, then paint up - after that will stick on windows cut out from a printed sheet.

Airfield buildings - work in progress

I've had one of those days when making things takes off and all comes together.  Today I worked on some basic neutral airfield buildings for WW2,  making a basic control tower and two low relief hangars

I found some free downloadable PDFs here - http://www.toy-plane.co.uk/airfield-buildings - one of which was a control tower, I printed out a couple of them and made up the following, improvising the hand rail with cardboard and a spare piece of plastic ladder.

For the hangars, I made up something similar to the Bellman Hangar. They have a foamboard shell with cardboard roof, cardboard doors and runners. I modelled one with a door part open.

All of these will be painted up and used in story line posts with other suitable buildings and accessories; either on this blog for a german airfield or a british one on Somewhere in England.

Glider safely down ....

Finally got round to making the Italeri Horsa glider kit given to me some time ago. As the finished item is intended as a scenic item only I left off a few pieces of the kit - mostly the undercarriage parts.

I did the white banding using inkjet sticky labels cut into strips; I gave the glider a quick coat of satin varnish (slightly glossy) to protect it a bit. The wings are held onto the fuselage with  blue-tak so I can store it more easily.

Here tis then, with some paratroopers look suitably busy getting themselves organized ....