I started with a piece of wood that already had the millwork done to it. I picked the size knowing it had to hold two aircraft that I wanted to show together. The aircraft in question are Ju87G-1 and Hs 129 B2-R2. Both were used to hunt tanks in WWII, therefore I thought they would display well together.
I stained the wood and put a seal on it. Then I got some 1/8 inch wire which I cut to length after I fastened it to the wood. To fasten the wire, I drilled holes to fit and epoxied the wire in place. I then bent the wire to shape and cut it. I then used some piano wire I had around the house to form cradles for the planes. I think the wire is pretty close to .020.
I made the cradles to support the aircraft by their wings and the tail of the fuselage. I could have got by with just doing it for the wings because the tails really don't rest in the cradle any way. I made the mistake however of using the epoxy to attach the cradles to the wire. I should have used solder. The cradle for the Hs129 was able to work free within the epoxy and rotate. The Henschel hit the floor. I was able to fix it up somewhat. I then repaired the cradle by adding a cross brace which triangulates the connection of the Hs' s wing cradle and prevents rotation.
The wire cradle systems were then painted a neutral gray so as not to attract attention. Looking at the outdoor photos, I should have used a light blue. The gray does a good job indoors however. It allows your eye to seperate the aircraft from the display cradle. I think the compromise would be to repaint them for outdoor photos.
To finish the displays, I had some plaques made stating what the planes in question are. They were made at a local trophy shop.
Here is how it turned out:
The Henschel is from AMT/Ertl and the Stuka is the old Monogram stand-by. Also, there are now some really great displays out there using clear acrylic rods to support the aircraft. Even better yet, I have seen a system using magnets. I plan on looking into that!
