Hi there
Well, this is my second (!) post in the aircraft forum. I made this little dio depicting a Spitfire MK IVb (hope I got this right ), awaiting take-off. The figures are Heller - old Airfix kit if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, enjoy it and you're welcome to make some remarks.

I donated it to my local hobbyshop - he's an aircraft enthusiast, and I'm more of a ground-troops kind of modeller. He's happy, I'm happy with the result.

Enjoy

Hi Simon,
Can you tell us a little more about the model and dio, such as scale, paints and decals used etc. From what I can see it does look like a Spitfire MkVb
Some more pics would be nice but from what I can see you have a pretty decent model there
Mal

Hi Simon,

Nice dio! Looks like 1/72. I'm always interested in figures in the scale of my choice. There are so few! Do you recommend the Heller range?

Cheers!

Hi there.
Thanks for the remarks.

Its Revell's 1/72 Spitfire painted in Valejo and Humbrol colours: Neutral Grey and Russian Uniform Green for the camoflage, Mix of Humbrol Light Grey and French Blue.

The decals were all provided with the kit. The crates and barrels are from some modeltrain-company - I can't remember them modeltrain companys names. Sorry!

I hope that this answers your questions. You're of course welcome to get back.

Cheers

Hi Simon:

Very nice work. It looks great, I like it. Those little figures looks very well. I imagine they are difficult to paint.
What did you used to make the terrain ? I didn´t saw the 1/72 Revell Mk Vb kit but somebody told me that it lacks the gull wing. Is that true ?

Congrats.

I build 1/72 one single time every two years so I'm no expert in this scale. I believe the Heller set are ok - some of the figgies are bad, some are good. The three figures I used were some of the best. I thought of adding two more to the dio, but I believe one of the main things when building 1/72 dioramas is, that you can make a small scene look bigger by using less figures. Thats much more difficult - if not impossible - when building in my favourite scale 1/35. Therefore the small amount of figures. A vehicle could add something else to the scene, but then make it more crammed. But to answer your question: Yes. There will without question be some figures you could find useful for conversion and such. I believe the Heller kits are a bit cheaper too than Italeri and others?




Regarding paintjob: To be modest (hehe) I've been paiting figures for more than 20 years now, so I don't find it that difficult. Its difficult ofcourse to paint the minor details (eyebrows, buttons and so on), but with the right brush and a steady hand you could get the job done. Anyway, there is 48 figures in the Heller kit so there should be enough to practise on . The figures are small yes, and the amount of details - in this case with the Heller kit - is a bit poor. I think you could find more detailed figures elsewhere. Again, I'm no expert on 1/72, but it should surprise me if Heller quality is the trademark of figures in 1/72.
As for the groundwork: The grass is Heki fine flok. I simply painted the wooden base in a grey/khaki colour, and then springled the grass on. It should look like an airfield, so there shouldn't be rough texture in the fild.




Sorry. But I'm not sure what you're referring to here
As for the wings, there was an optional short end and long end for the wings. I choose the long ends. Sorry, but could you be more specific. I'd love to help, but I'm no fighter-expert either (I'd rather shift hobby huh?), so perhaps someone else could be helpful.

That was a long answer. Thanks so much for your replies, they are appreciated.

Thanks again

Simon

Hi Simon:

The "gull wing" is the shape of where the wings met the fuselage in the undersides. If you look at that part of the aircraft you must see a shape similar to a bird´s wings (like a V) , if it lacks that shape they will be just straight. This gull wing shape is typical of Spitfires.

Hi Simon:
Here you have a good sight of the gull wing shape.
The wing's lower surface, including the inner flaps is angled upwards in the vicinity of the rear wing root fairing.

Hi Carlos

I don't have the dio anymore, but as far as I can remember it doesn't have the gull-winged shape.

Thanks for the informative reply.

Simon

Simon,

I really like the composition of this diorama as, although on a small base, it gives the scene a sense of space.

I look forward to your next one.

Regards

Mark

Thanks for your reply. I think it'll take some time before I return to the skies and make a similar dio. But I'll keep this forum posted when I'm airborne again.

Simon