When I decided to begin work on rationalising my World War II Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection, I realised that the model aircraft I had were in a variety of incompatible scales. After some soul-searching I came to the conclusions that:
- 1:144th-scale would be the best scale to chose ... but were a bit flimsy and
- 1:72nd-scale were a bit too big, even though they were easy to obtain and compatible with my 20mm figures and vehicles.
As a result, I decided to use 1:100th-scale model aircraft, many of which I already had, having previously collected aircraft from the Axis & Allies Miniatures 'Angels 20' and 'Bandits High' ranges. In addition, I had also managed to add some 1:100th-scale diecast aircraft from various sets produced in Europe.
My collection currently includes the following aircraft:
German
- 9 x Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters (A&A)
- 1 x Focke-Wulf Fw-190 fighter (A&A)
- 3 x Messerschmitt Bf-110 heavy fighters (A&A)
- 1 x Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber (diecast)
- 1 x Heinkel He-111 bomber (diecast)
- 1 x Fieseler Fi-156 liaison aircraft (diecast)
Italian
- 2 x Macchi C.200 Saetta fighters (A&A)
Russian
- 3 x Polikarpov I-16 fighters (A&A)
- 1 x Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighters (diecast)
- 1 x Lavochkin La-7 fighter (diecast)
- 3 x Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters (A&A)
- 3 x Yakovlev Yak-3 fighters (diecast)
- 1 x Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter (diecast)
- 4 x Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik ground attack aircraft (1 x A&A, 3 x diecast)
United States
- 1 x Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk fighter (A&A)
- 1 x North American P-51 Mustang fighter (A&A)
- 1 x Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter (A&A)
United Kingdom
- 11 x Hawker Hurricane fighters (A&A)
- 1 x Hawker Typhoon fighter (A&A)
- 8 x Supermarine Spitfire fighters (A&A)
Japanese
- 1 x Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter (A&A)
French
- 1 x Dewoitine D.520 fighter (A&A)
I may not need all of them for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project, but I do not see any reason to get rid of the surplus aircraft models at present ... just in case I even want to try my hand at island-hoping in the Pacific, refighting battles of the North African campaign, or refighting the Battle of Britain.
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Bob,
ReplyDeleteIn many ways 1:100 is a bit of an "orphan" scale or at least was....
Now with 3D printing practically everything is available....at a price!
I must admit to a very sketchy knowledge of WW2 planes in that scale, but was aware of what was available by way of helicopters and post-WW2 aircraft in 1:100. This was due to forsaking my usual 1:144 aircraft and 1:100 helicopters for my Arab-Israeli project requiring all sorts of weird French jets, few of which were (or still are) available in 1:144. The discovery of the old Tamiya and Heller models decided things.
For WW2 and other "moderns" I use 1:144 aircraft but prefer 1:100 helicopters (as they are closer to the ground).
My "forced perspective" works from ground up; looking down the 1 :144 assume a reasonable size relative to what's on the table. Others I know prefer to use larger scale, usually in the same as the ground models, but they look too big IMHO, especially when viewed from above.
Neil
Neil Patterson (Neil),
DeleteI’ve always thought that 1:100th-scale is a good scale for tabletop use. Many years ago I had quite a few model aircraft in that scale for the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, mostly from Heller. They were a nice size, easy to put together, and looked right with my ROCO tanks and vehicles. The whole lot got lost when I moved house back in the late 1970s.
The ‘look down’ aspect of wargaming seems to favour the use of smaller scale aircraft than ground forces although this seems to be a bit counterintuitive. However, it works … and I think, works well.
All the best,
Bob
It's good to have reserves.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteVery true … and I seem to have quite large reserves of various aircraft.
All the best,
Bob
I can see the idea if using 1:100 planes with 20mm troops, it does work visually somehow. Some of those Hurricanes could be 'lend-leased' to the Russians, too..
ReplyDeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeleteThey certainly do seem to work together well, as cam be seen in some of the earliest photographs featured on my blog (see here).
The UK also supplied some Spitfires to the Russians (1,331), but in the main, they sent Hurricanes (2,952).
All the best,
Bob
Tamiya made some very nice 1:100 plastic kits of modern jets. Of particular note was the Mig-19. Great for Arab/Israeli and any 70's backwater conflicts where it might have been the airforces most modern jet.
ReplyDeleteFred,
DeleteThanks for the information about the 1:100th-scale Tamiya kits. It’s always useful to know about potential sources of less well-known early jet aircraft.
All the best,
Bob
You are welcome. Turns out they had an even bigger range than I remember. Decent number of 60's/70's US aircraft including A-4, A-6 and A-7, F-105, F-104 and F-4. For the Brits there was the Lightning F6, UK Phantom and the Buccaneer. Swedes had the Draken and Viggen. USSR was well served with Mig 15, 19 and 21 plus the Ilyushin IL-28. Mig 15 was a double kit with the Sabre. French had the Mirage IIIC. There was also a Fiat G91 and a double kit of the Me 262 and Me 163. Some helicopters a Sea King, Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight and Sky Crane. Big daddy of the lot was the B-52. That must have been an impressive kit!
DeleteFred,
DeleteThat is a very comprehensive list of kits and includes some of my favourite aircraft from that period.
Having seen a B-52 up close, any model of that aircraft is going to be huge … even in 1:300th-scale!
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeletePhew! That makes my 24 model Battle of Britain collection look quite modest although I shall be adding Stukas and Bombers at some point.
I reckon you have the makings of some cracking air support for the GPW project.
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteHe-111s and Ju-87s appear on eBay quite regularly and I may well buy a couple more of each if I can. I’d also like to get hold of a couple of Russian bombers as well … but they don’t appear online very often.
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
ReplyDeleteWW2 war gaming does seem to cry out for the third dimension, doesn't it? I started off getting a few 1:72 kits, but never really liked the scale with my 1:76/1:72 ground stuff. So I tried 1:144. My own air forces are pretty limited:
German
3 x AT gun Stuka (die cast)
1 x Me109 (die cast)
1 x Me 262 (die cast)
2 x Fw190 (plastic)
1 x Recon aircraft (die cast)
Soviet:
3 x La5 (kit)
1 x LaGG (kit)
2 x Il2 (kit)
1 x MiG3 (die cast slightly larger scale)
British/American
1 x Spitfire (1:100 diecast)
1 x P51 Mustang (1:100 diecast)
So: what about my 1:72 kits? They will find employment with my Army Men (Jono's World) armies, though I'm not 100% sure who gets what. Ra'esharn will obviously get the tank busting Stukas, and maybe the Hs123 biplane bombers as well. Kiivar will get the Il2M3s. But I have some toy aircraft to allocate, including an orphan I found in the street several years ago, and 4 kitset/toys that look uncommon like Spitfires...
Cheers,
Iob
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI must admit that it somehow doesn't feel right fighting a WW2 wargame without the possibility of aircraft taking part in some way.
I would have loved to have used 1:72nd-scale model aircraft but their sheer size makes them difficult to store and they seem too large on the normal-sized tabletop ... and on the restricted table space that I have, even more so.
In some ways I have far too many aircraft for my needs ... but I am a wargamer, and therefore always seem to want/suffer from 'just one more' syndrome. Your 1:144th-scale collection is probably about the size that I really need, but now I have them, I'm loath to down-size my collection.
Tim Gow does almost all his wargaming using 54mm figures and vehicles and 1:72nd-scale aircraft. Rather in the way that 1:100th and 1:144th scale models look right with 20mm figures and vehicles, the 1:72nd-scale models look right with his 54mm figures and vehicles. Furthermore, it has not cost him a fortune to assemble his air forces as he tends to buy second-hand completed or half-finished models which he then refurbishes to a good wargaming standard. In other words, with their undercarriage up, propeller blades removed and replaced by circles of clear plastic, and any canopies etc., painted light blue. They look very impressive and are almost completely wargamer-proof!
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteWho is the manufacturer of your diecast Soviet Yak 3 and 9 aircraft? Postage Stamp?
Spearhead,
DeleteUnfortunately, I’ve no idea … and I can’t find out as I’m currently immobile in bed with two legs that won’t work.
All the best,
Bob