I am coming under pester power/ peer pressure to engage in SCW gaming. The terrain, troops types and the wide range of kit is attractive. Not to mention the growing and excellent SCW range from Pendraken (see recent releases).
Whilst browsing the pure eye candy dioramas constructed by Carlos Briz, (see photos ) I noted the SCW scenes with correct period aircraft and believe I have tracked them down to an American company http://www.tin-soldier.com . In addition to classical WW1 models, the SCW range- in 1/144 not 1/150 - includes, HS-123, Fait CR 42, He-51 and Polykarpov 1-15 and 1-16 !
There is also scope for 1938/39 China with Ki-27, Ki-43 and A5M4 plus P-40 and P-38
dedicated SCW decals are also on offer. In the hands of a master, like Carlos these are sweet models. Does any forum members have experience of this company and their products ? Biplanes in 1/144 can be a bit fiddly!
Sunray out
The answer is yes. These, and any small scale aircraft tned to be hard work - struts. You also need Hawks, and Dewtines for SCW at least.
IanS
Ian.
Thanks for this. When you say 'yes', do you mean first hand of experience of tin soldier in terms of (a) product and (b) trans Atlantic customer service?
Or were you making a general comment about 1/144 white metal aircraft in general ?
In response to your comments, yes struts can be a problem. I tend to use plastic brush bristle cut to size and secured with superglue. I would also take issue with 'needing' a wide range of aircraft. We on this site tend to be "ground" war gamers, so as long as an aircraft is (a)correct to the period/conflict and (b) able to strafe and drop bombs - we can get by with a few 'ground attack types' .
I would argue that you could have a good accurate wargame with a Fiat CR42 and a Pol 1-15, providing air support. I appreciate that airwargamers have different tastes and gaming needs
What we do need in resin is a Ju52 ... how about it Leon?
Sunray out.
My experiance is with the Skytrex stuff the yes was it is fiddley - to say the least. One suggestion - if you can find them - is to use 1/100 sclae aircraft, since they would be closer to the eye line.
ianS
Ian
That is an interesting - if pragmatic suggestion. I must say, if totally honest, that while I can cope with 1/150, 1/148 and 1/144 on the same table, I do cringe a wee bit when I see a mix of scales. The wargames photographer, Richard Ellis, used to pose 28mm figures in the foreground and 15mm in the distance, for his images for Miniature Wargames (the venerable Iain Dickie publication) It did nothing for the hobby. One factor why I moved to 10mm is to take advantage of the range of 1/148 N gauge and 1/144 aircraft models, and the good friends on this forum who go out of their way to share info and build up a reference of sites from which to acquire the best kit.( I also sense that pendraken figures have nudged up towards 1/148, as figures tend to do when sculptors craft in more detail ?)
Which period do you game? I could be wrong, but I would guess there are more 1/144 WW1 and SCW kits around than in 1/100. Indeed for SCW. the key kits were not 1/100, but true 15mm whitemetal cast by QRF.
Me - well bloody anything - I am known for WWII and Modern in 1/300th, but have a large collection of 25mm and 15mm Ancients, some 15mm Fanatasy, 10mm Ancients/Fanatasy, 6mm WOTR, Fantasy, Ancients, 15mm WWII, 15mm Napolionioc..........
I'm trying to sell my 20mm tanks - if you is interested.
IanS
Haaa. Join the club - we who have our lofts and garages full of 20mm, 25mm and 15mm.
The second had figure market is as about depressed as the housing market. Ah, if only we had had 10mm Pendraken years ago !
Back to these 1/144 Tin Soldier aircraft - BEFORE LEON GETS ME FOR HIGHJACKING MY OWN THREAD - I am minded to import a few samples, paint them up and post the images- if I can get the Fairmile D gun mounts sculpted and back to Dave before the end of the month. Who knows,if they are decent kit, we might talk team Pendraken into becoming UK importer ??
Problem is that they dont speak english like what the rest of us do.....
IanS ;D
I just got a 'personal message' from Carlos himself . Some very useful hints and tips on SCW aircraft. Carlos you are a gentleman ...as well as one of the worlds best modelers working in 10mm.
If there is interest, I am happy to share links to forum members..but the key message was that Tinsoldier are ggod to trade with. We just need a good rate on the $!
Keep up the beautiful work Carlos..you show Pendraken at their best.
Oh..and he writes in perfect English.
Sunray out
Hi,
I can recommend Tin Soldier. The bloke who owns it, John McEwan, is as helpful as you can possibly expect and his service is excellent, Get him to send/order in small batches as otherwise HMRC is bound to spot it and add VAT on top, which is not so bad as the Royal Mail charge for collecting it.
But, if you want 1:144 He 51, RS5, Il-15/16, SB2 and CR32 et al, I think this is the only option. I got my Ju52 from Welsh Models - resin at £18 or therebouts. For Italian tri-motors the ony option is die-cast I think.
Tin Soldier 1:144 models are good for gaming - I have about 30 for my SCW project. I suggest ditching the supplied struts and using brass rod or similar. The supplied struts work ok but are a bit over scale. Be prepared to need some filler to finish the models too.
Do not expect to assemble them straight form the pacl without some work and there are some SCW type that are simply not available. Hope this helps.
John
Many thanks for this. Most useful. I have opted to using fine nylon brush bristle for struts - the result is most pleasing
Keep the comments coming. Leon will perhaps give take note of the need for a Ju52 in resin. Bearing in mind there is NO 1/144 plastic model out there.
Wot about it Leon?
Sunray Out
Quote from: Sunray on 02 December 2010, 04:55:52 PM
John
Many thanks for this. Most useful. I have opted to using fine nylon brush bristle for struts - the result is most pleasing
Keep the comments coming. Leon will perhaps give take note of the need for a Ju52 in resin. Bearing in mind there is NO 1/144 plastic model out there.
Wot about it Leon?
Sunray Out
I've got aircraft down on my lists, but at the moment we're stuffed regarding master modelling, with our sculptor being out of action. We've got some test pieces coming from a couple of other people, and I've just spoken to another guy about knocking up something, but it's a matter of time now to see how they come out.
Aircraft would be cool, but it would open up the door to a whole new range, which we would then have to add to.
point taken Leon. The priority will always rightly be figures. But as you can appreciate it would be very pleasing to have a Ju 52 as it opens up Airborne ops in SCW (the ferrying of Franco's Army of Africa) , the Low countries in 1940 and of course Crete. You would not think about an Arnhem game without at least one DC3. and we can get those in plastic.
Ah, that's not quite correct. There was a Ju-52 made in 1/144 by the Czech company Eduard, I think they did 3 variants including a floatplane version and they weren't too expensive less than £10 each. They are rare but they can be found in some of the more musty toy shops! I've got some somewhere as I intended to run a FOW Crete game, before 'seeing the light' and going to BKC!
Have a look at "Wings of War" planes,the WW1 planes are 1/144 and the WW2 are 1/200
Big paul182
Brisbane/Qld/Oz
Quote from: freddy326 on 03 December 2010, 12:51:02 PM
Ah, that's not quite correct. There was a Ju-52 made in 1/144 by the Czech company Eduard, I think they did 3 variants including a floatplane version and they weren't too expensive less than £10 each. They are rare but they can be found in some of the more musty toy shops! I've got some somewhere as I intended to run a FOW Crete game, before 'seeing the light' and going to BKC!
Rare ! They are hen's proverbial teeth old boy. It must be 5 years since they were on Hannant's listings. If you are selling let the forum know.
I've dug one out that I would be quite happy to sell....I think I've even got some Crete decals from AIM for it somewhere.
Quote from: Leon on 02 December 2010, 06:25:09 PM
I've got aircraft down on my lists, but at the moment we're stuffed regarding master modelling, with our sculptor being out of action. We've got some test pieces coming from a couple of other people, and I've just spoken to another guy about knocking up something, but it's a matter of time now to see how they come out.
Aircraft would be cool, but it would open up the door to a whole new range, which we would then have to add to.
Quite... and it would slow down the introduction of your Vietnam riverine monitor range too! :d
Ju 52s were mentioned. Saw these on E-bay, albeit theyre diecast
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Junkers-JU-52-3-m-Bomber-Plane-Germany-1-144-ixo-WW2-/380302389695?pt=UK_ToysGames_DiecastVehicles_DiecastVehicles_JN&hash=item588bc9f1bf (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Junkers-JU-52-3-m-Bomber-Plane-Germany-1-144-ixo-WW2-/380302389695?pt=UK_ToysGames_DiecastVehicles_DiecastVehicles_JN&hash=item588bc9f1bf)
Sorry guys.
Not wanting to start a new topic, I'll have to play at necromancy
Zvezda has released a 1/200th Ju-52
http://www.zvezda.org.ru/?lng=1&nav=2&p=59&set=6139
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ZVE6139
about £3!
Not as good as 1/144 or there abouts, but still useful enough.
ooo I can see that in Caccara too. Nice find.
Well spotted - they make a cheap source of spares like wheels, props and undercarriages for 1/144 resin in the Schmenk range.
Many thanks
Sunray
If hannants are right, Looks like the partner peice will be the soviet L!-2
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ZVE6140
Which is a DC-3 copy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisunov_Li-2
Hi
If anybody gets one of these JU52s, a happy snap next to some Pendraken figures would be handy so I can see the comparative size of the plane and bits and pieces would be wonderful.
Cheers
GrumpyOldMan
Vic
Two arrived this morning. They are VERY true 1/200 - on the small side for 10mm gaming. I am going to try a conversion to Caproni 101 with a scratch built wing and new tail. I can send you a pic if you still need one.
Sunray
Thanks for the update, so as expected. I look forward to seeing the results of the conversion.
I personaly have no problem with using something in the 'next scale down' for super large items like that as a gaming peice (especialy if it can be used for flyby strafing runs, bombing or parratroop or supply drops, an on the ground objective/target or pure air games).
I picked up 3 of the Zvezda JU52's while on hols in Russia. I'm not too sure why as I don't play anything that would use them!!
I have almost finished the conversion of Zvezda 1/200 JU -52 into a 1/150 scale single engine mono-plane of generic 1930s apperance.
The hassle has been the plastic- Zvezda cast in a soft plastic a bit like Airfix used to use for 1/76 figures ! It is hard work to file, cut or glue, so conversion is limited.
Photos will follow - along with Lewis gunners in SD caps !
Sunray out
Hi All
I've been thinking about the Shapeways 3d printing process and I may have a go at this and see how it comes out. The main problem will be working on the 3d model to make sure that the details have been 'coarsened' enough to be a valid printing target. I've come across some 3d models of the period and I will start looking at them to see what can be done.
A few contenders below.
Cheers
GrumpyOldMan
[attachment deleted by admin]
Hi
Can only attach 2 pics. Rapide below. Also have 3d models for various other planes - HS123, Boeing F2B, Sparrowhawk, Goshawk, I16, I-153, Potez 25, Fairey Fox and quite a few others.
Let me know what you think
Cheers
GrumpyOldMan
[attachment deleted by admin]
Good luck with the 3d, will await with interest.
IanS
These look really neat Vic. But I then know you are handy with a digital camera. How do they look alongside 10mm ?
Sunray out
Hi Sunray
Quote from: Sunray on 13 September 2011, 11:19:07 AM
These look really neat Vic. But I then know you are handy with a digital camera. How do they look alongside 10mm ?
Sunray out
These are still 3d ephemera at the moment, only pixels and coordinates, once they are ready to print I'll be specifying a size. The Dewoitine D510 has a wingspan of 39' 8" (12.0904 meters) so the model would have a wingspan of 8.396 cm in 1/144 or 8.06 in 1/150. I feel a bit tired after all that calculation, I may have to sit down for a while....oh, I am sitting down ;D ;D ;D ;D
Cheers
Vic/GrumpyOldMan
Looking good so far, I'll be watching with interest as you progress with these. 8)
Looking good.
Nice to see inter-war aircraft finally getting the love they deserve :)
Possibly the inter-war aircraft most common would be the Hawker Demon/Audax family. In this scale, very little if any visual difference between the two (most of it was engine, internal structural and 2 machine-guns forward on the demon, one on the Audax).
Plenty of service in other nations as well as paroling the British Empire and action in early WW2 in Italian East Africa and Iraq. With about 700 Audax and the same again for all the other variants put together being built. Its got to be a go-er.
I found this site which is a great source for all aircraft that were used during the SCW. Also relevant for those AVBCW players.
http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/model/spain/index.html