Hi,
what scale of aircraft do you use in 10mm WW2 games?
I use 6mm buildings with 10mm figures as it looks nice to me, but what about aircraft?
Should I go for 10mm or 6mm?
Generally 10mm, but 15mm at a push for when in the air.
And I mean in the air, of course :)
It depends a lot on the period and the rules/style of play.
If you want the aircraft to interact with figures (ie land, liaise, or low level strafe) then go 1/144 plastic or Pendraken items like the Stork. PD Marsh do a small range of N gauge which fit well.
If its just a representative aircraft "high above the table top" then 1/200 is a useful and budget wise choice.
I play post 1945 bush wars with DC-3s, choppers and light utility aircraft with rough airstrips an occasional part of the table. In terms of gameplay, the BKC rules predict the air superiority and the strike value of any attack aircraft. I don't do air battles. :) :)
1:144.
Now this may sound a bit off, but if you're looking down at the table past the aircraft to the footsloggers, the aircraft should be relatively bigger.
"That aircraft big. This one nearby."
I use revell and zvezda kits in 1/150
Thanks for all information.
So 1:144 is a closest equivalent of 10mm scale for aircraft?
Quote from: Zbigniew on 14 February 2017, 02:27:33 PM
Thanks for all information.
So 1:144 is a closest equivalent of 10mm scale for aircraft?
Yes. In theory
10mm = 1/150 scale
12mm = 1/144 scale,
Indeed a lot of British N gauge 1/160 modellers use 1/144 aircraft
Plastic 1/144 are cheap and cheerful - If you look at my thread on the Flight of the Foxbat, you see 10m Pendraken figures and 1/144 Revell aircraft
Quote from: Zbigniew on 14 February 2017, 02:27:33 PM
Thanks for all information.
So 1:144 is a closest equivalent of 10mm scale for aircraft?
Some pictures:
zvezda art of tactic IL 2 with pendraken troops:
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/bkc/DSC02774_zps22889028.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/bkc/DSC02774_zps22889028.jpg.html)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02734_zpsb2d8e6f6.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02734_zpsb2d8e6f6.jpg.html)
revell thypoon with pedraken troops:
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02808_zps341ff811.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02808_zps341ff811.jpg.html)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02809_zps5e863ec0.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02809_zps5e863ec0.jpg.html)
The typhoon came from pendraken, but i can't find them anymore on the website. Leon, are these not available anymore?
I use 1/144 scale WWI aircraft, because I also have attacks on airfields by ground forces. Tend to play the period between the opening shots and the end of First Ypres.
Thanks for pictures. 1:144 is looking with Pendraken minis, I must admit.
I've gone with 6mm aircraft. Mainly because I want to put them on tall flight stands.
Also I wanted some gliders and bombers to tow them, which would have been big and expensive in 1/144th.
1/144th aircraft are a good scale fit for the tanks and troops but they are big models. Probably because real aircraft are big!
Friend Leman raises a good point, mayhap unwittingly.
For me, the period of the plane matters, and how involved it is in the ground action. A WWI BE2c would go up to about 70mph, barely faster than some modern recce vehicles. WWI ground attack aircraft are no more than low flying MGs who may stooge around for a while, but a Thud in Viet Nam would be over the table for a few seconds at most and IMHO are less intimate with the ground action. Thus, a Sopwith Pup should I feel, be represented in the same scale as the ground troops, as should helicopters, and gliders whose function is, after all, just a one-way truck.
As things get faster and nastier, the aircraft have less interaction with the ground action, and their effects are more like off-board artillery. These then, can be represented in a smaller scale.
I don't use aircraft models post 1941 - except in a downed state. Same way I don't have a 1:144 scale model of the Warspite to support my Normandy landings.
Quote from: fsn on 14 February 2017, 07:45:09 PM
. Same way I don't have a 1:144 scale model of the Warspite to support my Normandy landings.
Of course not, but a 1/3000th one works very well.
6mm for me. Aircraft are usually a fleeting presence over the table and 6mm requires a lot less storage space. I do use 1/144 scale helicopters because they do tend to hang around and interact with the other models.
Hi petercooman
Nice set up :).
Quote from: petercooman on 14 February 2017, 06:32:41 PM
The typhoon came from pendraken, but i can't find them anymore on the website. Leon, are these not available anymore?
Is it a Typhoon or a Tempest? There is a Tempest available through Pendraken http://www.pendraken.co.uk/ABR3-p4604/ (http://www.pendraken.co.uk/ABR3-p4604/)
I can never tell the difference easily and tend to mumble 'T.....rhubarb' when talking about them :).
Typhoon
(http://www.aviation-history.com/hawker/typhoon5.jpg)
Tempest
(http://www.aviation-history.com/hawker/typhoon7.jpg)
Cheers
GrumpyOldMan
PS On topic - I always go for 1/144 aircraft
It should be the typhoon.
Pendraken used to carry the revell micro wing kits, and those are the ones to be MIA. Probably the stock dried up.
The one i have is this one:
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51g-NXD-6jL._SX355_.jpg)
Got a bunch of them mixed with zvezda art of tactics stuff!
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02895_zps6f65921e.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02895_zps6f65921e.jpg.html)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02896_zpsa8b1b108.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02896_zpsa8b1b108.jpg.html)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02897_zps88e76b15.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02897_zps88e76b15.jpg.html)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02755_zps99f5cfc1.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02755_zps99f5cfc1.jpg.html)
Quote from: GrumpyOldMan on 14 February 2017, 10:05:13 PM
I can never tell the difference easily and tend to mumble 'T.....rhubarb' when talking about them :).
Typhoon
(http://www.aviation-history.com/hawker/typhoon5.jpg)
Tempest
(http://www.aviation-history.com/hawker/typhoon7.jpg)
To easily spot the difference, typhoon has guns that portrude the wings, tempest has guns worked into the wings, you can clearly see the difference on the pics you provided ;) ;)
Quote from: PB on 14 February 2017, 08:28:48 PM
6mm for me. Aircraft are usually a fleeting presence over the table and 6mm requires a lot less storage space. I do use 1/144 scale helicopters because they do tend to hang around and interact with the other models.
I think we have a consensus here. Aircraft are expensive in 1/144 , but are nice bit of eye candy. Nobby has got the fulcrum of the debate. The interaction with Ground Forces.
If your aircraft are slow, small, fly low level and land on rough fields, then go with 1/144. Having said that I am currently concocting a game around a stranded Vulcan (cost me £1.99 !) and its nuclear bomb load. The Vulcan remains on the ground for the game - its scenery. Over Christmas I played a good roleplay game with Flight of the Foxbat .
In the 1970s a lot of research was done into modern ground attack . It was found that for accurate close support you wanted sub sonic and payload. The A10 and the Su 25 emerged from these tests.
For those nations on a budget, it meant that a lot of elderly trainers were reborn with hardpoints - The Strikemaster is a good example. I have to say low level strikes and even flypasts can demoralise a lot of Third World troops until they get hardened to such experiences.
Go with what works for you.
1/144 from Microwings and Zvezda with some 1/200 Zvezda for the bigger machines. Difficult to leave aircraft out as they played such a prominent role more than any other consideration.
Quote from: petercooman on 14 February 2017, 10:10:35 PM
It should be the typhoon.
Pendraken used to carry the revell micro wing kits, and those are the ones to be MIA. Probably the stock dried up.
Ahhhh.... now I see. Sadly the Micro Wings have been discontinued by Revell, after I was hoping that they'd release the Japanese aircraft they had in the old range :(.
Quote from: petercooman on 14 February 2017, 10:13:07 PM
To easily spot the difference, typhoon has guns that portrude the wings, tempest has guns worked into the wings, you can clearly see the difference on the pics you provided ;) ;)
Ok.... but now I have to remember one more thing, and I dread to think what necessary piece of data will be shunted so that I can accept that titbit of knowledge :).