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:




revell thypoon with pedraken troops:



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.