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Airfix 1/72 Douglas A-26 Invader (box art diorama)


beany

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I'm really just not as good at all you fellow Britmodellers when it comes to bashing out those really excellent, accurate, detailed builds so I try to bluff my way through with these dioramas instead. I didn't manage to finished this one in time for the CBK SIG display at Telford in 2012, but she will just about be dry in time for Huddersfield this Sunday.

A really enjoyable build and I loved painting the backdrop - they are so easy to do. Even last night I thought the colours were still a bit vivid in the bottom left area and the box art suggested more smoke, so I just put a small blob of Vallejo Matt White and another of Matt Black on a pallet (scrap plastic CD case), got an old 1&1/2 inch decorating paintbrush very wet, and just dipped it in both colours and mixed it on the "canvas" as I went - a very loose wash basically - and then dabbed it off again with a J-Cloth (which the wife is still looking for - oops) = smoke effect achieved!


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Once again I used eBay to souce an Altaya die-cast 1/144 model for the forced perspective as I did on my Sunderland/Fw.200 diorama for Telford. These die-casts are superb, especially as the Invader "Stinky" comes in the correct colour scheme, although I had to remove the nose art as it doesn't match the box picture.

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The two planes are both attached to bent metal tent pegs (20 for a £1.00 from Pound-Land/Stretcher/World or whatever) with the ends hacksawed off and filed and de-burred and forced into holes drilled in the MDF backscene. For the 1/72 one I have drilled right through the engine nacelle and into the cockpit side to support the weight - which isn't much. You can barely see it, so that worked out well. The die-cast one already had a hole in the bottom so I opened it up to accomodate the metal pole after bending it by hand in a vice to the correct angle. A bit more obvious from the front but again gets lost if viewed from the side and slightly above.


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I hope you guys like it. I'm chuffed to bits with this one. Now, what to do next?!

Cheers

Al.
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That looks great! I especially like the forced perspective factor.

How did you do the "blurred" props?

Thanks for the kind comment guys.

Fellow Classic British Kits SIG member James Perrin produced the art work for 2, 3, 4 & 5 bladed props and posted the images on the UAMF forum (which hosts the CBK SIG). I copy the prop I want, plonk it into a blank Word document, stretch it to the size required (I originally printed several on one sheet at increasing sizes then print them off and measure them to keep as a template for future reference), then having found the size I want for the scale of aircraft I am fitting, I copy and paste as many as I can fit onto an A4 sheet in Word then print it onto a sheet of Overhead Projector Acetate I then cut the props out with one of those circle cutter compasses you can get from Hobby /Craft stores. I also bought a set of metal punches from eBay and again work out the size of centre hole required to fit over the spinner, and bash out an appropriately sized hole. For the Invader I just made a small hole with a scalpel blade. This is the largest one I have done for the Revell 1/32 Hawker Tempest (it is not sitting correctly on the spinner - the prop blades are out of alignment with the spinner holes!).

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Cheers

Al.

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I just love your work!

They are inspirational.

I'd love to see the Wellington being chased down by the 109s or the Lancaster "G" George coming in with its engine on fire, done this way.

Cracking work! Keep it up :goodjob:

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I love the concept of this, brilliant, as u did so well on this one how about a Berlin night bomb run with a Lancaster :thumbsup:

but does it have to be box art and not an old picture, food for thought :)

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... or the Lancaster "G" George coming in with its engine on fire, done this way.

OK mate - as you asked so nicely - I knocked this one up just for you a few minutes ago - hope you like it :banghead:

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Seriously though, this one was built for the 2011 Telford show, and is currently with Airfix down at Margate as during SMW they asked if they could borrow the whole display (well, the Airfix subjects anyway) for their Exhibition Centre this year.

The remit for the Classic British Kits SIG is kits by British manufacturers (Airfix, FROG, Matchbox, Kitmaster, etc.) over 25 years old. However, personally I have several projects lined up that are not constrained by this, including Adam Toobys excellent current Airfix 1/24th Mosquito box art (I already have a Tamiya 1/48 Mossie for use as the forced perspective) and will scratch build Amien prison form card and brick papers (I am a railway modeller first and foremost). I also have some excellent greeting cards and calender scenes that are begging me to be built as dioramas, so watch this space...

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