chrisrope Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 Hi a quick question for anybody who has one or experience of. What does the dam base base in the old 1/72 Dambuster gift set scale out at? I know it’s smaller than 1/72. This is is for a project I’m planning and need a suitable base to start with Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 To quote Amera Plastic Mouldings: Quote When Andrew was asked to design the dam for Airfix originally due to the size it was impossible to make a vac formed scale model. So we settled on doing an indicative representation of the dam to create the same effect... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCJ1965 Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Hi Chris! I have this kit. The vac-u-form dam base is 25" x 12" and consists of three pieces: The dam and (2) of the towers. Not sure of the scale but I purchased some Zvezda 1/100 Opel Blitz trucks to put on top of it. My digital camera battery is charging-when done I can posts some pics. Cheers! Terry Jones Ottawa, Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 (edited) Wiki doesn't give the length of the dam but states that a 77m hole was blown in it. From the photo this appears to be about half the distance between the two towers, and maybe a quarter of the length of the dam - or somewhat less. To me this suggests a length of over 300m, or well over 4m in 1/72 scale. If the Airfix base is 25inches, then the scale must be something around 1/600. Feel free to make your own estimates. PS 1/700 scale trucks are available from Japanese ship-modelling sources. As these are generally the larger GMC truck, they might well be appropriate for the dam. Edited August 12, 2019 by Graham Boak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Airfix doesn't contain the whole dam, just parts between the towers so it wouldn't show the full 300 meters of the dam. If the 77 meter hole is a third of the Airfix part of the dam it would suggest that it is about 231 meter and the Airfix parts 25 inches which gives 0.635 meter and that would give around 1/362 scale ( I think I got the maths right) https://ncap.org.uk/feature/dambusters-raid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCJ1965 Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 I posted the Dam pictures in "Plane Talking" on Hyperscale as I could not get my pics to transfer from Photo Bucket to here. Also I posted a couple of pics of the "spinning" photo-etch props I plan to use to show the props turning as well by Propblur........... Cheers Terry Jones Ottawa, Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 (edited) There is not a lot of joy to be had in attempting to apply scale factors to something which is not in fact a scale model, but more of a 3D cartoon of certain recognisable features, purely to create a pleasing impression which displays the aeroplane in context. The dam representation is no more a correctly-proportioned scale model than this is: Edited August 12, 2019 by Work In Progress 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2man Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 I had it in the back of my mind that the towers on the Moehne dam were 700 feet apart & Google has just confirmed this . Since the moulding shows them a couple of feet apart that gives the scale as around 1/350 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 (edited) Yes, in that ONE dimension., call it the X axis But in other dimensions it's completely different. Look at the pics here, see how wide the path is (third pic is easiest to see it): The width of the top of the structure, including the path and both wall thicknesses is about one seventh the distance between the towers. Let's call that the Y axis. So that's roughly 100 feet if we take the distance between the towers as the primary scaling factor. The actual structure, as we both know from seeing it in real life, and from photos, is nothing like 100 feet wide. It is maybe about 18 feet, 20 feet max. Check out the nice photo of some normal-size people walking along it here: http://www.westlothiantwinning.com/mini139.htm Which is what I mean about the moulding supplied not being a scale model but a (intentionally) a caricature. If it's 1/350 in the X axis, it's more like 1/72 in the Y axis. The whole thing is all over the place. In height it's some third different scale again. I imagine this is why Terry's 1/100 scale Opel trucks don't look grossly oversize on it - hopefully he will post a pic in due course Edited August 12, 2019 by Work In Progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrope Posted August 12, 2019 Author Share Posted August 12, 2019 Thanks for all the input I should now add that no Lancs or bouncing bombs will be involved. I’m hoping that I can get hold of one of these bases as a starting point for this. I plan to keep it simple and just do the upper section and lose the towers, straightened wall, add the spillway and keep the water behind. I now have a 1/144 Chinook so if the dam scales out smaller than 1/72, I’m closer with 1/144. My ultimate goal is to build it and hopefully put it forward locally to go towards the local fundraising efforts which are being put together to help those who helped us here in Whaley Bridge last week Now to find a base 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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