cger Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 (edited) Hi, I post some pictures of one of my builds from this year. I wanted to depict a Spitfire IX in french service in Indochina. I used a Berna decal sheet, one of the profiles is an interesting plane with a sharkmouth, from GC2/4 Lafayette squadron in 1947. On the sheet it is depicted with a C wing, but some pics of Lafayette spits I found on the web show a E wing, so I used an Eduard weekend edition of the Spitfire IX E. I started with a preshading in black highlighting some panels with white. All the markings except the squadron emblem where done with a Silhouette cutter. I used Tamiya paints, the weathering is done with oil paints and pigments. I also did a diorama base, supposed to be from India or Burma, but looking acceptable for Indochina also. The ground is covered with Marston matting, a kind of wire mesh set on tarred felt sheets. The sheets are done with Canson paper, the wire mesh with tulle. The elephant and his mahout come from a CMK resin kit. The harness is done with Tamiya epoxy putty, with a little chain from some cheap necklace. The pilot comes also from the CMK kit, I just changed the head which was full of bubbles for a head from a ICM kit. The accumulator trolley is scratchbuilt, the weels come from a Tamiya mototug which I thinned as much as possible to replicate some reference pictures. Here are some pics of the completed dio: have a nice weekend, Christian. Edited September 17, 2022 by cger 52 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom.boom Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Insane! Beautiful! Outstanding!... 🙌 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Lovely diorama! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 That is stunning! Absolutely wonderful diorama Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Masterpiece 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 I love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Robin Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Beautiful work. Really tells a tale. Regards Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cger Posted September 12, 2022 Author Share Posted September 12, 2022 thanks guys for the kind comments, I am glad you like it ! have a nice day, Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 Superb build and diorama , great modelling ! Wulfman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 Very atmospheric conversation piece! Superb modelling of a great idea. Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 Wow. This is a very compelling diorama. I guess if you need a tow tractor in remote areas using an elephant to do the heavy lifting will work. Not really though about that. I have seen them work fields by pulling large plows and lumber operations, but never really thought about their use during a war as a substitute tow truck. This is really unique and am glad you thought of such a concept for display. And, the depiction of the Spitfire is so well done that the eye misses how good the build of just the Spit is because it fits so seamlessly in the whole display. Just wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Superb Indochina Spitfire, really nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Wow, stunning diorama. Everything from the weathered paintwork to the detail in the elephant, something different and unique Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VolkerR. Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Love it! Very inspiring, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Fantastic work, incredible detail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 excellent work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 I like that, a lot to see, and plenty to imagine. Very nice done too. 👍 Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cger Posted September 16, 2022 Author Share Posted September 16, 2022 On 9/12/2022 at 5:53 PM, georgeusa said: Wow. This is a very compelling diorama. I guess if you need a tow tractor in remote areas using an elephant to do the heavy lifting will work. Not really though about that. I have seen them work fields by pulling large plows and lumber operations, but never really thought about their use during a war as a substitute tow truck. This is really unique and am glad you thought of such a concept for display. And, the depiction of the Spitfire is so well done that the eye misses how good the build of just the Spit is because it fits so seamlessly in the whole display. Just wonderful. Thanks for the kind words ! There are well-known photos of an elephant towing a FAA Corsair in Ceylan. I also found several pictures of elephants passing by Hurricanes in Burma. But I doubt the french used them in Indochina for this purpose, best, Christian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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