Daz's Movie Madness!

[DazDaMan]

Oh no, I've been slowly working on another Spitfire for a commission build. It's the big Airfix 1/24th scale kit.

Funny thing is, it's also a movie star in its own right, as well as being a survivor! Shame it's going to another home, however!

[DazDaMan]

Anyway, in other news, the Battle of Britain Stuka is progressing well. It's up on its gear, with painting of some of the assemblies due to start soon.

Interestingly, the decal sheet includes a set of swastikas for the fin! Hope I can use them, as this is obviously an old kit. It's a nice kit, though. Bring back Matchbox!!!!

[iggie]

Arghhh you've just reminded me I need to find a swastika for my 109!

[DazDaMan]

Update shot of the Stuka.....

[TomCrewe]

Don't forget Close Encounters of the Third Kind by director Steven Spielberg.

For Flight 19 a United States Navy over-water navigation training flight of 5 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers which turn up in the film.

[DazDaMan]

Ooh, I never thought of that one! Might be worth a go.

Anyway, another model has turned up for the movie collection:


For the 1930 film The Dawn Patrol, a number of Nieuport 28 replicas were brought together by the film producers in order to create the flying sequences. Technically speaking, the Nieuports were Lincoln LF-1s, built specifically for aerial stunt work in films. They appeared in a number of productions after The Dawn Patrol, and apparently one of them still exists in the States.

I've got both versions of the film on DVD, but I'm much more familiar with the Errol Flynn/David Niven production:


Great film, both versions, but I think the 1938 version is just slightly better!

[iggie]

Looking forward to seeing you tackle the Nieuport Are you rigging it?

[DazDaMan]

Oh God no!

Rigging scares the bejesus out of me - I've never managed to do it, even on a larger-sized biplane, so at that scale it's a no-brainer for me!

One thing, however, is the colour scheme. The film Nieuports are rather a light colour, similar to the SE.5as from Hell's Angels (yes, that's another one on the list!). I'm not sure if it's natural dope, silver/aluminium or even white! Back in those days, the good guys and the bad guys were differentiated by the colours of the hats they wore, so was it the same for WW1 biplanes?!

[gbrwn56]

Fantastic work, the 109 is a little belter, thanks for sharing.

[DazDaMan]

Cheers.

Well, here's the Stuka. I'm not 100% happy with it, but it's "close enough for government work"!











OK, so what's up next? I'm thinking a Harvard from the rather forgettable WW2 "macaroni combat" film, Eagles Over London, painted in Luftwaffe colours.....

[ShaunW]

Nice one Daren. IMHO the Stuka falls very much into the beautifully ugly sector of aviation design, like a Skua, Swordfish or a Beverley transport.

[DazDaMan]

Yeah, it's not bonny, but it did the job!

So, I'm thinking Luftwaffe Harvard next!

[DazDaMan]

I've just managed to snag one of these from eBay for my Spitfire mock-up from A Yank in the RAF:



I didn't want to use an Airfix Spitfire, nor any other offering, as those are much more accurate in outline than the mock-up from the film. The Novo/Frog Spitfire Va is close enough in outline and accuracy to be a suitable substitute.


The fact that I can build it without wheels and mount it on a stand is a massive bonus, as it won't take much to fit an Airfix stand in the belly.

I just need to do the Messerschmitt to go with it!

[DazDaMan]

I've just thrown this one onto the desk for a nice, simple movie model build:


The film Eagles Over London made use of a trio of Texans for a long sequence where the Luftwaffe attacks the evacuation at Dunkirk. Nice, simple scheme. I might see if I can mount it on a stand, as well.

[vacant]

Think of that line up of Texans on the Luftwaffe airfield in 'Where Eagles Dare'. Then you could move on the Ju52.