The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

This is the one I plan to do - another charity shop find!



I've got an Academy 1/144 B-26 on the way for Flak Bait's wingman.

Diorama discussion now in a separate thread...

bestest,
M.

I would also like to see some non-aircraft dioramas again this year so have already made a start on this one:



using the 1/12th scale figure, rather than the 54mm one - too small for my eyesight, I will attempt a 3D effect by placing the rider on a raised base to the front of a plainer painted baseboard and backdrop in faded colours for prespective - pretty much as it is in the box-art. Not sure if it will work but we'll give it a go.

Another subject may be this one:



I'm thinking of a 1:76/OO Gauge card house kit similar to that in the photo (from the excellent Metcalfe or Superquick range probably) mounted on a hillock with trees and shrubs to the rear of the baseboard and a painted backdrop - again to give a scale perspective - won't know if it will work until I try it and let you guys critique it.

And finally, another two already under way are these:




Well - how could you not really?!

Cheers
Al.

P.S. If anyone else had any of the above in mind, please don't be put off by me doing them as well. Just because I make them does not mean they will go in the display at SMW - I just love this theme (had you noticed?) and will build them anyway for me own pleasure if nowt else!

jRatz wrote:OK, here's the start of a string of them .. I'll make 'em separate posts to make reply easier. As usual, I'm trying to get something other than aircraft into the display.

But I'll lead off with one .. You can't get more CBK than PK-1 !!!



I see cutting the foreground aircraft and and just using the rest of the box art as the background. The model could be mounted close, even perhaps with part of the right wing in the backdrop to make it look very much like the boxart ...

Im going to offer to take this one on. Im thinking the front aeroplane is the 1:48 Lindberg kit with the one banking away being the 1:72 Matchbox kit. Does anyone know if there are Furys in a smaller scale?

Id also like to take on the Airfix Fogou Magister, does anyone know if there is a small scale kit available?

Can I point out that we had 15 build last year and they filled the table nicely with room to display the original artwork. We'd rather see more people contributing builds rather than five people building 3 each. Personally I think that the main subject should be the CBK itself rather than a substitute unless there is good argument to change it.

Well, since Ollie wants to do the Fury, I'll bow out of it.

I agree with James that we should be modeling the CBK on the boxart. I saw the 48th/72nd suggestion before but IMHO it won't work -- the size ratio isn't sufficient and the backdrop would have to be made quite bigger to accomodate the larger kit. Purely my opinion.

jRatz wrote:Well, since Ollie wants to do the Fury, I'll bow out of it.

I agree with James that we should be modeling the CBK on the boxart. I saw the 48th/72nd suggestion before but IMHO it won't work -- the size ratio isn't sufficient and the backdrop would have to be made quite bigger to accomodate the larger kit. Purely my opinion.

Depending on how much space we can use i was almost tempted to do every Fury in the boxart as a 1:72 model.

Having seen the HP42 boxart display in the plastic, I'm going to commit to both Auster Antarctic and Gloster Meteor.

I'm with James on the need to use the actual kit the artwork is selling. The Auster Antarctic in the box, looks little like the one on the box top and some modelling work was required. That said, such modelling work is something that lends appeal to many 'basic' Airfix kits.
I think the aim is to provide an impression, rather than get hung up on producing a totally accurate, perfectly built model.

Regards,
Bruce

Personally I wouldn't have a problem in this case Brews. The majority of the dios will feature the original kit or a very close facsimile so I think as you have asked specifically in this case, and you are again prepared to go to the effort to send you work over the pond again, then I'd certainly be pleased to see what you can make of it. However I'm just one of 30 odd CBK members, so I'd get a few more "votes" in favour first or equally see if anyone strongly objects before progressing too far with the build.

Cheers
Al.

Brews wrote:You might want to think about what it is that the display is about - the artwork or the model. Bear in mind that there is a certain B-26 being built for its CBK artwork, while the model is not a CBK.

True, but the kit IS the model in the box that the Classic British Boxart is on. The plastic may not be a CBK, but it is the plastic that was in the box when sold with that artwork by Revell GB. Personally, I think that the main model in any Box Art display SHOULD be the one/ones that were in the box whose art is being reproduced. Hence, I don't think using an Inpact Fury to replicate the Matchbox art, for example, is in the spirit of the exercise. I could have made my life a whole lot easier by using one of the AML Mirage IIIs instead of the Airfix for the Dogfight Double, or indeed the Monogram SnapTite B-26 instead of the Revell kit... but that's not the point!

bestest,
M.

What are peoples thoughts on my idea of using the Pyro/Lifelike etc 1:48 Fury and some 1:72 Matchbox/Revell Furys for the PK1 box art? They are both classic kits.

I might take on the B-29 as well, providing i can source a kit and just have the one aeroplane, that would save shipping.

ollieholmes wrote:What are peoples thoughts on my idea of using the Pyro/Lifelike etc 1:48 Fury and some 1:72 Matchbox/Revell Furys for the PK1 box art? They are both classic kits.

My thought, for what it's worth, is absolutely no.
The Matchbox contents should take top spot and not be relegated to the background.
Whilst the smaller, background Furies would be difficult to get in 3D form, I believe that those printed onto the background would suffice, perhaps with decoupage.

Regards,
Bruce

...it's not "101 gems". This time, we're not trying to prove that the kits are still worthy of building even when compared to up to date alternatives. We're trying to recreate the box art - and in fact if the box art "oversells" a kit, then that's kind of the point... or at least people are looking at the diorama, not the kits. In two shows, with hundreds of visitors to the stand and many, many conversations, I've never heard a single person say that there are better Mirage, Sea King or Lancaster kits out there. The Airfix 109G or Val are just elements of the diorama...

And just to reiterate, I also don't think that using the Pyro/Lifelike/Inpact fury to do the Matchbox box art is in the spirit of the project...

bestest,
M.

I have to agree with previous comments as regards the use of stand-in models in the box art dio's. For me the main element of the diorama needs to be the kit supplied in the box we're modelling. The other parts can of course be 'ringers' as evidenced by the current displays.
The accuracy that I think we're aiming for is a faithful replication of the artwork itself NOT a 100% accurate replica of an airframe or ship or vehicle. After all box art is an inspirational piece that is rarely drawn from real life.

In effect these are models of an impression.

Does any of this make sense?

Regards

Tom

I believe the centerpiece kit should be the one in the box we're representing, and whether that kit builds up well is not the point. Now, IMHO, a substitute kit in the same scale as not so much an issue with me, but the suggestions of larger scale kits is.

IIRC, this project started last year because of the feeling that the boxart is what drew us to the kit, at least back then, and so our display is somewhat a celebration of that.