Flight Stands - the truth at last!

In response to huge demand - well, one reader has asked - here is a bit more detail on my flight stands for 1/72 aircraft models.
My 2016 tall indoor stands can be seen in this earlier post.   I subsequently painted the bases as the next photo shows.

For outdoor games where tall stands are required, I recreated the same effect by using 3-foot garden canes topped with similar lengths of wire. The SB.2 and indeed all the models in this post are 1/72 scale.

For shorter stands I again have developed indoor and outdoor (or hard and soft surface) options. 

The former are made from bent wire clothes hangers. 

An Israeli F-4 perched atop a bent wire stand.

A rather better view of the bent hanger idea.  In this case my Fairey Battle is clearly having a bad day.

Back in the great outdoors, the Mk.1 short stand was simply a piece of stiff wire with one end thrust into the lawn and the other up the tailpipe, as with this Mirage III above.  And I think that's as many double-entendres as I've ever managed to fit into one photo caption...

The Mk.2 short stand.  A more sophisticated and considerably less wobbly approach is to use an outdoor wine glass stand.  These can be found cheaply - mine were £1 to £1.50 each and the aircraft can be perched reasonably safely atop the structure - as with the brace of F-104 above and the Allouette below.  From my own experience this is by far the best solution and also copes with diecast metal models!

Of course, if you have other ideas, let's see them!

A Christmas Katyuska - SB-2 part 4

 This cutting-edge (c1938) bomber is now complete and resplendent in Spanish Republican colours. My Nationalist AA gunners are already looking forward to it filling their sights.

Christmas Katyuska - part 3

Paintwork is now complete. I opted for a simple overall green with pale blue underside. Once that was dry I masked and painted on the red bands which marked the wings and fuselage of Spanish Republican aircraft. The number and coloured stripes on the tail were sourced from the kit’s own (slightly faded) decal sheet.

Hopefully a coat of clear varnish will make its appearance less disreputable.

Mirage F.1 - part 2

The build went pretty smoothly with parts fit being generally very good.  Next it was out with the paintbrush for a green over sand camo scheme.  While it dries I'll check out my stock of SAAF markings.

Mirage F.1 - part 1

Following the successful completion of my South African Canberra and Buccaneer I decided to tackle this even pointier aircraft. I’ve never previously owned an F.1 in any scale, being rather more familiar with the Mirage III.

Sadly I had to pay a bit more than the original price...

There seemed to be a lot of parts - but that never deters me as so many will be left on the sprue!

A Christmas Katyuska - part 2

Behold the contents of the box. Despite the kit’s antiquity the parts were pretty free of flash.

Fit was another matter, though if it had spent some of its forty years in an attic then that would account for a degree of warping. Easily solved by masking tape while the glue dried. I know my standards are pretty (well very) low but for a kit of this age to not require filler is a tribute to the quality of the original tooling.

Next - paint!

A Christmas Katyuska - part 1

 After last summer’s Ebro game my Nationalist AA gunners complained of a lack of large targets. As I have been prevailed upon to run a similar game at this year’s COW action was clearly required!  A few minutes on eBay later and I was the proud owner of this ancient kit of Comrade Tupolev’s finest.
Once I make a high enough morale roll I’ll open the box and begin....