So it has been a few days as I have been very busy with recent commissions so I thought I would post a nice little tutorial. I decided to do a counter for my Bolt Action Americans to represent an air strike borrowing an idea I saw on the WWPD forums. Upon reading the rules from air strikes it mentions you can use any suitable counter even an aircraft model. It was then that I decided to make a diving aircraft to represent my air strikes. So I began my attempt by heading to the local hobby store, in this case Hobby Lobby, to find a suitable model. I decided on 1/72 as it fit in nicely with 28mm miniatures by being not too small or too large. Looking around I found a 1/72 Snaptite P-51D Mustang. Now I know they were mainly escorts, they were in fact used as tank hunters late in the war. The model came pre-painted which was a nice bonus. I decided to pick up a few other things like a dowel and some washers to act as a base. For the dowel I recommend 3/16" though a thick piece of brass rod will also work. The washers were both fender washers with one being 2" and the other being 1" with a 3/16" diameter hole.
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| What you will need... |
I began assembly of the model as per the provided instructions. I do suggest cleaning any mold lines which in this case were very minimal and use a knife, not clippers to remove parts from the sprues. There are some gap issues so I highly recommend using plastic model glue to glue the model together and reduce gaps. The model is designed to have its landing gear down so I made a slight modification. I took the covers to the landing gear and cut them down to fill the opening. Take care to measure the amount you have to remove carefully before cutting to reduce the chances of gaps. Once cut, glue them in place and you now have a flying fighter not a landing fighter.
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| Before... |
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| ....and After |
At this point I recommend touching up the paint as the pre-paints can be a little off. I used Vallejo US Dark Green on the top of the fuselage and Vallejo Red for the engine cowling and nosecone. The panel lines were filled in with a Faber-Castell Artist Pen size S, black. The pilot was drybrushed with Vallejo English uniform and the face was given a wash. You can of course paint it to match any historical squadron you like and I highly recommend it.
Next step is the base and stem. I glued the washers together with super glue and mixed up some green stuff. I recommend cutting the dowel to a height of 8" as I found it to be a good altitude for an attacking aircraft. The next step is too fill the hole with the green stuff and insert your dowel. Smooth off the bottom and let sit till dry. I recommend checking on it from time to time till the green stuff sets up as the dowel will tend to lean. Just correct it and it will be fine. It took about two hours for the green stuff to set up enough to prevent leaning.
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| Base materials |
Once it is dry it is time to drill the holes for the pins in the top of the dowel and bottom of the plane. I suggest two pins and keep them about 1/4" so it is secure. I bent one of the pins a little to further ensure it is secure.
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| Pins and holes in aircraft |
All that is left now is to texture and paint the base and stem. I used some pumice and pebbles which were of course painted and drybrushed. A little static grass to match the basing on my Americans and some Vallejo Sky Blue for the stem. Now you have a completed Air Strike counter worthy of your army. This works for any nation as long as you can find an aircraft used by your forces. If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them.
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| INCOMING! |
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