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Spitfire Mk. I Diorama Help


Paul

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Greetings fellow modelers!

I'm currently working on Tamiya's fantastic Spitfire Mk. I kit in 1:48 scale. I've also installed a motor/speaker/circuit board inside that I picked up from Magic Scale Modeling. It syncs the startup sound of a Merlin to the motor, runs for a bit, then powers down. It's totally plug and play too, which made it very easy to rig up.

To hide the power cables going to the battery box, I've decided to make a small vignette or diorama of a grassy airfield. Since the Spit will be starting up, it makes sense to me that the scene should include a few figures and a smattering of ground equipment. To that end, I was able to locate and purchase an Airfix Battle Of Britain kit that includes:

  • ten figures
  • an Albion 3-Point Fueller
  • a Bedford WMD light truck
  • an oil bowser
  • trolley accumulator
  • an ammo cart
  • wheel chocks

There's also a Hawker Hurricane in there, but that's a project for another day.

In my vision for this project, an RAF pilot is scrambling into his waiting Spitfire while the engine starts up. There's a great "pilot getting into the plane" figure and a ground crew member helping him along. 

The questions I have are these:

  1. Would the Spitfire be plugged into the accumulator while it's starting up? My guess is yes. Where?
  2. Would the Spitfire be started before/as the pilot is entering? I'm just curious if it's even a plausible scenario.
  3. Would the fuel truck be just hanging around nearby along with some of the other equipment? If the bird is already fueled and taking off, maybe the truck doesn't make the cut into the piece.
  4. Is a grass mat the best way to go for a base or would a dirt/mud base with static grass applied on top make for a better presentation? I'd have to get a static grass applicator or lots of those little stick-on grass tufts. 

I'm open to any help you fine folks can offer. If something I've done looks wonky from a historical perspective, let me know! I'm not a rivet counter, but I also don't want to have the pilot texting on his iPhone as he takes off to fight for the skies of London. If we ever get out of this pandemic, I'd love to enter it at a show. 

Thanks!

Edited by Paul
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They would have refueled the a/c as soon as it landed for a quick turn around. So, unless the a/c just landed, the fuel truck would be gone by the time of the next scramble, again unless that happened almost immediately, in which case the armorers would also still be there re-loading ammo. 

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