Oooh S**t!
Something like this can ruin your whole day…
Scale 1:72 nothing else matters
I think the title for this little dio doesn't need any explanation
The inspiration for this build came once again due to a picture which I found in a book. To be exactly, there were 2 photos; one showed a Wildcat careening down a wooden flight, with its tail high up in the air and its propeller creating a shower of splinters before coming to a rather hefty stop. The second pictures showed the same aircraft type being stopped by the barrier after its entire tail, including the tail hook was ripped of its fuselage right behind the cockpit. My first intention to create a combination of these 2 photos was only stopped by the fact that I could not find any solution how to create that cloud of wooden splinters around the aircraft. So in the end I settled for the second phot with the ripped of tail section.
Creating this dio was straightforward, first of all I had to build a small carrier section where the action was going to a happen.
For this I started with a construction made from plywood, a simple build to which I added some details like the catwalk a fuel line and some other parts. For the flight deck I used wooden veneer to plank it and some self-made PE parts for the tie down tracks, the arrestor wire and the Davis barrier. Inside the catwalks came some additional details like floater nets, a MK51 gun director and 3x Oerlikon 20mm guns. After some figures from my spare box were added it was time to concentrate upon the main character in this dio, the FM-2 Wildcat.
For this I used the Hasegawa kit. It needed only a few alterations, like the opened cowl flaps, the damage to the wing tip and of course the separated tail section. For this I I sanded the plastic of the fuselage as thin as I dared and then added several stringers to create the internal structure. Needless to say that it is more than helpful if you got several detail pictures of this section. To recreate the dynamic of these forces I tried my best to make this ripped out parts look as irregular as possible, the snapped off antennae is such a little touch to give the spectator a certain feeling of this action. Finally I added a poor pilot into the cockpit and a prop blurr PE part which really makes that prop look as if it is still turning.
All together I spend about 80 hours building this dio and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Cheers
René
Brilliant work Rene very well done in deed. I see you had some inspiration for the flight deck in pics 4 & 5.
Amazing. Just amazing. Your execution of such a dynamic visual is brilliant. Congratulations. Can't wait to see what you do next.
The photo header ...whats a casket doing on a modeling bench? Great hook. Wouldn't it be neat if that Wildcat had a puff of smoke coming from the tire making contact with the deck? I really like this dio Rene'. It's thoughtful, informative and shows some(Dangerous) action on the flight deck. In other words it tells a story of the relatives of naval flying. Two thumbs up.
"realities of naval flying." My editor has been drinking too much coffee.
Nice idea, good realization !
Great concept, Rene.
Fantastic job, Rene...you do stellar work, sir. I think we may see this one again in a couple weeks.
Wow! Better than downloading a video.
Nice execution.
Your dioramas are just amazing. Capturing the action "in the moment" is just superb.
Amazing work!
Well done, Rene! Looks like the real thing!
What is there not to like Rene.
Superb work.
Just excellent! The one thing I was looking for since you mentioned the cloud of splinters was the gouges in the flight deck caused by the prop... but now looking again, that probably occurred further back on the deck before it snagged the wire, right? Anyway - great dio! Like Rob, you captured a moment of heightened tension very well. Would love to have seen a close-up of what you did with the pilots face (and perhaps his britches!)...
Fantastic diorama.With lots of thought and work going into it.
It made me go back to you tube and look at some of these disastrous landings. You captured it very well.
Beautiful! It looks like we're there.