Dioramas - WW II - 1/72

This diorama consists of two kits: The Airfix Messerchmitt Bf 109 E-4 (A01008) and The Zvezda German Air Force Ground Crew, both 1/72 scale. It depicts the aircraft flown by Lieutenant Franz Von Werra based in Samer, occupied France, during the Battle of Britain, August 1940. The idea was to show the aircraft being prepared for action.  

The Airfix kit is new, tooling is from 2012. The fit is perfect, panel lines are recessed and the whole model is exceptionally detailed for a 1/72 scale, the kind of details you could only find in 1/32 scale models some years ago. The cockpit is full of details too. The rudder and the flaps are positionable as well as the conopy, which I left open. Decals by Cartograph are very thin and easy to apply and with the help of Microset/ Microsol they look as if they had been painted on. It also comes with stencil data. The Zvezda kit is also another gem. The figures are very well detailed, with very little flash. 

The engine was supposed to be hidden, but since one of the figures is a mechanic, I cut the hood into two halves so that you can see the engine. I did some scratch building and added the machine gun using a hypodermic needle to imitate the real thing. The kit has only one gasoline barrel, so I made three extra barrels using a silicone mold ad resin. Color scheme is RLM02, RLM71 and RLM65 for the underside. The ruder and wing tips are flat white. The Zvezda kit does not say anything about the color of the uniforms, so after some research I found out the color is RLM24 (navy blue). Actually the set is part of the board game system "Art of Tactic - WW2" which consists of many different sets of vehicles, figures and airplanes. 

Lieutenant Franz Von Werra (photo) had a successful carrier as a Luftwaffe fighter pilot during the German campaign both in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. His Messerchmitt was shot down in Kent in Sep 1940 (photo) and he was soon made a POW. He was then sent to Canada and after having fled to the US and passed through Mexico, Brazil, Spain and Italy, he joined the Luftwaffe again in Aug 41 at the Russian front where he scored 21 kills. Two months later he died in Holland during a training flight.(Wikipedia)