Souvenir Hunters: 1/32 BF-109F Desert Crash Diorama-N. Africa 1942 (Diorama Base/Accessories Only)
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2023 5:02 pm
Fellow Modelers,
My latest project will be creating a 1/32 scale North African desert diorama that will include a base, a crashed BF-109 Messerschmitt airplane, a small British transport vehicle and a few British 8th Infantry figures. Construction of the base, Tilly vehicle and figures are the only parts covered in this thread. Construction of the BF-109F airplane is another thread in the Modelling Works In Progress-Prop Aircraft Section.
I have always been intrigued by World War II dioramas showing frontline infantry soldiers picking through crashed enemy aircraft for souvenirs to take back home. Although these scenes do not include intense action, they do provide good storytelling and reflection. I do not have an exact layout established in my head, but have purchased the kits, accessories and research books I plan on using. I will work out all the final, smaller details as the build progresses.
A description of the diorama setup is listed below:
The time period is set around February 1942. A Gruppe III/JG27 BF-109F-4 Trop airplane has been damaged in air combat with RAF Tomahawks (P-40B/C) and Kittyhawks (P-40D/E) and made a forced landing deep behind the British lines. The unfortunate Experten Luftwaffe pilot has been captured and taken away for processing to a POW camp. A lull in the ground fighting has allowed several curious British infantry soldiers to borrow a Tilly utility transport vehicle to make a quick trip to the crash site to “officially” look for valuable maps or other documents but “unofficially” gather souvenirs to carry back to their basecamp. Welcome to my diorama Progress Build titled Souvenir Hunters.
Figure 005: I bought the Tamiya kit to build the Tilly truck. I never build vehicles but I am hoping it will turn out to be a simple build. I plan on building this model straight out of the box. The only little tweaks will be leaving one of the doors open and having the front wheels turned at an angle.
Figures 006 and 007: I looked at a lot of British desert infantry figures before I purchased the Master Box Ltd LRDG North Africa set. The main thing I was looking for was good casual poses that can be integrated around the crashed aircraft. I also liked that these were made out of styrene instead of resin. What I did not like about the set was the figure heads and head gear, as it was hard for me to tell these were British soldiers. The exact number of figures I will use in the diorama will depend on how easy they are to modify and how the painting goes. I think I will end up using between two and four figures.
Figure 008: Fortunately, my figure head problem was solved by purchasing the Hornet Heads with WW1 Brodie Type British Helmets set. I believe this style of helmet was standard issue until 1943 or 1944.
Figure 009: Sculptamold will be used to create the groundwork on the base. This is a cellulose compound that is mixed with water.
Figure 010: This bag of gray river bottom soil and rock mix will be used to represent the small, medium and large size rocks in the desert groundwork. These are great because there are so many different shapes and sizes.
Figure 062: I needed to layout the airplane and vehicle together to determine the size of the diorama base. Before I could do this the Tilly model parts needed to be cleaned up and organized so a basic assembly could be temporarily taped together.
Figures 063 through 066: These photos show how the BF-109 and Tilly vehicle will be positioned next to each other on the base. The base is a leftover 14” X 14” pressboard shelf and is only here to help determine the final size of the 3/4” thick plywood board that will be used.
Figure 069: Work now focused on cleaning up the figures and determining how they would be used in the diorama. The shown sprue tree includes all five figures and extra accessories (i.e., guns, canteens and supplies).
Figures 070 and 071: I rarely work with figures but think the parts look pretty good. The details are sharp and natural. Most of the parts had raised seamlines that had to be carefully removed with an X-acto knife.
Figure 072: Here are the parts for one figure after being cleaned up. All of the figures had pretty much the same layout.
Figure 073: This photo shows some of the “loose” accessory pieces I selected that might be added to the diorama. I think they look nicely detailed.
Figure 074: This photo shows a good view of the replacement Hornet head/helmet pieces. They required very little clean up. I have to say I am VERY impressed with them. Each one is so different and so detailed!
Figures 075 through 078: After working with the figures for a while, I determined how each of the four I selected would be positioned in the diorama. In addition to replacing their heads/helmets, most of the figures would require modifications to their arms/hands. This is Figure #1 (man leaning over cockpit). Like all the figures in these photos, the legs and torso are permanently assembly and the head is tacked on with white glue. Both arms will have to be modified (later) with at least one of them positioned against the airplane fuselage.
Figures 079 and 080: This is Figure #2 (man seating on wing reaching for flare pistol). At first, I thought neither arm would have to be modified but have now decided the left arm needs to be stretched out straight to make it clearer he is reaching for something.
Figures 081 through 083: This scene now includes Figure #3 (officer standing holding flare pistol). Only the right hand was modified so it could hold the flare pistol better. A really cool fun fact is this flare pistol part was actually included in the Hasegawa BF-109 kit! A flare pistol and hunting rifle were part of the survival gear put in these Trop airplanes to help any pilots shot down in the desert. Figure #3 is the only one not touching the airplane.
Figures 084 through 086: This is Figure #4 (man standing holding tailfin). The left arm will have to be modified to hang straight down. My original thought is he is contemplating how difficult it would be to remove the rudder, as it would make an excellent souvenir to display back at the basecamp.
Figure 087: Work now begins on the base and groundwork. The size of the plywood base ended up being 16” X 14” X 3/4”. The first step was adding veneer wood pieces to the sides of the plywood to improve the appearance.
Figure 088: The 1” tall veneers were cut a little oversize in length and placed over each side.
Figure 089: The veneers have a glue layer on one side that is activated to stick by applying heat. I used my wife’s iron (please do not tell her) to permanently attach each piece.
Figure 090: Various grades of sandpaper were used to sand down the veneer pieces to match the plywood.
Figure 091: The veneer sides were stained with Minwax Golden Pecan. Finally, the entire base was given three Minwax Polyurethane satin clear coats, with light sanding being done after the first and second coats.
Until next time...
Phillip1
My latest project will be creating a 1/32 scale North African desert diorama that will include a base, a crashed BF-109 Messerschmitt airplane, a small British transport vehicle and a few British 8th Infantry figures. Construction of the base, Tilly vehicle and figures are the only parts covered in this thread. Construction of the BF-109F airplane is another thread in the Modelling Works In Progress-Prop Aircraft Section.
I have always been intrigued by World War II dioramas showing frontline infantry soldiers picking through crashed enemy aircraft for souvenirs to take back home. Although these scenes do not include intense action, they do provide good storytelling and reflection. I do not have an exact layout established in my head, but have purchased the kits, accessories and research books I plan on using. I will work out all the final, smaller details as the build progresses.
A description of the diorama setup is listed below:
The time period is set around February 1942. A Gruppe III/JG27 BF-109F-4 Trop airplane has been damaged in air combat with RAF Tomahawks (P-40B/C) and Kittyhawks (P-40D/E) and made a forced landing deep behind the British lines. The unfortunate Experten Luftwaffe pilot has been captured and taken away for processing to a POW camp. A lull in the ground fighting has allowed several curious British infantry soldiers to borrow a Tilly utility transport vehicle to make a quick trip to the crash site to “officially” look for valuable maps or other documents but “unofficially” gather souvenirs to carry back to their basecamp. Welcome to my diorama Progress Build titled Souvenir Hunters.
Figure 005: I bought the Tamiya kit to build the Tilly truck. I never build vehicles but I am hoping it will turn out to be a simple build. I plan on building this model straight out of the box. The only little tweaks will be leaving one of the doors open and having the front wheels turned at an angle.
Figures 006 and 007: I looked at a lot of British desert infantry figures before I purchased the Master Box Ltd LRDG North Africa set. The main thing I was looking for was good casual poses that can be integrated around the crashed aircraft. I also liked that these were made out of styrene instead of resin. What I did not like about the set was the figure heads and head gear, as it was hard for me to tell these were British soldiers. The exact number of figures I will use in the diorama will depend on how easy they are to modify and how the painting goes. I think I will end up using between two and four figures.
Figure 008: Fortunately, my figure head problem was solved by purchasing the Hornet Heads with WW1 Brodie Type British Helmets set. I believe this style of helmet was standard issue until 1943 or 1944.
Figure 009: Sculptamold will be used to create the groundwork on the base. This is a cellulose compound that is mixed with water.
Figure 010: This bag of gray river bottom soil and rock mix will be used to represent the small, medium and large size rocks in the desert groundwork. These are great because there are so many different shapes and sizes.
Figure 062: I needed to layout the airplane and vehicle together to determine the size of the diorama base. Before I could do this the Tilly model parts needed to be cleaned up and organized so a basic assembly could be temporarily taped together.
Figures 063 through 066: These photos show how the BF-109 and Tilly vehicle will be positioned next to each other on the base. The base is a leftover 14” X 14” pressboard shelf and is only here to help determine the final size of the 3/4” thick plywood board that will be used.
Figure 069: Work now focused on cleaning up the figures and determining how they would be used in the diorama. The shown sprue tree includes all five figures and extra accessories (i.e., guns, canteens and supplies).
Figures 070 and 071: I rarely work with figures but think the parts look pretty good. The details are sharp and natural. Most of the parts had raised seamlines that had to be carefully removed with an X-acto knife.
Figure 072: Here are the parts for one figure after being cleaned up. All of the figures had pretty much the same layout.
Figure 073: This photo shows some of the “loose” accessory pieces I selected that might be added to the diorama. I think they look nicely detailed.
Figure 074: This photo shows a good view of the replacement Hornet head/helmet pieces. They required very little clean up. I have to say I am VERY impressed with them. Each one is so different and so detailed!
Figures 075 through 078: After working with the figures for a while, I determined how each of the four I selected would be positioned in the diorama. In addition to replacing their heads/helmets, most of the figures would require modifications to their arms/hands. This is Figure #1 (man leaning over cockpit). Like all the figures in these photos, the legs and torso are permanently assembly and the head is tacked on with white glue. Both arms will have to be modified (later) with at least one of them positioned against the airplane fuselage.
Figures 079 and 080: This is Figure #2 (man seating on wing reaching for flare pistol). At first, I thought neither arm would have to be modified but have now decided the left arm needs to be stretched out straight to make it clearer he is reaching for something.
Figures 081 through 083: This scene now includes Figure #3 (officer standing holding flare pistol). Only the right hand was modified so it could hold the flare pistol better. A really cool fun fact is this flare pistol part was actually included in the Hasegawa BF-109 kit! A flare pistol and hunting rifle were part of the survival gear put in these Trop airplanes to help any pilots shot down in the desert. Figure #3 is the only one not touching the airplane.
Figures 084 through 086: This is Figure #4 (man standing holding tailfin). The left arm will have to be modified to hang straight down. My original thought is he is contemplating how difficult it would be to remove the rudder, as it would make an excellent souvenir to display back at the basecamp.
Figure 087: Work now begins on the base and groundwork. The size of the plywood base ended up being 16” X 14” X 3/4”. The first step was adding veneer wood pieces to the sides of the plywood to improve the appearance.
Figure 088: The 1” tall veneers were cut a little oversize in length and placed over each side.
Figure 089: The veneers have a glue layer on one side that is activated to stick by applying heat. I used my wife’s iron (please do not tell her) to permanently attach each piece.
Figure 090: Various grades of sandpaper were used to sand down the veneer pieces to match the plywood.
Figure 091: The veneer sides were stained with Minwax Golden Pecan. Finally, the entire base was given three Minwax Polyurethane satin clear coats, with light sanding being done after the first and second coats.
Until next time...
Phillip1
