Even Tinier Aeroplanes

 

In the 1980s, I occasionally played a game called Knights of the Air, a WW1 aerial combat game played on a hex grid like Canvas Eagles (or Blue Max, which it was rewritten from) but rather more detailed in terms of keeping track of altitude and aircraft statistics. I started out by making hexagonal card tokens printed with a plan view of the aircraft, but soon decided that what I wanted were actual models, so I started making some.

Initially they were scratch-built in 1:300 scale from cardboard, wire and wood, but later on I found I could get cast metal models from Heroics and Ros, which, though lacking in interplane struts and the like, were generally okay in terms of silhouette, and much less work. Later still I got into 3d printing, though I've printed very few aeroplanes in 1:300.

I've since focused my attention on 1:144 3d printed planes, as they're easier to paint and to see with my increasingly decrepit eyes. However, the larger models require a hex grid of 50 to 70 mm. That's fine for small scale dogfights, but the smaller models can be used on a 25mm grid, which gives you a much larger battlefield, and can therefore accommodate more players at need.

These models are as follows: 

1. Gotha bomber (scratch-built) 
2. Fokker E-III Eindekkers (metal)
3. DH-2 (one metal, one scratch-built) 
4. Sopwith Camel (metal)
5. SE5a (metal)
6. Sopwith Pups (metal)
7. Albatros D-III (3d printed)
8. SPAD 7 (metal)
9. Fokker Triplane (metal)
10. Albatros DV (metal)
11. Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter (metal)
12. BE-12  (scratch-built)
13. Hannover CL-III (metal)
14. Albatros D-II (scratch-built)
15. BE-2 (scratch-built)
16. Halberstadt D-II (scratch-built)
17. Halberstadt CL-II (metal)
18. Bristol Fighter  (scratch-built) 

I think it highly unlikely that I'll do any more aeroplane models in 1:300, though I do have a few more metal casts awaiting assembly and painting. Still, never say never.