Big mistake while modeling my WWII aircrafts

[Stug]

I made a big mistake while trying to use my pin vise to drill a hole under my russian aircraft. The goal was to insert the wire of my aircraft stand.

While drilling from the bottom, I pushed too hard and my pin vise went all the way through the aircraft, just in front of the cockpit.

I have put a little bit of putty to hide the hole. Here are two pictures showing my mistake.

I was also thinking of painting the aircraft stands with a color that will help them to blend with the surroundings (brown, tan and green colors) and add some grasses. Or maybe I should try, instead, a transparent aircraft stand? Where can I find them near Canada?

What do you think?

[kyoteblue]

You have to be more careful drilling holes. But I think you know that now.

[Etranger]

Drilling too deep is a common problem with white-metal as it’s soft and very easy to do. You’ve already found the fix.

As to stands, I’d probably either just paint them, or add a small, round sub-base and add putty (eg spakfilla) & scenic material to turn it into a scenic feature. That also adds weight to the base and makes it less likely to topple over.

Clear bases are nice too but I’ve got no idea where you’ll be able to pick them up.

[Andrew Beasley]

Worry not over your mistake – at least you did not drill your finger or thumb.

Saying that though – you do take more care after going into your thumb 🙂

The only place I know off your side of the water that sells flight stands would be Litko – be warned, their gadgets can be very addictive and the bill can build up.

[willz]

Here are some Canadian firms.

https://www.acmeplastics.com/acrylic-rods

https://canada-plastics.com/product/acrylic-rods/

https://canada-plastics.myshopify.com/

 

At least you did not suffer from PDSF (pin drill slip finger).

[Mike]

Stug wrote:

Or maybe I should try, instead, a transparent aircraft stand? Where can I find them near Canada?

Maybe a nice sturdy metal base (coin?) and a clear rod?

https://www.amazon.ca/PLS90291-90291-Rod-Acrylic-Clear/dp/B0006O6QXU

[Don Glewwe]

Is the stand to be used to pose a ground attack aircraft?   If so, consider a tripod that -while having three times as many contact points with the table- will have a total footprint that is smaller than a single base and (more importantly) present a greater selection of table locations that can be used since a single, large-ish flat space is not required.

https://brawlfactory.net/

[Kitty Hay-Whitton]

I like to base my aircraft on a clear plastic rod based on a square of textured and flocked surface, this in turn hiding a considerable weight of small coins. I drill a hole in the top of the rod, and then mount a bit of paper clip in the model, so the stand can handle a large number of different models at different times.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

a quick pen mark with a red sharpie on the drill bit at the measured depth  can save you the grief.

Mick

[Paint it Pink]

A little blob of greenstuff will fix that.

One is good, more is better
http://panther6actual.blogspot.co.uk/
http://ashleyrpollard.blogspot.co.uk/

[Thomaston]

You can also wrap some masking tape aroudn teh drill bit to mark how deep you want the hole.

Tired is enough.
I like tiny miniatures

[MartinR]

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve drilled right through a plane (and into my finger!). That is what filler is for.

I use clear flight stands and just leave the wire plain. It all sort of blends in on the table. My older stands are textured and they work fine too.

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Stug]

Thanks everyone for all the links and tips. I will check all of them but I think I will go with a clear rod.

Finally, after adding putty and two layers of black primer, we can’t see which of my aircrafts have been screwed 😉

I have little touch-ups to do because the paint on the edges of the wings is disappearing. I didn’t want to buy decals so I decided to paint the red star and I must say that from a few inches away, we can’t really tell it was painted.

Here is a picture of my russian Yak completed. I tried to match my painting with the picture below.

[Benjamin Cato]

Very nicely done Stug! The star looks like a decal to me.

[willz]

Cool looking model.

[Stug]

Benjamin Cato wrote:

Very nicely done Stug! The star looks like a decal to me.

Thanks. A few weeks ago, I have ordered 6mm decals for the german and americans but after destroying a few, I decided to they were too small and that I wont use any. I think I will use the same technique with the germans.

willz wrote:

Cool looking model.

Thank you. It’s not completely accurate because I should add a red star on each side of the tail and two red stars under the planes but I will let it like it is. With the lighter color under the plane, I think it will be more visible that it was painted by hand.

[Tony S]

Very nice!   I’ve always like the look of the Soviet planes.  Great job in your repairs.

By the way, do you ever listen to the Canadian Wargamer podcast?  The newest episode, #15, is about the wargaming scene in Montreal.   I seem to remember that’s where you’re from?  Might be interesting for a listen, if so.

[Author]

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