Monday 23 February 2009

Wings over Hetzenberg.



Tailplane and wing markings for Hetzenberg (top) and the Margravate, based on national colors.

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Only a short, non-fiction post today as I have a lot of visa stuff to take care of.
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A recent article on aerial wargaming by Tim Beresford led me to speculate on the state of affairs between my imaginations circa 1916. In my mind's eye I can see dashing Hetzenbergers in their Spatz-Beerkatz XIII fighters speeding to intercept the dastardly Margravate Krümpler bombers, while above them the nefarious Pink Baron von Rightrötten lurks in his triplane between the clouds...

Of course another factor in this flight of fancy (pardon the pun) is the Li'l Flying Fokkers range at
Old Glory (UK) designed and produced by Paul Cotton of the New Buckenham club. I bought a couple of these resin and white metal models to build as a birthday present for my future brother-in-law. Their construction is no more fiddly than any other kit, and once painted they really look the business. Suitable rules are readily available, and there are plenty of resources on color schemes and markings, which can be adapted to a home-grown pattern for imaginary air forces.

All this is so much pie in the sky at the moment, but I can dream...

3 comments:

Bluebear Jeff said...

What scale are the planes? I've got a ton of painted 1/144th scale "Red Eagle" planes from years ago.

At some point I'll try to get up a game or campaign using the "Canvas Eagles" rules (essentially "Blue Max" in 3-D). These are available for free download here:

http://www.eaglesmax.com/


-- Jeff

A J said...

Jeff, the L'il Flying Fokker range is 15mm/ 1/100. Thanks for the link to the Canvas Eagles rules. I can't remember the name of the rules we use (senior moment...)

In the game the planes have a map-pin inserted on the underside of the fuselage, and these are gripped by mini crocodile clips attached to telescoping car aerials. They allow variations of height and attitude.

I'm just waiting for Paul to produce my all-time favorite WW1 airplane, the FE 2D. It was a bit of a clunker in real life, (although one shot down Max Immelmann) but it just looks funky. =)

Bluebear Jeff said...

AJ,

I've got one of the FE-2D's in 1/144th, it is cool looking. Canvas Eagles also uses the telscoping antennas for altitude.


-- Jeff