Dan Becker's Wings of War Miniatures Pilots and Spinners

Ludwig Weber in his big yellow bird

To the right we see the Albatros D Va of Ludwig Weber.The minis are prepainted and ready for gaming.It has a great camo pattern on the wings and a bright yellow body.Yes in fact this looks like a big yellow bird.The minis have fantastic paint jobs and decals and a nice satin finish for protection.My only gripe is that there is no pilot in the cockpit.

Clear sheet styrene spinner and 6 mm pilot

The spinning propeller is made from clear sheet styrene that you can get froma good hobby store. I used Evergreen Scale Models brand0.010" (0.25 mm) thick sheet, but you can use twice as thick if you like a more sturdy prop.I cut a disk the diameter of the prop which for this plane is the size of a U.S. nickel 7/8" (12 mm).Trace the outline with a sharp hobby knife and then cut out along the outline with a scissors.You can also punch them out with a scrapbooker's hole punch.Then I used a leather tool to punch a center hole the size of the propeller cap.I used Testor's plastic model cement to glue it to the existing prop, but more detailed modellers mightwant to trim off the existing prop.You can also use cyano acrylate glue or epoxy for a stronger bond. Do not use white glue as it cannotgrab the clear plastic disk, and it will pop off with handling.

The pilot can be made from air dry or bakeable modelling clay such as Super Sculpey, but I happened to have a 6 mmfigure.He was an ancient slinger, but I painted him in brown leather jacket and helmet, and he looks just like a pilot.I took a piece of white thread and knotted it around his neck to simulate a pilot's scarf,and I froze it into a flapping position with cyano acrylate glue.

There you go. A simple 5 minute project that makes the model look 10 times more realistic.I sure hope the producers make the models with pilots in the spinners in the future, but in the meantime, youcan do it yourself.More miniatures and scenery photos are located at the Miniatures section.Hopefully there will be more planes and photos in the future.