Christmas Ornament to Tabletop Ornament

[Wirelizard]

At work we sell these Christmas ornament aircraft; I was looking at them a few days ago and realized that they're nearly perfect for 28mm, and at under $10 each, a deal!

We've got three types, all nominally WW1 biplanes. They're pretty basic models, with stickers for insignia and not much detail....



...but they're pretty solidly made (some sort of light wood) and with a bit of quick work, they'll look a LOT better as tabletop models!

This yellow one is some sort of WW1 German plane - possibly a Pfalx D.XII? Given that most WW1 planes had roughly a 30ft wingspan, it's pretty close to scale - that's a Pulp Figures 28mm aviator in the photo.



Because I do post-WW1 pulp rather than WW1, I'm going to modify this one a bit:
- the German cross stickers are already gone.
- the brass eyes for ornament string screwed out easily.
- carve control surfaces in the wings & tail.
- it might get a new vertical stabilizer/tail.
- new paint, for sure. I'll re-prime and paint it up, probably a 'generic' scheme with no roundels/insignia.
- a machine gun forward of the cockpit is possible, although it's a tight fit.
- I'll probably use a piece of card on the centre-top of the top wing to indicate a fuel tank.
- all that string rigging is probably going to go...

It might (heck, probably will!) recieve a zeppelin trapeze hook on the top wing, which will also help "update" it from WW1, and make it much, much more pulpish - long live the mighty airship!

For anyone wondering where to get these - the only manfacturing info on the model or the plastic box it came in was a sticker that said "China AM". Not much use. I'll check at work tomorrow and figure out which of our suppliers we get these things from.

[Vanvlak]

Hey, quite nice  

[JollyBob]

That's pretty neat. I'll be interested to see how it looks after your alterations.  

[Yankeepedlar01]

Oxfam shops here in the UK, £3.99. Got mine in  Ashbourne, Derbyshire last week.
David

[Gluteus Maximus]

- the brass eyes for ornament string screwed out easily.

Those rings are a little unsightly, but they could be used to rig up some sort of contraption to represent the planes "flying" around the table. Maybe some sort of device using fishing line and heavy-based stands on the floor at either end of the table  

[Wirelizard]

Those rings are a little unsightly, but they could be used to rig up some sort of contraption to represent the planes "flying" around the table. Maybe some sort of device using fishing line and heavy-based stands on the floor at either end of the table  

I'll probably drill a hole in the bottom for a more traditional flying stand, actually.  

Bit less conspicious when the thing isn't flying, and all...

[Gluteus Maximus]

Those rings are a little unsightly, but they could be used to rig up some sort of contraption to represent the planes "flying" around the table. Maybe some sort of device using fishing line and heavy-based stands on the floor at either end of the table  

I'll probably drill a hole in the bottom for a more traditional flying stand, actually.  

Bit less conspicious when the thing isn't flying, and all...

You're probably right. Trouble is, with a whacking great flying stand marching across the table, you then get problems of it's stability when crossing hills, plus having to move underlying trees, buildings, rocky ground etc. Also, it's almost certainly going to be very unsightly too. They are bad enough in smaller scales    

Sadly there's no perfect solution.......

[Wirelizard]

Performing a bit of thread necromancy here... (it's OK, it's my own thread, I'm allowed to...)

The yellow shiny airplane I brought home months ago is finally no longer yellow nor shiny. It's grey-blue, with red and white wingtips, and looks pretty good, I think.

No pictures until next week, however - no time to shoot them & get them up onto the web.

Still haven't rigged a zeppelin trapeze hook on the top wing, but it's a seriously tempting proposition still!