I am making a WWII layout featuring a battle over Germany. I need any and all tips I can get about making a good military layout. I am using 1/72 scale, about. I need ideas for what to use as ground, how best to give the appearence of a battle scene, and just any general ideas for my layout
Why not use 1/87 armored vehicles and infantry? Is this on the western or eastern front? Are you using any locomotives or is this just a purely a military battle diorama? You have been asking about military scenes a lot, not much about model railroading.
There are many manufacturers of 1/87 military items. Preiser, Trident, Roco minitanks, and Heiser just to name a few. Preiser makes great infantry German and Russian figures. Not sure why they don’t have WW2 American forces.
Well, I was hoping to keep the whole thing in HO scale, but I found a lot of people for cheap, but they are a bit big. This is no professional layout, so I don’t care that they are a bit large. Also, some of the models I have come across are 1/72 scale. I plan to include trains, or at least leave room to put one in later, but for now I am just trying to get everything laid out and ready. WWII era steam engines are expensive, so I don’t plan on actually haveing one for a while, but I plan on including tracks and some cars.
While I am at it, I’ll ask what I’ve been wondering. What is the best way to make bomb craters in foam board?
I have seen some nice Liliput (Bachmann now owns it) WW2 era steam locos, passenger and freight cars. You should consider getting their German armored train. Very nice looking. Has the Pz IV turret and all that :). I think 170.00 for the full set, if I remember correctly.
If not 1/87 then you should consider 1/76. I am not sure how many models are available, but they are closer to 1/87.
Take a box (or other vessell) of sand or flower (the kind you bake with) and drop a heavy marble or similar object in it… Carefully remove the marble and that’ll give you the general shape of a bomb crater (if it were dropped straight down)… Then dig out a similar profile in your foam. Coat it with brown (or similar earthy color) latex paint and sprinkle some texture onto it (real dirt, woodland scenics earth, etc)… Should get you pretty close.
Good luck,
Jeff
There is remarkably little allied equipment in HO. I was really keen to get an HO Spifire, or Hurricane or other allied aircraft and find that apart from a couple of FW190 and ME109 models there is very little available.
There are some HO planes, not that many. Roco had some, but some of the demand on eBay makes the prices go sky high. Closest would be 1/72 or 1/100
for 1/72 scale check out the Hasegawa kits for rail guns, Leopold and Karl.
Dragon do an excellent range of pre painted diecast and plastic tanks that are about the same price as an athearn boxcar. (kits of the same are avilable)
Dragon also produce 1/72 scale radio control Micro Tech tanks, Tigers and Abrams M1 so far that cost about the same as an RTR loco.
1/72 aircraft try Tamiya kits or if you want pre painted have you seen the Corgi diecast, Dragon, Witty wings and Forces of Valour ranges?
There aren’t any 1/72 trains but how about a bit of forced perspective with 1/87?
As mentioned before Lilliput (bachmann europe website) produce 2 camoflaged locos and an armoured railcar train, but they aren’t cheap around $200 each. they also do the heavy tank carrying wagons and some camoflaged coaches and wagons.
Seem to remember Walthers did some 1/87 Mustangs and me109’s.
For the battlefield I’d use foam board and just carve into it with a sharp knife, Garden dirt for the craters, darkish brown for europe and remember the dirt gets thrown a long way from the actual crater.
Just remembered some 1/87 armour that’s real cheap.
Shuco or Cararama make Shermans, M10’s M5’s, Tigers, Panthers and jagdpanthers in 1/87. They are a bit basic but with a repaint and weathering they look good.
Got a load of shermans etc looking for Pennsy flatcars to run behind my BLI locos.
Fidelismodels.com sells alot of good model military stuff.
Do you mean Boley? I know Boley makes all 6 types. Their M5 is the only plastic one out there, besides Heiser’s resin Stuarts. Unless Boley is also Shuco or Cararama…?
Thanks for all of the tips. I really appreciate the help. Yeah, I plan to use HO scale trains when I get some.
Elyk,
Can’t vouch for the authenticity or accuracy, but Historic Rail :
http://www.HistoricRail.com
list some WWII German and Allied tanks in their paper catalog which arrived today. Some are in HO and others are in a variety of scales. They also have some more current armor, such as Abrams and Bradleys
Bob
NMRA Life 0543
hsin86
Yep the Boley ones look exactly the same, prob just the import name for your side of the pond.
I’ve been cutting out the movable hinge on the guns and gluing the mantlet directly to the turret, gets rid of the unsightly gap.
Paul
thanks to everyone for the help. I really appreciate it.
walthers and www.discounttrainsonline.com have them
Worth bearing in mind that all and any German equipment would have been used - not just camoflaged. European models use the “Epoch” system to denote dates, so anything marked as being “Epoch II” would be suitable. You can often pick up older Fleischmann steamers via ebay for reasonable sums although fitting DCC (should you wi***o) can be a real pain. It’s definitely worth fitting the proper close couplings to anything suitable - Fleischmann have one type known as the Profi-coupler (which I use, it works very well indeed and isn’t hard to get hold of) while Roco have a cheaper one that I’ve not tried. What may swing it is that even older Fleischmann locos and cars can have Profis fitted, as can anything with a standard NEM coupler pocket.
Hi,
Good idea. Ever thought of France ? France has probably been the largest and more interesting scenario as far as railroad is concerned. Germans had many difficulties in keeping their trains on the rails, due to actions from the allies and the local “Resistance”. There is a DVD movie called “La batialle du Rail” that you can purchase at www.amazon.fr (see link: http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005RJJG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg). The movie was filmed just after WWII and is really a great source of ideas and inspiration for your topic, and alsmost everything is genuine, including the spectacular derailment of a complete military train made of old railraod and military equipment !!!. See the attached link, where a pic of this derailment is shown. The engine is a older American 140G “Pershing”… "http://perso.wanadoo.fr/roland.arzul/etat/materiel/140.htm
. It is a black/white movie. It shows all the actions that were taken by the railroad people to desorganize the German machine, inclusing air attacks at night, etc… As far as I know, the aircrafts that were most often used on railroad targets were the Typhoons and Mosquitoes, together with English and US bombers of course. I also found the attached site that shows all kind of armoured military material.
"http://www.genieminiature.com/Trains%20militaires.htm "
Hope this will help.
