1:32 USAAF Bomber aircraft crew set

1:32 USAAF Bomber aircraft crew set from Black Dog

A combined set of an American bomber crew in 1:32 scale. The brand carries it as a whole alongside the numbered items of the same sub-range, so the figures share both the sculpting style and the proportions and follow on from one another in a scene.

The advantage of a group over single figures

A crew group creates a story in itself: a conversation, a report, the moment before boarding. Figures from one set have the same treatment of faces and folds, and so side by side they do not look like a selection from different sources. That is usually the greatest difficulty with dioramas put together step by step. A group also has a practical advantage: you mix the shades once and use them on every figure at once.

How to arrange and paint the set

Do not line the group up in a row; turn two figures to face each other and another slightly aside, so that a triangle forms and the viewer has a way into the scene. Keep a shared palette, but give every figure a different accent, perhaps a different shade of sheepskin or clothing fastened a different way. The group is then unified by a final toning and a shared surface on the base. Choose a smaller base than you might expect; a denser arrangement looks livelier than figures scattered over a large board.

Who the set suits

• modelers who build a larger airfield scene in one go
• those who want a matched group without assembling it from different brands
• more experienced painters who enjoy working on composition
• collectors completing a large American bomber
• modelers who want the scene finished without buying further numbers