Aviation and figure subjects mix in 1:32: chocks for wheels, deck tie-down points, airfield grass pavers, workbenches with their tools, ladders, tool chests, wooden packing cases and kitchen oddments. A group of its own are the ready-made bases - a cast piece of ground with a stone wall, an archway or a trench, on which a scene is already under way from day one.
Where the large scale pays for itself and where it adds work is set out further down the page.
This is a large scale: a figure stands over five and a half centimetres and an aircraft only just fits an ordinary cabinet. The parts are correspondingly bold and rich in content - a workbench with its tools, a tool chest with a lid that opens, a ladder whose rungs genuinely stand clear. The second large group is finished bases: a cast piece of terrain with a wall, a gateway or a trench, which a model and figure simply settle into. For a first diorama that is the quickest route to a result worth keeping.
A cast base comes with its composition decided and paints very well, because the structure is already in the surface. Building your own terrain from foam and compound gives you freedom but means several days of work and drying. The sensible route is usually between the two: take a bought base and extend it with your own soil at the edges, so the scene does not end in a sharp cut line.
What passes in 1:72 goes unnoticed by nobody here. Timber needs grain, metal needs highlights and scuffs, brick needs joints shaded unevenly. Paint in layers and work with glazes: base coat, dark wash into the joints, lighter edges, dust last. None of it is difficult, but none of it can be rushed.
With large aircraft you can really only manage a slice of apron, but you can do it with detail: grass pavers with growth through the joints, tie-down points, chocks and a few crates. A well-made piece of concrete or planted matting stands in for an entire scene.
To get the feel of a big scene first, start with a ready-made base and a single figure. When you want to build the setting with your own hands, the raw material is among the foams and modelling compounds.
