Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 10

 This week I finished the last unit I need for the Jarama scenario, a Nationalist Heinkel He-51. It's a 1/72 scale kit from ICM. It was quite fiddly to put together and I'm not fully satisfied with my results, but I'm really happy just to have it done. The base is a 40mm round, which is too small for a model of this weight. It's quite unstable so I think I'll make another one. Like my Polikarpov, the Heinkel is based on a clear acrylic rod which has been magnetised. For this base I cut the top of the rod at an angle to allow the model to sit at a swooping pose.

Here are some group pictures of the whole collection! 

Republicans: Militia and International Brigades, with Soviet equipment 

Nationalists: Regular Army, Moroccans, Foreign Legion, German and Italian equipment. 

I've started making a batch of trees too. I'm using the wire twist method to make their armatures (TheTerrainTutor has a great video on the topic, as always). I used flower arranging wire from a florist's shop. It only cost €1 for enough to make 13 or 14 trees (!!). They are a mix of sizes, and will be used in the Jarama game.

One of the great things about making trees is that they can work for multiple scales. Some of these will also be used for a 28mm project that's coming very soon. Even small 15mm trees can be used as part of hedges in larger scales. 

The armatures

Bark was added using Milliput and a toothpick

This is a fairly time consuming method of making trees. Many people prefer to use Woodland Scenics premade armatures. However the wire method is hard to beat in terms of price and ability to customise.

Once the trees are done, the only terrain I'll need to make for the SCW game will be a set of roads. There are a few hills in the scenario but I think I'll use polystyrene shapes under the game mat for a more natural look.

Thanks for reading this post! I'm excited to be finishing the project and I'm really looking forward to moving on to the "Secret 28mm Project"!