"1/200 aircraft" Topic

Trying to visualize what this scale looks like on a larger table (4'x6')

I like the availability of 1/300 but they're so damn small. I LOVE the size of the Armaments in Miniature range @ 1/200 but I'd like to see how they look on a table.

Does anyone have any pics showing this scale in action? Tried a Google search but nada!

Thanks

link

These are nice. Wrt pics, they have some on their "Flight stands" section

This may be promising:

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1/200 models can look great but four engined bombers seem too big even in 1/285 scale on a small table 6' x 4'.

Once you get playing a game the perception of size may change in terms of what you can hope you play and how close the models get to each other. I'd say the ideal size for gaming with a bomber formation is 1/600… YMMV.

Oh, no…..I won't be using bombers for this scale. Strictly dog fighting.

Dave, I think that picture is of the AIM 1/100 D.520.

I don't have any game pictures close at hand but you might try searching for pics of WWII Wings of Glory/Dawn of War. Their WWII minis are also 1/200 and might give a feel for gaming in that scale.

miscmini

I sent you an email from your site. Thank you for all you do here. You're painting is seriously GOD-like :)

Last year while I was in "exploration" mode, I ordered a couple 1/200 models from AIM (Sabres and MiGs). They are excellent models, much better in person than in photos, with good proportions, fine details, panel lines, all of it. I also like that they are resin, too light to overbalance a fully extended telescoping rod.

I've been part of a small group regularly playing CY6 for a couple years now, and have made a few observations:

• 1/300 is too small. It fits on the table nicely, has the greatest variety, is easy to paint and cheap to buy in large quantities, but from a few feet away the table looks like a field of shiny sticks because the planes are nearly invisible. Also, handling the planes is a bit on the fiddly side.
  
• I really enjoy gaming with 1/144 fighters and 1/200 bombers. We use 3" hexes, which makes CY6 difficult to fit on a table (we have to recalculate the deployments EVERY GAME to see which portions of the hex field we can leave out, which is a PITA), but the 1/144 fighters seem like the "right" size – great detail, many excellent models available, easy to handle, easy to see from a distance, the gaming table looks nice and draws people in. The downside of 1/144 scale is availability – it's more of a modeler's scale, so plastic kits are a bit fragile, the plane you want now is often out of production, and they can be expensive.
  
• You said "Oh, no…..I won't be using bombers for this scale. Strictly dog fighting.", but that's what all of us say when we start. Mark my words, you'll change your mind. Plan on "needing" bombers later – "just one ground attack plane", then "a few medium bombers", then "a small flight of dive bombers", and so on, until you're looking for a way to fit an entire combat box of B-17s on the table…
  
• You can comfortably fit 1/300 fighters into 1.5" hexes, 1/200 fighters into 2" hexes, and 1/144 fighters into 3" hexes, but at each of those hex sizes your bombers will have to be a smaller scale or they will overflow the hexsides like a sumo wrestler in a thong. If you go up a hex size or two, everything fits better, but if your hexes are too large the fighters can look lost in the sky.
  
• I've never gamed with 1/200 fighters, but the larger fighters look to be in that "right scale" sweet spot between appearance and handling. Maybe the smaller planes wouldn't bother me much.
  
• 1/200 is a gaming scale and growing steadily, and all of the 1/200 models I've seen are excellent quality. If I were starting a new dogfighting project solo (i.e., building the collection alone, not collaborating with others), I'd start with AIM and supplement with others as needed.
  

I suggest ordering a small sample of AIM planes with at least one big fighter (Bf-110, P-38, etc.) and one small fighter (I-16, Yak-3, Bf-109, CR.42, etc.), and see how you like them.

- Ix

Excellent advice: YA stated everything I was going to write

yes 1/200 is a great scale an Kevin (miscmini) is a great painter. miscmini.com/home.html

Can you get a good range of decals in 1/200?

I've played fighters only in 1/285 on a 1" mat. However, if I had the space I use 3" or even 4" hexes as it would looks so good with loads of sky space. I have to say that I don't agree about models getting lost pre se. I think it depends on what stands you use. I do agree that if you use metal telescopic stand then the planes tend to get visually overwhelmed but I think that happens in any scale if the stand are on the table and extended – you just see silver stands.

On the other hand if you use clear plastic stands that set your models a few inches above the table top so your view point is looking down on the models not across at them then I don't think 1/285 get lost at all.

What I think doesn't look good is too many planes jam packed in together.

There are some plastic kits in 1/200 – there's a B17 for certain.

I have to say that I don't agree about models getting lost pre se. I think it depends on what stands you use.

You're right, and I didn't clearly state that I was specifically talking about using telescoping stands. Such systems work much better in 1/200 and 1/144 scale, not that great in 1/300 (and I just dunno about 1/72).

I do agree that if you use metal telescopic stand then the planes tend to get visually overwhelmed but I think that happens in any scale if the stand are on the table and extended – you just see silver stands.

Nope. 1/144 scale planes tend to be large and visually appealing enough to overcome the stands, even the smaller fighters. You can still see stands, to be sure, but the planes are what attract the eye first. It's a reason I haven't abandoned the scale, in spite of the difficulties collecting it.

I'm pretty sure the smaller 1/200 planes will be visually overwhelmed by the stands, since some of them are about the size of larger 1/300 fighters. I've played 1/300 Korean War dogfights a lot this year and all of those planes are visually insignificant enough that the dogfights look like a field of shiny sticks. It doesn't help that many Korean War planes are silver, so they tend to make even less of an impression atop a tall silver stick.

On the other hand if you use clear plastic stands that set your models a few inches above the table top so your view point is looking down on the models not across at them then I don't think 1/285 get lost at all.

That's true, but visually observing the 3D positional interrelationships between planes is an important aspect of dogfight gaming for me. I've played a lot of (other peoples') 1/300 scale games set up this way, and I find altitude dials or dice to be fiddly, misleading, and lacking appeal. If our local group of gamers hadn't come up with visually enticing games with 1/144 planes on telescoping rods, I would never have gotten sucked so far back into this genre of gaming.

My "lost in the sky" comment also refers to 1/300 planes on telescoping rods. I experimented with 1/300 Sabres and MiGs on telescoping rods in 3" hexes, and I didn't like the effect. Using a 3D system like telescoping rods increases the apparent space around the plane, which makes them look even tinier. Using a 2D system as you've described negates that problem.

An advantage you didn't mention to playing with micro-scale planes on low, fixed, clear 2D stands: it's easy. There are several systems on the market that you can buy and use right out of the box, and some are cheap enough to afford dozens of the s – which you'll want for bigger dogfights. Contrast that with my group's Quest For The Perfect Stand <queue dramatic soundtrack>. We cycled through about a dozen different schemes, myriad crafting experiments, and a multitude of parts combinations before we settled on a "standard" telescoping rod setup: Corsec non-gimboling rods, screwed into 3/4" thick acrylic hexagons (custom manufactured by Tap Plastics to order), with colored stickers and matching dice to indicate skill and speed. The acrylic bases were designed and specced out by a crafty retired machinist in our group – he's a bit of an unfair advantage for us. :-)

- Ix

To answer the question about decals for 1/200 scale aircraft models, check out Helmet 200. They specialize in 1/200 scale aircraft decals for just about all nations and time periods. Another company is 144 Direct. They cover several scales including 1/200 scale. You may be able to find decals that will fit from some sets offered by I-94 Enterprises. It is a shame that The Goblin Factory is no longer doing decals.

I think 1/200 hits the sweet spot for size: small enough to be cheap and manageable, big enough to be easily recognisable and easy to paint. Anything smaller than 1/200 (i.e., 1/300 or 1/600) and it is, to me, just a blob of metal.