A couple of years ago, I discovered airplane miniatures associated with the Axis and Allies air combat system. Two series were released, Angels 20 and Bandits High. The planes are no longer manufactured, but you can find them online on eBay and some other used resellers. The prices range from $10 to $40 per plane, depending on the rarity.
About a month ago, I decided to do a review of my airplane models for my various Flames of War armies. I remember when version four came out, they switched from up to three planes to a single aircraft. I had made some adjustments, based on the change. However, over time, I realized they had set the flights at two planes each and this was true of every air support unit card in all armies. So, I decided to go ahead and lock in on two planes per force that I had.
This caused me to go back and reorganize all my existing plane models. I then decided to fill out some aircraft that I did not already have. I really like the Axis and Allies planes, as they are made of a semi hard plastic and are very tough and resilient (no risk of breakage or shattering when you drop the model). They also come pre-painted to a decent standard. I still like to pimp them up, but they are very usable out of the box.
I am in the process of basing a Soviet early war force, so I figured I would finish my I-16s. These came in green and grey with various details painted. They also come with their own tilt-able flight stands (I may replace these in the future).
These needed a basic pimping up. I started by pin washing the flaps and rudder. I then changed the front spinner color to red and brightened up the stars with the same red. I added some black details on the exposed engine and gun areas. I went back and used some contrast blue paint to the cockpit glass and painted the exposed pilot sections.
I finished up with a Krylon satin finish spay and then hit the cockpit with some gloss hand painting on the glass cockpit. With that, I have some air support for the Ruskys. Now I just have to work on the other score planes I have collected…..
- Manteuffel