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In way over my head
KittyHellTomaCatHawk
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: October 14, 2013
KitMaker: 5 posts
AeroScale: 4 posts
Posted: Monday, October 14, 2013 - 02:09 AM UTC
Hey all. Long time lurker, first time poster. I have some modeling experience so my questions aren't about filling seams or anything. I wish it was!

My friends and I are avid wargamers and I have begin a project to use 1/72 aircraft to play a dog fighting game. There are a ton of inexpensive 1/72 kits out there, so far so good. I bought up some kits that caught my eye, the 1/72 Spitfire IXc and Tropical Bf-109 by Airfix, a few Airfix Zeros and some of their P-40's with AVG markings.

All well and good until I did a little digging and it turns out those two pairs aren't ideal. The AVG didn't see actual zeros, and the Bf has decals for Jagdgeschwader 27, who had left by the time the Polish Fighting Team Spitfire would have been in theater. I was hoping to do North Africa.

So two strikes so far. My question is what decals or other aircraft do I need to make these match ups work? I like using Jagdgeschwader 27 and the airfix kit comes with appropriate markings. But what do I do for the other two aircraft I bought? Do I try to get Jagdgeschwader 27 decal sets or just whatever extra general decals I need to complete the ones in the box?
For the RAF opponents, maybe 112 Squadron with Hurricanes? And what about those decals? Should I be getting serial letters for the squadron markings and use the roundels in the box? Stupidly I did not anticipate this problem. You can't have three identical planes fighting another three identical planes! Neither axis nor allies had access to cloning!
So to recap my rambling madness, I need to tweak my match ups and I need to solve the decal problem! Any help much appreciated.
Jessie_C
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British Columbia, Canada
Joined: September 03, 2009
KitMaker: 6,965 posts
AeroScale: 6,247 posts
Posted: Monday, October 14, 2013 - 05:57 AM UTC
First off, welcome to Aeroscale!

Okay, I think that you want to decide how serious you're going to be about historical accuracy of the markings, then you will want to do some research into the units involved and how each airforce treated their markings.

Then you'll want to find some generic decals. For the RAF aircraft there are sheets of squadron code letters and of serial numbers available. Simply mix and match the letters to get the squadron and aircraft you want. The Luftwaffe used a mix of symbols and numbers to indicate which Geschwader and Gruppe the aircraft belonged to. There's lots of information available both on the 'net and in print.

The generic decal sheets are available from any well-stocked hobby shop, and also from online shops such as Hannants or Sprue Brothers.
Jessie_C
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British Columbia, Canada
Joined: September 03, 2009
KitMaker: 6,965 posts
AeroScale: 6,247 posts
Posted: Monday, October 14, 2013 - 07:37 AM UTC
If you're looking for opponents for your AVG Tomahawks, look no farther
KittyHellTomaCatHawk
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: October 14, 2013
KitMaker: 5 posts
AeroScale: 4 posts
Posted: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - 05:43 AM UTC
Thanks for the tips!
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