¹⁄48

Scramble At El Carmoli

The I-16s that appear in the diorama are cast in resin. As a basis, I used the Hobbycraft and Eduard kits, but I had to alter different parts of them, like ailerons, cockpits and certain details of the fuselage, undercarriage and elevators. The effect of the turning propellers was achieved with a disc of thin clear plastic sheet marked with a compass.

The Ford light truck began with the cab from an old Opel truck, and the rest of the vehicle was built from scratch. The figures are modified from those by several manufacturers such as ICM. The pilots seated inside the cockpits are specially sculpted for the planes. The fire extinguisher on wheels, the coats and small details (such as the game of chess) and other accessories in the diorama were all specifically designed in the same way.

The groundwork and trees were created following the methods of the old teacher Mr.Shep Payne.

All the subjects were brush-painted or airbrushed with Vallejo acrylic paints. Humbrol colours were used for washes on the the airplanes and the vehicle.

The scale of the diorama is 1/48 scale and the overall dimensions are 1m x 1m. This project is a commissioned work for the Aeronautical Museum of "Los Alcazares", Spain, the oldest military air base in Spain. The diorama is set during the Spanish Civil War, at the important Republican airfield of "El Carmoli" located in Murcia. It represents a pair of I-16 "Moscas", the name by which these Russian monoplanes were known, taking off for a mission, while another one warms up its motor ready for take of and a fourth airplane is undergoing maintenance.

It's a recreation of the day to day life of an aerodrome during the war. The project took five months of hard work and total dedication.