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Hello Dakka !

I am calling to the more historic/realistic diorama people or even ones that are skilled in the ways of modelling for a diroama for some help !

I am planning to make my uncle (who was an old RAF Engineer working on the likes of Harriers) a diorama of him working on a harrier jet fighter.

Now I need help in finding things such as detailing kits for a 1/72 scale kit as well as details in the near by area that would help add to the diorama and even the base and how to go about making or buying one of those ?

If you could offer any insight into this I would be over the moon ! If you could PM me as well that would be swell !

Any questions please fire awat as I may have not descirbed it very well,

Cheers for any help you can offer !

Wolf

Would any of the Osprey books covering the years your Uncle served help? They're usually pretty accurate sources.

They might actually, I'm not sure when he served, I know he was in service when I was very young say about 5 and I am 21 currently.

You may also want to post on some military orientated forums, it's a good source of information and most of them can rattle off what variant they worked on and when.

One of the Imperial Armour Masterclass books has a diorama of a Lightning being refitted and rearmed, IIRC.

Ok thanks I'll have a look into some of the historical forums

Just as an idea to make it really personalised, hop onto the National Archives and see if you can find your uncles service records. Now there's no guarantee that those years records will have been released yet, military confidentiality and all, but if they are released they should list not only his years of service, but which squadron he was attached to. Find out that, and not only can you paint the Harrier up to the same squadron markings, but you'll probably be able to find out from Squadron records, which I gather will be easier to access, which variant of Harrier he was working on, making it even more personalised. If it's 1:72 scale your going for, then Airfix, Revell or possibly Taimya will probably be your go-to brands I'm guessing.

Oh and I'll vouch for Osprey books - I've got one on the Napoleonic Wars, and I've read quite a few others and not only are they meticulously accurate, but they're full colour and at approx £10-£20 they are worth every penny for what you get.

Just a thought, but get him to regale some of his stories and possibly build the diorama around a particular memory he likes or finds funny etc.

Hope this helps, Good Luck!

EDIT! - Just looked in your gallery - As a self-confessed Napoleonic aficionado, I absolutely LOVE those Highland Guard, especially the feathered bonnet - Epic! I'm hoping, when I get some funds together, to do a Napoleonic themed IG army with all the trappings of the Peninsular War era British Army - Belgic Shakos, crossbelts and lots of red! Unfortunately, Salamanders are taking up all my funds at the moment :(