I currently have a 188 Electra dangling over my layout that is in 1:144 scale. It works well because the smaller scale adds to the illusion of altitude. I imagine that somewhere well outside the realm of my layout there is an airport guiding my Electra to the tarmack.
:-)
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
Hi Chuck:
Thanks for your recommendations. The question is now moot because I just found a 1:250 DC-3 in Canadian Pacific livery for a reasonable price, and I figured it was now or never. I'd have been ticked if I let it go.
I understand your point about not liking aircraft hanging still in the sky but that is something I can live with. I think we all have things that we don't quite agree with in modeling. I will replace the props with clear styrene discs to simulate running engines like I think Mike Lehman does. As for altitude, I'll just have to say they are "on approach".
The reason I wanted a DC-3 was because I flew in a couple of them many years ago in Sweden compliments of the Swedish Air Force. The first one was polished like good silver. The second one looked like it had been in the crapper for several years. The crew joked that it was on its way to the scrap yard as soon as our flight was done! By the way, I experienced the worst rough weather ride I had ever had in the shiney DC-3. We ran into a storm front (I'm pretty sure the pilot did it deliberately), and we dropped far enough and fast enough that we rose out of our seats and the seatbelts, which were not in use, stood up on their own for a couple of seconds. We teenaged Air Cadets laughed our heads off! That was only 44 years ago.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
This old aircraft type would recommend the smallest possible size, and hang it about three inches below the ceiling. The object is to force perspective, and not have the featherless bird detract from the ground-level railroad and its surroundings.
Consider that the FAA would like pilots to remain at least 500 feet above the terrain unless descending for a landing or climbing out on takeoff. In HO scale, that means five feet nine inches above the hilltops - pretty hard to do with a seven foot ceiling unless your tracks are at floor level.
In all honesty, I am not a big fan of hanging aircraft models over a layout. Aircraft move, rather quickly. Unless you're modeling a hovering helicopter or the Goodyear Blimp, it wouldn't just stay there. And even the helicopter and blimp move over time.
Chuck (Retired USAF maintenance tech modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hi everyone:
I just purchased a 1/87th model of a Douglas C-47 (DC-3 with bigger side door). I thought that it would look great hanging over my yet to be HO layout. However, once I got my hands on the kit I soon realized that it looks huge even though it is to scale. I had not taken into account the forced perspective that is required to make an airplane look like it is high in the sky.
My question is what scale(s) would you suggest would work better to give the desired forced perspective? There are lots of DC-3/C-47 kits and models available in smaller scales. Everything from 1/100 to 1/600. What do you recommend?
I should mention that the train room only has a 7 ft ceiling so I am limited in terms of how high I can hang the plane in the air.
Thanks