Models always look more realistic with figures, so this new section is dedicated to creating figures from multiple kits, better known as "Kit-Bashing". The idea came to me after I had finished the Zimmerit on my Tiger I. The kit looked rather unrealistic with only commander Michael Wittmann (the tank is based on Wittmann's final Tiger, 007) and I had left the hatches open for an good interior view, but the inside looked very barren, so I decided that it needed another figure. After an unsuccessful hunt for tank crewmen on the internet, I realized that I would have to take matters into my own hands: I needed to make my own figure.
I started off by looking through the good old spares box. In there I found some British 8th Army crewmen from the Tamiya Universal Carrier, and decided that one of them would do. I then found a German hat for him from the Tiger ,put it on him, and he strangely looked really good and it was a perfect fit. Thankfully, the figure will be inside of the turret, because I don't know of any SS tankers in Normandy wearing khaki shorts and long combat socks!
For this next part of the Kit-Bashing section, I'll take a look at figure modding, making parts from scratch. For this part, I'll be using the figure from the Tamiya 1/48th scale Supermarine Spitfire MK. I kit. I began by cutting out the parts and drilling a hole in his torso and right arm (already detached in the kit mold). I did this because I inserted a piece of wire to hold the arm in place. After getting the angle right, I used wood putty to create the rest of his arm. I then painted him accordingly (look through my archives to find articles about figure painting) as an RAF pilot from the Battle of Britain.
