runway/airstrip

I think most WWII airstrips were mainly grass, unless they were bomber groups in which case they took off from tarmac, I'm not 100% about this so try a web search.
scotty

I have the same opinion as Scotty,only if it was a bomber airfield in the english side,because the germans had some tarmac airfields for fighters in France.

Pedro

Im trying to build a symple military runway/taxiway dio in 1/48 fo my testors starfighter and i cant figure out how wide the stripes and joints shold be to scale. also i cant get the model master white on the wings and metalizer on the fusalage to go on right. also, do military strips have grass on the borders of the strip/taxiway

Thanks for your help guys. Is there no happy compromise that would allow me to display modern and earlier aircraft on the same diorama setup? Modern jets are out of place on grass/dirt but earlier planes are innapropriate for concrete/tarmac. Should I abandon the whole "generic" concept entirely?

Oh, btw, I'm working with a base area of 7.25" x 5.25".

Hi... for reference material I suggest that you search for some VFR Charts (Visual Flight Rules) of some small aerodromes. Many of these may give the idea of how should you place the runway / stands and buildings surrounding. Try www.airliners.net or some search engines ( altavista , google , whatever...)
Best luck with your construction
Bluez

Hi,

Please excuse me butting in here, I normally mainly post on the aircraft forum but feel I may have something to add to this.

Whilst it is true that at the start of the war most of the airfields with asphalt/concrete runways were bomber bases by the middle of 1942 Fighter command also had a number that benefited from asphalt. Examples being Kenley,Coltishall, Martlesham, Duxford. In my opinion it would be perfectly acceptable to have a 'Generic' diorama base depicting asphalt or concrete hardstanding with grass verges, all airfields have/had grass verges and concrete aplenty!

Why not make your base double sided then it would'nt matter, just a thought.
scotty

I read somewhere a while ago that concrete sections of runway/taxiways are about 15' square, give or take. Just scale that to 1:48 or 1:72, whichever you are using. I built a base with those dimensions in 72nd; I cut the joints into a wood base with a razor saw and painted the joints blakc/grey mixture, and it turned out good.

How about a generic tarmac/airport scene with some stantion/rope fencing that might depict the ramp area at an airshow? You could even put in some post-and-socket attachments so you could install different scale stantions for different scale aircraft. Add some scale civilian figs to give it a "crowded day at the show" feel, and you'd be good to go.

www.matadormodels.co.uk sell a sheet of airfield concrete hardstanding for both WWII and modern aircraft.