Before I temporarily gave up on modeling some years ago I was a dio man. I had an idea for years but never really started on it because I saw too many difficulties......

The idea: Building an 1/35 scale airborne landing zone as part of the initial Operation Market Garden landings (Arnhem The Netherlands sept. 17 - 1944). The dio should have contained a Horsa glider that flew into the woods and a also part of the landing zone near the woods were British Airbornes where just landing by parachute. It would have been a massive project........but it just scared the poo-poo out of me.....so I never started it.

The reason why I never started it was that I thought there would be so many problems with creating parachutes.

Does anybody have a suggestion on how to make parachutes. You know, the ones that lie down on the ground after releasing them and also the ones that are partially open (with the soldier trying to bring the canopy to the ground so he won't get towed across the whole field).

In my opinion this post is a serious nut to crack, but just may be you can blow new life in a dream that's been in my head for so long......

Giving me some good ideas might just make me do the wild thing, and start the project after the current F-15 is finished. I'll even set the plans for the 1/48 C-130 aside when some of you guys can persuade me that my plans are possible.

only one word :WHOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's an idea !
What is usualy used to represent fabric is tissues... It could be right for a closed chute but
not for a still opened one, I think.
The real parachutes were made out of silk.
I wonder if that's not the thinest kind of fabric you may find. So why not create miniature parachutes out of real silk ? It would be quite some work : cutting and stitching to giwe them the right shape.

good luck, and I'm fully with you !!!!!

What division are you doing? Red Devils? 101st? 82nd? Polish regiment?

Red Devils it is.

Quite an undertaking I must say. To do open chutes you might give this a try. My mom used to do this withher craft projects. Blow a balloon up to roughly the size you are going to need for the chute itself. I have described rolling 2 part epoxy putty in other posts, but here it is again. Mix equal parts until smooth. Roll out the putty nice and thin using either talcum powder or baby powder on a preferably glass cutting board to prevent sticking. You should be able to get this stuff darn near transparent if you roll it enough. Make sure you use a rolling pin or it will not be uniform in thickness. Once it is rolled out to where you are satisfied, cut out your parachute and drape it over the balloon and let it cure. While it is curing you can carefully add stitching with the tip of a #11 blade. Just dont poke too hard or KAPOW! Once the putty is cured, simply remove it from the balloon, add the suspension lines and paint. For partially collapsed chutes, let the putty cure for awhile to get some body into it, then remove and push the center in, or elongate the chute and let dry. Play with it and see what works. My Mom made some really cool craft projects using this balloon technique. It might just work here too. "Q"

Red,
That must be the tip of the month Perty darn clever.
When i was younger we had these firecrackers that shot up in the air then came down with a parachute, these would been great. They had lines and everything!
I would love to see this diorama, as it would be action filed and a lot of kool things to look at!!

The first thing I would try to make a parachute is the every-day kitchenware clear plastic. Drapes very nicely, fold it in wanted shape, spray it with matt cote, let dry and then paint. Requires an airbrush, I guess.

Just an idea, courtesy of K.I.S.S.(Keep It Simple Stupid)
:-)

Toni

Hi,

My two cents.

For the complete open parachute you can use thin stainless steel wire, if you have a old bycicle the brake cable it's done of a lot of thin wires twisted. You can draw the size of the parachute and use three or four wires to make the shape of the canopy (I think that WWII parachutes are a semi sphere shape) the wires will be close to the stitch lines of material of the canopy.

I hope that's understable. I will ask a friend to make a sketch, because I'm not so good making drawings, if any one need.

I have used this technique to make the sails of a caravel look inflated by the wind.

Taking from the post above, make the shape of the of the half sphere from some stiff but thin wire. Maybe use a ball as a template. Then get a large sheet of tissue and soak it evenly all over and drop over the wire frame. The sagging between each wire would look natural. Drop it on the inside for a soldier pulling the parachute to himself. When dry and painted the wire and tissue should look pretty much an item and then a wash to each creavice to darken where stitches would be. This is maybe a combination of prevoius posts. But it sounds feesable

ThX guys,

some of them tips are things I never thought of...I'm willing to try. I'll have a couple of trials in a short while. I'll keep you posted on the progress....

ThX again!! and if there are still some ideas around....keep em coming !