Ditched Hasegawa 1/32nd Messerschmitt Bf109F-4 Diorama
By Phillip Gore
Here is my 1/32 scale diorama showing a forced landed BF-109F in a desert setting, built in 2023.
I have always been intrigued by World War II dioramas showing frontline infantry soldiers picking through crashed enemy aircraft for souvenirs to take back home. Although these scenes do not include intense action, they do provide good storytelling and reflection. A description of the diorama setup is listed below:
The location is the North African desert and the time period is set around February 1942. A Gruppe III/JG27 BF-109F-4 Trop airplane has been damaged in air combat with RAF Tomahawks (P-40B/C) and Kittyhawks (P-40D/E) and made a forced landing deep behind the British lines. The unfortunate Experten Luftwaffe pilot has been captured and taken away for processing to a POW camp. A lull in the ground fighting has allowed several curious British 8th Army infantry soldiers to borrow a Tilly utility transport vehicle to make a quick trip to the crash site to “officially” look for valuable maps or other documents but “unofficially” gather souvenirs to carry back to their basecamp.
The models used on the project consisted of the Hasegawa kit for the airplane and a Tamiya kit for the Tilly vehicle.
For the figures, I used a Master Box LRDG set and a Hornet replacement figure head set. I did look on the Internet a good bit before I selected MB's figures. I knew there might be an issue with the 1/32 vs. 1/35 scale but they were perfect for me because I was able to modify them into the exact poses I wanted.
I did know about the BF-109 canopy ejection system where the rear section, main section and antenna were all discarded at once. On the diorama the main canopy section was not ejected but removed by one of the British soldiers so he would have easier access to removing any souvenirs from the cockpit.
On the first few photos, a desert scene poster was used in the background to create a realistic forced perspective. I have always wanted a diorama of a BF-109 crashed landed in the desert, as it is such an iconic image.
I hope you enjoy the photos!.
© Phillip Gore 2026
This article was published on Friday, August 07 2026; Last modified on Friday, August 07 2026