SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

1/144 Minicraft Douglas DC-6

9627 views
15 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    August 2014
1/144 Minicraft Douglas DC-6
Posted by Ozmac on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 11:26 PM

Just finished my build of this 1/144 Minicraft kit of the Douglas DC-6 in Pan Am livery. The one "new" thing for me this time round is that I used decals which I printed out on my own colour laserjet printer, basing them on a high-res scan of the very crumbly and dodgy looking decals which came with this quite old kit.

I just used clear decal paper (bought on eBay) and they were extremely easy to apply. My tastes in model kits is so old-fashioned and out of date that almost all the kits I buy are ancient, and most have bad decals. I don't know why I didn't get onto printing out my own decal sets much earlier on in the piece.

The only other notable thing about this build is that I now have a good little collection of fishing sinkers, for weighing down the nose on this Minicraft kit. For the last Minicraft kit I built (Boeing Stratocruiser) I added well over the suggested half-ounce that Minicraft says you should add, and the Stratocruiser just barely manages to sit normally, and will often "pop a wheelie" if bumped in any way. For this DC-6, I used three 11g sinkers, which is over an ounce. So far, the spindly nose wheel seems to be taking the extra weight.

The rest of the kit was a fairly typical Minicraft offering where most of it, but not all of it, goes together OK.

I now have a set of Pan Am decals from the same era suited to a 1/144 Minicraft DC-3, so I look forward to having my own little Pan Am fleet some time this year.

  • Member since
    November 2009
Posted by artworks2 on Thursday, January 15, 2015 8:30 AM

Beautiful work... looks like the workhorse it was....

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Thursday, January 15, 2015 8:41 AM

Looks really great!

I have been doing inkjet decals for several years now. It is not rocket science- at least dark decals printed on clear decal paper.

I am starting a crusade to convince mfgs to include cast nose weights in kits.  Too often the room available in the nose is too small to get enough weight in by putting bbs or solder or whatever (due to packing factor).  A Minicraft Cessna I recently finished gave option of putting support rod under tail and including a nice engine, or leaving out engine, filling nose with lead, and not needing that rod.  Lessor of two evils.  Come on, guys, that is not acceptable.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Montana USA
Posted by heepey on Thursday, January 15, 2015 7:32 PM

I am currently  working on the Minicraft DC-6  and it appears to me that the landing gear are far too thin to support the weight of the model without any extra weight in the nose. The support rod under the tail would lessen the chance of collapse of the main gear.

  • Member since
    August 2014
Posted by Ozmac on Thursday, January 15, 2015 7:47 PM

In the model I built, the spindly landing gear is, amazingly enough, supporting the plane, plus an extra 33g of lead sinkers added by me up at the nose end.

On the main landing gear under the wings, the little supporting struts which are glued at an angle to the main wheel-carrying parts of the landing gear, play an important role in giving the whole set-up strength. Same goes for the nose wheel. The little angled support strut is an essential bit of gear up front, too.

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Montana USA
Posted by heepey on Friday, January 16, 2015 2:24 PM

On mine the main gear legs failed in the package, on the sprue. I couldn't imagine cutting them off the sprue and supporting the model.

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Northern California
Posted by jeaton01 on Friday, January 16, 2015 6:47 PM

Very nice!

John

To see build logs for my models:  http://goldeneramodel.com/mymodels/mymodels.html

 

  • Member since
    August 2014
Posted by Ozmac on Sunday, January 18, 2015 8:22 PM

To keep my Pan Am Douglas DC-6 company, I've put together a DC-3 in Pan Am livery from the same era (it's also a Minicraft kit).

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Montana USA
Posted by heepey on Monday, January 19, 2015 1:23 PM

They look very good together

  • Member since
    November 2009
Posted by artworks2 on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 7:32 PM

Are these plastic or diecast?

  • Member since
    August 2014
Posted by Ozmac on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 9:28 PM

They're both plastic kits, cheap ones, too!

  • Member since
    February 2011
Posted by knox on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 9:10 AM

 I love looking at pictures of airliners.  Great job.  Are you going to add the Pan Am 707-720 from Roden to the family?                        knox

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Ridott, Illinois
Posted by Banshee1000 on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 12:28 PM

These look great!  Did the Pan Am decals come with the Minicraft DC-3?

  • Member since
    August 2014
Posted by Ozmac on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 1:17 PM

The DC3 decals were an aftermarket set sold on eBay, but the DC6 decals came with the kit.

  • Member since
    August 2014
Posted by Ozmac on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 5:12 PM

Knox asked:

"Are you going to add the Pan Am 707-720 from Roden to the family?"


No, it's a nice looking plane, but as it doesn't have propellers on it, I won't be building it.    

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Washington State
Posted by leemitcheltree on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 9:05 PM

Wow.....very pretty.

Cheers, LeeTree
Remember, Safety Fast!!!

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.