DC-4 WIP

Hi Johnny K;

     Listen , Even now I wear the proper clothes to stuff . Dress Suit ( The works ) for Weddings and Funerals, and Business meetings ) SportCoat , Tie and Starched collar shirt ,and Polished Shoes for travel. I think wearing Blue jeans ( Pressed ) Aloha Shirt and Tennies don't say well dressed to me . .Just Sayin ; T.B. Remember back in Mine and Don's day, dress also indicated your supposed status in the world when you were off work or even on . Blue Collar meant to me Starched Uniform Shirt and Trousers and if necessary Shined shoes and Clean Fingernails .

I will build mine without any interior except whatever is needed for the nose gear well.

i will also use the decals for the windshields.

Sorry to hear about the poor fit.

Hello Don!

How about trying to sand something away from the inside, or maybe from the cabin module? The old pencil trick might come in handy here. Might save you some work in comparisom with those styrene inserts... And might be better for the model lines in the end. What do you think? Good luck with your builds and have a nice day!

Paweł

I've put everything away except the fuselage.  As I had worried about, the fuselage sides did not close up perfectly.  There is about a 3/32 gap in both top and bottom seams.  I am filling the gap with styrene strips, then putty and priming.  This will take awhile, so I am also working on another kit- a vintage wooden antique car kit!

Got 70 grams of weight under the floor- instructions say 60.  That should keep it sitting on nose gear.

Got the four R-2000s ready to install.  They are little gems.  I lost a cylinder (cutting it loose from sprue).  I'll try to hide that with a prop blade.

I'm ready to try to close up fuselage now.  That will be a big test- will it come together without too big a gap at seam.

GMorrison

Not to hijack the thread, but a good if not great companion to this model is the old Heller 1/72 DC-6.

 

 

Yes, indeed!  I remember someone who had a gorgeous build of that model several years ago at a Nordicon contest.  I thought I had a great airliner build that year,  but that Heller build certainly was the best build in that category, by far.

Not to hijack the thread, but a good if not great companion to this model is the old Heller 1/72 DC-6.

Revell seems to have avoided needing different versions of the instructions in different languages by making use of icons and groups of icons.  However, this is a very complex model, with many, many options.  The result is that in many cases, when options are available the meaning of the instructions becomes unclear.  I am working on the flaps now (option of flaps up or down).  Either there are some misnumbering of parts numbers in the instructions, or I am not understanding the instructions.

GMorrison

Just a thought- I put lights in one of my ships by running two rows of copper tape along the underside of the weather deck. I took my LEDs and bent the leads out 90 deg. in opposite directions and stuck each to a tape "bus" with shorter pieces of the same tape. It has held up really well over the years.

 

Hmmm.  I could have done that, maybe.  I could get copper tape from Michaels.  Oh well, to late now.

Just a thought- I put lights in one of my ships by running two rows of copper tape along the underside of the weather deck. I took my LEDs and bent the leads out 90 deg. in opposite directions and stuck each to a tape "bus" with shorter pieces of the same tape. It has held up really well over the years.

Gave up on trying to light the interior.  I had glued in LEDs in ceiling of cabin, and then tried to wire them.  Burned out the LEDs 'cause I soldered the leads too close to the body of the LED.  Haven't done an electronic project in years, so my soldering skills have deteriorated.  People will have to strain their eyes to see the interior, but so be it.

I wore a diaper and a onesie.

In 1956, the DC-6 had a thing like a net bag that hung on the side by the window seat, which the baby slept in.

After that though, it was truly Sunday-go-to-church wear for quite a while.

Look how the people are dressed. The men had suits and the women wore dresses. The first time I flew (1974), I wore dress pants, a sport's coat, dress shirt and I tie. Not now.  

Apologies for the small image.

Looks just like yours.

A detail I had completely forgotten- there were curtains on a sort of continuous cable/ rope/ bungie cord that could be pulled open or closed with a lot of work. During the day they were bunched up between the windows.

Don Stauffer

Actually, the white was called out.

I'll be darned. For some reason, that surprises me.

Got the left side inner panel on.  The fit was great!

Greg

That is quite a production line on those seats.

The fabric headrest covers surely bring back some memories. They really make the seats pop, and I'll bet they were not called out in the painting part of the instructions?

 

Actually, the white was called out.   I followed the instructions on the seat except for the beige seat belts.  I didn't believe they would be visible enough to go to the effort.

That is quite a production line on those seats.

The fabric headrest covers surely bring back some memories. They really make the seats pop, and I'll bet they were not called out in the painting part of the instructions?

Looking at AA DC-4 photos, the windows do sit in a NM area. On other liveries I've done the following.

Paint the window stripe before installing the glass. Then install it, and mask over it. Then glue the fuse halves together etc.

I suppose a version of that which you might try would be to paint various panels on each side to include the area with all of the windows, install them and then mask those panels before final assembly, putty, paint.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread, but since we are on the subejct of windows: mine will have all of the cabin windows blanked out because it was a flying refridgerator.

References show the particular aircraft was a USAF C-54, which I would assume had windows. Then it went to Santa Fe Skyways, and the windows disappeared. After Santa Fe Skyways went under, the aircraft went through the typical downward trip of smaller aitlines, curious incidents (a hijacking) etc. where it got it's windows back.

In the SFS livery, theres a broad red stripe down each side, and the few photos I have from the railroad don't show an outline of windows in any obvious way.

So I wonder, since it was a non-pressurized a/c, was it simply rebuilt each time?

Yep, I am certainly  checking that. With the inner fuselage panels it would be extremely hard to narrow anything.

I am considering a radical change to the normal build sequence.  The windows are sort of ovals and look very difficult to mask.  I am thinking of painting (Alclad) the fuselage halves before I put them on.  Of course, I will then have to work on top and bottom seams afterwards.  However, with Alclad I like to make some panels different shades that others, so I think I can mask along panel lines and do those seams afterwards.  I'm also thinking of doing painting of fuselage/tail and wings seperately.  I will see how good the fit is when I come to the point of putting wings and fuselage together.

Looks good. 

I suggest you test fit fuse halves over that assembly before you go too much further. This would be time to shave down any bulkheads if needed.

Got all the seats painted now.  The picture below was done before I finished them all, but you can see how I am doing them.  I figured the view through the window was not good enough to see the seat belts well, so I did not paint them.

I have finished all the front end sections, so am ready to add the seats now.  The paint on some of the formers is not the greatest, but I think one will not be able to see those sections very well anyway.

jeaton01

Don, I would lean to bare aluminum doors and wells with silver paint struts.  This is based on photos I have of white painted wells peeling to bare aluminum with no sign of green or chromate, and the discussion here:

https://www.airlinercafe.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=7845

 

Thanks, John.  I will stick with the aluminum.  I already have the nose gear well done with aluminum, so I won't have to change that.

Don, I would lean to bare aluminum doors and wells with silver paint struts.  This is based on photos I have of white painted wells peeling to bare aluminum with no sign of green or chromate, and the discussion here:

https://www.airlinercafe.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=7845

Just noticed something- the instructions call for wheel wells to be aluminum color, but box art shows them zinc chromate (green).  Anyone know for sure what color Douglas painted wheel wells in the forties?

Geee;

     First plane I flew in was Orville and His brother's thingy .LOL.LOL. No Really this does actually bring back memories .Like Trains, I have ridden in some civilian history makers .Starting with the D.C.3 and all the way to a 747 and a lot of others in between .My all time fave was the D.C.-7-C, and let's not forget the sexiest plane in history, the Lockheed Constellation ( mainly the 1049 edition .) Was that the long nose or short ?

    Of course my own a/c won't get short shrift in memory though I won't mention them  .The others I've flown in were a Beaver and Otter and an Antonov heavy lifter ! ( The first edition ) Yeah , Got over my fears in the lumbering beast ! In the back no less !

 I can fly again and the most enjoyable was being at the controls of the old Cessna 180 That a friend owns .No More though . I would imagine the TIA will shut down my flying in the office . Darn! but I did it !         T.B. 

Don-

Looks so good I will be starting my Braniff DC-4 shortly.

Plans seem complicated with different kinds of construction symbols---has anyone figured these out?

Also the tin laundry has complicated parts---I think it had fowler flaps but the plans don't show how all this is put in very well.

Looks great, we like the pictures!

The inner fuselage walls are different for the two kits. I won't be using my C-54 interior at all. My DC-4 has blanked out windows, and the cargo door will be closed.

Wow Don. This is going to be beautiful. And tedious. And time consuming. And VERY rewarding. Love this kit...I have one civilian and one C-54, both in Revell 1/72, and am a big fan. Looking forward to following your build. Please DO post pictures and "how-tos" and "I did this's." The cockpit looks oputstanding. Who cares if WE can't see it!!?? YOU know its there!