C-47 Skytrain/Dakota/DC-3 GB

Hey everyone.  Sorry for the delays.  Been a bit rough around here.  Great work everyone!  Sure making mine look like a toy!  LOL!  Like I said before, the decals gave me a bit of hassle, but had to work with what I had.  Tried the suggestion of weather more around them.  Great idea, I'm just not good at it.  But here are some more update pics.  More to come soon...I hope.  LOL! Enjoy.

Looks great Eagle90!  You'll have it finished up in no time I'm sure! 

Keyda81

Looks great Eagle90!  You'll have it finished up in no time I'm sure! 

 

Thank you K!  The decals are really the worst part, but it's all I had to work with. 

Here are some more pics.  Just about done!

Eagle90, Really looking the part now!  So how many times did you break the pitot tubes off the chin?!  Me, 3 times.Lol. 

Well I have some interesting news.  National Warplane Museum's newsletter editor got in contact with me today, and they want to do an article on me and Mini Whiskey 7!This is going a lot farther than I ever thought it would, and I'm amazed at the response I've gotten from it.  I'm flattered, and half the time rendered speechless.  I can't believe that many people like something I made, lol.  Simply put. 

Keyda81

Eagle90, Really looking the part now!  So how many times did you break the pitot tubes off the chin?!  Me, 3 times.Lol. 

 

LOL!  Funny you should mention that.  I broke them the first time I took the sprues out of the box!    So I went to the ole stand by for stuff like that...a PAPERCLIP!    So I made the pitot tubes out of a paperclip and superglued them in.  I like to see them break off now.  LOL!

Builds are looking good!!
Slow and steady here.

Had to go through and rescribe panel lines that I obliterated before spraying the first coat of primer.  As usual, nothing goes according to plan.  I believe it happened during the scrub down that the port cockpit window popped in and disappeared.  No worries, decided I’ll take a piece of clear acetate and create an “opened” cockpit with the window slid aft.  Afterall, this is Rhodesia so no doubt its Africa hot.  Plus, this actually provides a means to see all the detail I put into the cockpit.  I decided to attach several of the antenna, specifically those tiny buggers along the spine.  I thought they would be a nightmare after painting so chanced having to be ultra-careful going forward.  So far, so good.
Got the first coat of primer on.  Next will be to correct the few discrepancies that showed up.
I was concerned my concoction of colors to arrive at the “right” tan would be nearly impossible to duplicate with any precision between coats.  Fortunately, I found couple sets of Hataka that allow me to mix couple colors and arrive at close enough to what I want to shoot.  The Rhodesians used a lighter color on their C-47s and I have yet to come across a pre-mixed available color.  The color I came up with is on the cargo hatch alongside the primed “Gooney.”  As this will be wide open and against the fuselage on the kit I used it as my trial piece.

Looking like it's ready for paint Deattilio!  Mixing paint can be a pain, I went through it with Mini W7.  But I used acrylic craft paint, so I wasn't worried about wasting any, it's very inexpensive compared to model paint. 

scottrc
Wow, your build looks great.  Paint work really sells the weathered condition.  Excellent job.

eagle90
Looking good Eagle, I think the weathering helped with the decals.  I feel your pain on the decals... my build is only viewable from the right side because of the decal mess on the left side, lol.

deattilio
Nice idea on the fix for the window that popped inside.  Can't wait to see her all painted up.

Keyda
Congrats on getting media attention on your mini Whiskey 7.  It's well deserved!

Cheers,
Mark

I had a minor setback on my Aer Lingus DC-3, decals must have been old because they crumbled. So, repainted and she will wear Pan American Airways. She'll be done Sunday and pics posted then.

On a side note, visiting family out near Weatherfor, TX this weekend and I stopped in a couple antique shops. I found a Testors 1/72 DC-3 in sealed bags and an ESCI 1/72 DC-3 plus about 20 other 1/72 kits in various box condition, all for $30 bucks. All I wanted were the DC-3's, guy said take them all. ;)

Thanks Mark!

kg4kpg, Seems like quite a few of us have had issues with decals lately.  Most of the time I'm happy to do decals.  I was looking forward to it on Mini W7 until I got to the big W.  Nice score!  I wish I could stumble on some good deals, but even if I did I couldn't get them anyway cause I'm always broke, lol. 

I always scan my decals. These don't come out at the highest quality, but are key in a pinch to replace parts of a bad set.

Hey those are some great looking models being turned out in this GB so a big  to all.

I finally got some work on my DC3. Seams were taken care of on the fuselage

and the wings which had some minor thin gaps that were easily filled with stretched sprue and Tamiya thin glue.

Shot the gloss white enamel and when it dried taped and covered the white areas then shot gloss black enamel. After an hour or so I shot the Alclad Polished Aluminum. I was hoping for a more shiny metal finish but it got dark on me in the garage and shot more Alaclad killing most of the effect. No problem with this since I have a bottle of SNJ Aluminum Polishing Powder and will shine up some panels later on when the paint is cured.

Awesome job plasticjunkie! White is a real pain in the rear.  I've gotten better with it thankfully, still hate it though.   I really need to pick up some of that Alaclad one of these days.  I've only attempted two NMF planes, and don't like the outcome of either one, lol.  I don't know if I would have much luck with Alaclad.  I've looking into the AK Extreme a few times too.  Just haven't bit the bullet on anything yet.

Thanks Keyda

I shot some AK Extreme Polished Alum on the stab and it didn’t look right. Recoated with gloss black followed by Alclad Polished Alum and one heck of a difference. The Alclad finish looked like metal, AK’s looked like paint. The SNJ powder will enhance the metal look.

plasticjunkie

Thanks Keyda

I shot some AK Extreme Polished Alum on the stab and it didn’t look right. Recoated with gloss black followed by Alclad Polished Alum and one heck of a difference. The Alclad finish looked like metal, AK’s looked like paint. The SNJ powder will enhance the metal look.

 

I'll give the Alaclad a shot and see if it works for me.  I'm pretty sure the local hobby store has some. 

Keyda81

 

 

plasticjunkie

Thanks Keyda

I shot some AK Extreme Polished Alum on the stab and it didn’t look right. Recoated with gloss black followed by Alclad Polished Alum and one heck of a difference. The Alclad finish looked like metal, AK’s looked like paint. The SNJ powder will enhance the metal look.

 

 

 

 

I'll give the Alaclad a shot and see if it works for me.  I'm pretty sure the local hobby store has some. 

 

Get a bottle of each and try them out. IMO gloss black enamel under Polished Alum  Alclad looks more like NMF.

Scottrc> That's a great looking CBI bird!  Hope mine turns out that well.  Speaking of 1/72nd scale jeeps, I need to finish mine up as a "Follow Me" version.

Eagle90> Good work on the C-47!  She's ready for finish now.

Deattilio> You're a brave man attaching the antenna before paint!  Good luck!

Kg4kpg>  Sorry about the decals.  Happens to all of us at one time.  Good score on the kits!

Plasticjunkie>  Boy, that's looking good!  Reminds me of one down at the Lonestar Museum.

Keyda> Let me add my congratulations on the museums interest in your Whiskey 7 model.  Nice!

As for me, I haven't gotten much more done.  I painted the engines steel and dark grey, then glued them on.  That seam along the fuselage worries me, though it probably looks worse in the photo than it is.  Oh, well.  More filling and sanding.

That's it for now.

Gary

Hey thanks Gary and great pictures too. I guess that scheme was standard for the DC3 back in the late 1940s.

Looking god Gary! 

Very nice builds happening here!  I love the C-47 and these are great tributes to it for sure!

K....thanks for a great GB and I will be watching it for the duration.  Great stuff here!  I'm calling her finished and have displayed it down stairs in a spot of honor!  I really liked using the resin wheels!  I think I will have to look for more sets of weight on wheels at the next model show!  Here are the final pics.  K, I'll let you pick the finished pic.

Thanks again K!  Wonderful job on a GB!  Enjoy!

Gary and plasticjunkie, great work coming along; I do love those white over NM scemes, should look dazzling once you get the markings on!

Eagle, that's a beauty for sure! Can't get enough of those D-Day stripes...and the nose art just makes it that much better. Great job!

gregbale

Gary and plasticjunkie, great work coming along; I do love those white over NM scemes, should look dazzling once you get the markings on!

Eagle, that's a beauty for sure! Can't get enough of those D-Day stripes...and the nose art just makes it that much better. Great job!

 

Thank you sir!  It was the first time I did D-Day stripes.  I think more planes need them.  The P-47 I'm doing for the Secret Santa will have them.  Thanks again!

Nice job Eagle90!  Feel free to grab a badge if you'd like, and I'll get a pic added to the first page.

I apologize in advance, I might not be popping in as often over the next few weeks.  I lost my Mom yesterday.  So I'm going to be distracted, and busy dealing with things.  I probably won't be at the bench for a while either.  I couldn't seem to concentrate on building after I lost my Dad in Aug of 2017, so I doubt things will be any different.  Thanks for understanding.

Profound condolences on your loss, Keyda.

Concentrate on the real things you need to take care of. The silly hobby stuff will wait.

Hi,

Sorry for your loss.  Best wishes to you and your family.

Keyda 

I’m so sorry for your loss and you have my sincere confidences. May your mom RIP.

So sorry about the loss of your mom Keyda, my condolences to your and your family.

Mark

Thanks guys.  I'm still pretty well in shock, and kind of just going with the flow.  I managed to at least finish up the P-40 I was working on for the Airfix GB.  I certainly don't think I should attempt any kits that are a bit challenging any time soon.  Like a year or so ago when I tried "Fat Albert".  I wasn't in a good frame of mind to attempt that one.  I was thinking about it giving it another shot before everything happened too. 

This just sucks.

My sympathies, Keyda.

Thanks jeaton.