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C-47 Skytrain/Dakota/DC-3 GB

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  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Thursday, January 31, 2019 9:07 PM

I'm very saddened by your loss, Christina. Somewhere he's making her laugh again, and they were proud of you and your family, you are a very impressive woman.

It strikes me that it was sudden, those are the hardest ones. Give our love to your kids, for sure.

 

Bill

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Friday, February 1, 2019 6:43 PM

Thanks Bill.  Yea, the sudden ones really hit hard.  I lost both of them without having a clue.  But neither one of them suffered at the end, they both went peacefully, and without pain.  I had her to help me through the tough times when Dad passed, I have her sister to help me through this.  It will certainly be tough for a long while, but I've got plenty of family that are there for me. 

GAF
  • Member since
    June 2012
  • From: Anniston, AL
Posted by GAF on Friday, February 1, 2019 9:47 PM

First, my condolences to you and your family, Keyda.  It's good you have someone, your sister, to support you in this hard time.  My sister lost her husband early in December, and I know how important family is to your emotional well-being.

Eagle90> Nice work on that Monogram C-47! 

The weather has certainly made progress a bit slow here, but it reached 60 degrees F today and I was able to do some outdoor painting.  Here's where I am now.

I attached the engine cowlings, then gave the model an overall coating of Tamiya "Neutral Gray".  Seams look pretty good, except at the horizontal stabs where there's a nice gap.  I'll get that filled in and get her ready for a first coat of olive drab.  I'll do some detail work first on the tail wheel and main wheel wells.  We'll see how long that takes.

Take care all!

Gary

  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: Charleston, SC
Posted by kg4kpg on Friday, February 1, 2019 10:19 PM

 

All done with the tiny one. After the Aer Lingus Decals disintegrated I repainted and was going to use the kit decals for Pan American. Well, they were a bear to separate after soaking and I damaged them too. I then went to the Swiss Air from the kit sheet. A lot more soaking this time so they worked. Kit is done all out of the box. 

 

 

 

For my 1/72 build I will use the Italeri C-47 using Pointerdog7 decals for Pan Am. 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Saturday, February 2, 2019 7:37 AM

Thanks Gary. 

Looking good!

kg4kpg, Have to love when decals do that.  Doing decals used to be the fun part for me, but now more than not I run into issues, and I usually dread decals.  Looks great!  I'll get it up on the first page, feel free to grab a badge if you like.

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 10:15 AM

Looking great gary and KG, and by the way my markings of Cubana De Aviacion was originally a subsidiary of Pan Am back in the late 20's early 30's. More on that later.

The decals are EXTREMELY thin and will break very easily. The decals have blacked out windows and door outlines that do not match the model being used so they had to be removed. The sheet is an entire solid film so each decal has to be trimmed out. The good thing here is that being so thin they go on as if they were painted. The carrier film is clear, thin and disappears once dry.  

 

These decals are meant to go on the fiberglass or wood commercial display models so I had to do a lot of slicing and removing. It was a nightmare trying to transfer the decal on to the surface without damaging it. It took me close to an hour to apply the port side fuselage decals since they separated into several sections. The starboard side may be a tad easier to work on now that I know how they behave. I still have to mask for the de icing boots on the tail and wing LE so the decals on these parts will go on after painting since the tape will pull up the decals.

I still have to go back with blue and red paint to touch up certain spots.

 

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 2:50 PM

Looks great despite the decal nightmare!  Decals can sometimes be the most frustrating part of the build.  I know I struggled with Mini W7's decals.  Other builds the decals have gone on so nice it was actually fun, lol.  You never know until you go to put them on. 

GAF
  • Member since
    June 2012
  • From: Anniston, AL
Posted by GAF on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 8:06 PM

kg4kpg>  Alls well that ends well, and the SwissAir DC-3 certainly ended well.  Nice job!  Hopefully, the Italeri kit will not give you as much of a headache, though it certainly gave me one when I built mine!  Decals were fine, but the fit gave me some problems.

PJ>  That is a nice looking kit.  That white over NMF was quite popular in its day.

The weather has certainly moderated around here.  It was in the 70s today, and felt very spring like.  I was able to get the C-47 model masked and some color down.

The color is Tamiya USAAF Olive Drab.  I was going to overspray with some Light Earth, but the color was too reddish for my tastes.  Right now, I'm considering weathering options to lighten this factory fresh finish.  I have a P-47 that I did as a Pacific bird that has a nice weathered look that I want to replicate.  We'll see how the washes and alcohol rub look.

That's it for now.

Gary

 

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Berkeley CA/St. Paul MN
Posted by EBergerud on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 8:21 PM

 OK, one C-47 a wrap.

 1/72 Airfix C-47

 Paints: Mission Model, Golden High Flow

 Weathering: Salt Fading; oil dot fading (Wilder & Gamblin oils, Windsor Newton Transparent White), Iwata Com.Art paints - panel lines, fluids, overall filter. Sennelier & Gamblin pigments.

  01Tsili by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 02rftE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 Here I'll describe the last weathering steps taken to complete the model and present a series of pics. I wrote two books about WWII in the South/Southwest Pacific, so I included a note on historical context after the kit photos if there are history fans.

 

 Because C47s played a unique role in the late 1942-early 43 campaign in New Guinea, I am definitely thinking of a very heavily used plane. The weather in NG was beastly (unless you were a germ or a mosquito) with heavy rain almost every day. The sky would clear and the heat dry the ground - men saw mud turn into dust storms if the wind was up. (Vietnam vets talked about the same thing.) There were no hangars in New Guinea - ground crew sometimes rigged some canvas for shade, but that was it. So the planes were in the air almost every day - often more than once - and assaulted every day by broiling sun, mud/dust and water. Most bases were near the ocean so salt could appear too. The maintenance schedule during the early war was more or less thrown away by ground crew - the troops simply needed supplies and evacuation so badly. Pilots didn't measure service in terms of missions - instead it was hours - as in several hundred or low thousands. No combat plane would have been in the air as long as a C47. Do note that wartime Olive Drab was a very unstable paint if made without cadmium (almost always) and would fade as well as pick up a patina of dust/mud at every take-off or landing. These planes would have had a heavily mottled surface in very short order, and some of these planes were in service for the entire war. I don't see lots of chipping, although you see it on the props and nose in close-ups. There were lots of fluids. All radial engines burned oil - even a rebuilt DC3 today will show a nice black streak underneath. So I did much to give the plane a very uneven and mottled surface with lots of fluid stains. Had I chosen I could have faded it even more than I did - probably should have. WWII color pics are not always perfecto - but this one will give you the idea:

  colfade-pi by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 Here are two in black and white:

  fadenad by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

  PTMsby by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 I should note that choosing an C-47 of late 1942-early 43 vintage mandated the decals used. The single star was used for several months in late 42-early 43. Sometime in mid-43 the standard blue/white rectangle borders around the star was used. I found the decal used in a set designed for early B-24s. (It's a hard decal - no matter how you look at it - it looks out of alignment - even if it isn't. Ever try to draw a five point star?) I used the yellow numbers on the tail from the kit. I raided the yellow numbers on the nose from a P-40 kit. I also grabbed "Dottie II" as almost every wartime C-47 photo I've seen shows some kind of nose art. The very elaborate bit from the kit was much more typical of an ETO bird than a PTO, so I grabbed a simple phrase. It may be a little out of scale - but nose art was not standard.

 As reported in my last post, I had to amputate both engines and switch them to get the exhausts in the correct place. It took me several days to regain the will - I've never made a perfect kit, but blunders like this one are not part of my modeling world. I literally had to saw them off - luckily I have very good hobby saw blades from CK. For repair, I put in circles of sheet styrene, and filled the gaps with Gunze and Vallejo putty. Fortunately, there were major panel lines on real C-47s at this place, and because the entire engine area was badly soiled by exhaust and fluids, I was able to bury most of my blunder with the weathering I would have done anyway.

This experience started the last stage of completing the model. In retrospect, this kit was one that I had to fight during many steps. Although the engine fiasco was driver error, a better engineered kit would have had a simple tab as part of the insert process and made an error like that impossible. Landing gear are always a good place to see how well done a kit is. This kit required slightly altering the length of major pieces - not a good sign if the kit engineers chose to make a complex and detail heavy assembly. I was very disappointed with the clear parts. Their fit was not good. I was warned in a build review of this model to put the side cockpit windows on before closing the fuselage because the window piece might fall inside - a real pickle. (I shouldn't have worried - in many pics of C-47s from New Guinea - the side cockpit windows are open - it would have been simple to build a little frame.) I also found that the Montex clear part masks I used fit very well, but left an unusual amount of adhesive remnant. I was able to get most of it off (the front windscreen was a dicey fit, but luckily very clear). I also put on the decals that were to simulate the firing ports put through the side windows so crew of soldiers could fire sub machine guns out. Those little decals all got on, but were some of the worst I've ever applied. Anyone who put on the whole stencil series - a step I skip - would have been forced to toil for hours because everyone required several minutes in warm water to loosen. They really weren't needed because from almost every angle you can't see the side windows as clear at all - unless you have a profile, the dark interior makes the clear dark too. This is quite evident in the pictorial record also. Because I was displeased with the fit of the side cockpit windows, I removed and reset them (they were attached with white glue so it was easy.) And, one almost fell inside. If I did another Airfix C-47 I would have far less trouble. I think part of the wing spar could have been eliminated - it fit badly and wasn't visible. The landing gear would have been much easier to assemble if you ignored the instructions and attached the small pieces first rather than last. The clear parts should have been painted separately and installed at the end. That's what I've done with the best canopies I've created. If something doesn't work right, strip the paint with Lysol (takes about a minute) and do it over. Ultimately the kit worked. I'd rather do an Airfix than a Roden. But as one of the reviews noted, the Airfix is the newest kit, but anyone who owned an Italeri should build it. (Maybe so, but I did a new tool Italeri Sunderland and it was another kit that I had to fight. Heavens do I like Tamiya.) The C-47 is not the latest of the "new" Airfix kits, and I had much better luck with the recently released P-40B, so I'm hoping they're improving. Just in case, however, I'm going to sell my Airfix BF-109E and replace it with the late 90s Tamiya version.

 Enough whining. In earlier posts I showed the black basing, salt fading and oil dot fading that helped create a somewhat faded plane with a pretty mottled surface - exactly what was intended. The remain steps were panel lines, filters and pigments designed to give the plane not only an uneven surface, but one that was both evidenced grime and a kind of grainy texture. I did use a Flory "Grime" clay wash underneath to emphasize the dirt that would have built up landing on mud/dust a few hundred times. But the major weapon were Iwata Com.Art paints.

 I have trouble describing how I approach this because outside of the model railroading world, I may be the only modeler who uses Com.Art. Simply put, black basing - no matter what is done after it is designed to create irregular surface variations and color shifts. There can be some regularity - top surfaces are more faded than side or bottom - but real planes don't weather along panel lines and black basing doesn't either. Not only does fading and the accumulation of dirt and fluids take place in irregular patterns, but the human eye when gazing at a large object has to make sense of a huge range of colors produced by subtle changes in light and shadow. (Try this if you want. Get a digital photo image like a JPG loaded into a paint program, set the cursor to display the RGB settings of the pixels, and start running the cursor over the side. Even on areas where the color appears uniform, the RGB numbers change notably even in zones comprising very few pixels. So that color you see, is a kind of average - and when you consciously observe, you'll see the variant. Just to prove the point replace the photo with a simple "fill" of a single color. It looks entirely different.) In a way its helpful to show what one tries to do with black basing by showing what you're trying to avoid. Below is a pic of a very good build of an Airfix 1/48 Spitfire V. However, to my eye the preshading and panel line emphasis creates a surface that is far too regular in variance and with overdone panel lines:

  03badpanel by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 Compare it to an Airfix P40B done by yours truly a couple of months back that uses the same camo scheme. My build is nowhere near as clean as above. But I think the blackbasing and muted panel lines looks more authentic. (You may certainly disagree. We're only talking model airplanes.)

  iprr! by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

Com.Art paints are acrylics made for airbrushing onto porous surfaces like fabrics. They come in transparent and opaque colors - for weathering I use only transparent. (Actually, a well primed model would hold Com.Art opaque paints - they spray so well, it's tempting to try it sometime. But HighFlow is so good, I'm not looking for a replacement.) For panel lines I use transparent smoke - figure black. I did a clear coat with Vallejo gloss varnish, because you don't want much of the Com.Art to stick. I put a light brush of paint right on the panel lines - after drying for a couple of minutes, I try to take off most of the paint outside the panels. Com.Art paints, because of their water based solvent, can be easily manipulated after drying. If they don't come off with a moist brush or towel, you can use some Vallejo airbrush thinner. In practice I don't want all of it off - so I drag some excess downward along the airflow. Some panel lines that are very fine - or oddly placed - might call for a little more emphasis. A Verithin black pencil does the job very nicely. After the panel lines are done, I do a kind of filter on the entire olive drab surface. This is a combination of transparent black and transparent yellow which creates a kind of Com.Art olive drab. I take this brew and stipple it (not brushed - kind of tapped on) over the planes surface. I use a lighter filter on top of the wings and fuselage. This creates and even more irregular surface and gives the model it's soiled look. Next, I use Com.Art transparent blue-black smoke and put on exhaust stains. Underneath there's a thick black streak going across the wing - something I've seen on photos of modern restored DC-3s: WWII era radials did burn oil. I also stipple an extra dose over the engines. I could stop here and it would look fine. However I've found that an extremely light dusting with pigments works nicely, adding some extra irregular fading. The pigments are applied after the final matte varnish and are so light that they need no fixing. (The Matt Varnish I use is from Windsor Newton Oil Based - its the best varnish I've ever used. Thin it slightly with Tamiya or Gunze lacquer thinner. The stuff is made to seal paintings worth thousands of dollars, so it does work. It's the only non-water based product used outside of the splendid Duplicolor black primer in the rattle cane. The pigments are artist grade from Sennelier and Gamblin: because you buy them at an art supply store instead of a model site, they cost about half what you'd pay for MIG or AK.) Almost done. I now take some Transparent "Old Oil" paint and mix it with Pledge and put it over areas where fuel is added and very lightly on parts of the engine. Last is the antenna. I use "large" EZ Line. It's out of scale, but I like it because you can see the thing from ten feet away.

 Here are some detail shots of the model. I think you can see the mottled and grainy surface and also the "Com.Art" style panel lines.

  reardetE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 lengdetE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 fusDetE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 Here are some shots of the kit:

  BotE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 leftE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 lft-rE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 rightE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 rt-rE (2) by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 rt-rE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

 02rftE by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

 

Altogether this was not a great kit and I did not do a great build. But from the all important view from five feet away, it looks pretty good. And I certainly did need a C47 in the collection.

 

Eric

 

C-47s and the New Guinea Campaign - Historical Context

 C-47s were priceless aircraft in every theater of war, but it is impossible to see how MacArthur's entire campaign in the SW Pacific could have been fought without them. This was particularly true during the first and most violent of the New Guinea campaigns was fought to eject the Japanese from their fortified zone on the southeastern coast of Papua running from Gona-Sananda-Buna. It was from Buna that the Japanese launched their brazen attempt to capture the last allied base in New Guinea (Port Moresby) by an overland campaign over the Owen Stanley Mountains via the Kokoda Trail. After some very bad moments, the Japanese ran out of steam and were ordered to retreat because all IJ efforts were diverted (temporarily it was hoped) to the Guadalcanal slugfest. By November 1942 crack Australian and not so crack American units were back over the trail and the decision was made to erase the IJ base to prevent a replay. As nobody had any idea how the Guadalcanal campaign was going to end - the decision was made with the full support of the Australian command and supported by MacArthur. But there was a serious problem. The USN and RAN both refused to escort ships to the Buna coast because it wasn't charted. (That didn't stop the Japanese Navy.) That meant the whole campaign had to be supplied by air - everything - until somebody found some old freighters and barges and discovered the will to get them near the battlefield. The Aussies man hauled enough supplies to get up the Kokoda track in pursuit of the Japanese. (Air drops on the trail - a real problem - were essential to keep men in small arms ammunition and rations.) An offensive, however, was impossible with only support of the "biscuit bombers." MacArthur is not everyone's cup of tea, but the man's ingenuity was impressive. He had seen the problem within weeks of his undignified arrival in Australia in March. In early June he instructed one of his best subordinates - the brilliant combat engineer General William Casey - to send a small team of engineers to Buna and find a place for an air strip. There was one there, but suitable for only small aircraft. But Casey's men quickly found strategic gold on the fringe of a New Guinea tidal swamp (about the worst place on earth to be - and a campaign was fought in it) where several acres of porous clay was concealed by ten foot high and razor sharp kunai grass. The Japanese walked right over it and didn't notice anything on their drive to Moresby. But as soon as the allies got back in early November, in ten days US engineers had a major air base operating at a hole in the map called Dobodura. ("Dobo" hosted four fields and was a major base for allied efforts until 1944.) Once the C47s available (maybe 24 to begin with - around 36 at the end if my memory serves) began landing there they could bring in vital supplies, reinforcements and take out wounded. Larger campaigns in Russia were sustained for short periods by air drop - but those planes were supporting armies that had brought with them thousands of tons of supplies. In the Buna campaign the allies measured their supplies in thousands of pounds - and the armies started with nothing. (Fortunately US 5th Air Force, although unable to bomb the Japanese out of their positions, was able to isolate the battlefield and the Japanese ended up starving by campaign's end in January 43.) But this still meant a campaign on a shoestring - and a campaign in a malarial swamp. (The US 32d Division suffered about 600 kia - but nearly 8,000 malaria victims. The 7AIF division suffered far worse but the battle deaths were dwarfed by weaponized mosquitoes. It's safe to say there were no healthy Japanese defenders. One of the last battles was fought in a Japanese hospitals - with Japanese patients shooting from their beds and using the dead as barricades. There were more violent campaigns in the war than Buna, but none that was more miserable - barring perhaps, fighting on the Russian front in sub-zero temperatures. They did play for keeps.) But because there was no maritime supply and no landing craft, it was not possible to give allied troops artillery. So the whole blinking mess was fought with infantry small arms. At most the allies were three miles from the sea in November - it took them until January to see water. But they didn't run out of ammunition, or food, or medicine. They did get Australian and US reinforcements periodically. Almost everything came on the C-47s. And every plane returned loaded with casualties to hospitals in Moresby-Australia. The pic below is an early war C-47 - perhaps from Dobodura, maybe from Port Moresby - the men involved certainly wanted what was being carried:

 NG44 by Eric Bergerud, on Flickr

For what it's worth the allied victory at Buna shook the Japanese Command badly - much more so than Guadalcanal. Both Buna and "the Canal" were a long way from Japan, but when it dawned on Tokyo that the allies were planning a major effort in NG - it was also obvious that, unless stopped, the allies would be able to leap forward to either the East Indies (and the essential oil fields taken by Japan in the first weeks of the war) or the Philippines which would sever LOCs between the Indies and Japan. The next year and a half saw the Aussies and Americans - now supported by 7th Fleet (often called "MacArthur's Navy") out fight and out think the Japanese. Tokyo poured in 200,000 men and 600 planes from the Japanese Army Air Force - with mobility provided by 7th Fleet the allies annihilated or bypassed Japanese forces in six major campaigns and dozens of smaller ones. The C47s were there all the way, even supplying one of the few completely successful paratroop drop in WWII. The allies lost more casualties at Kokoda-Buna in 1942 than in all the remaining fighting in New Guinea which was over in July 1944. Counting the Japanese troops bypassed in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and their fortress base of Rabaul, there were 350,000 Japanese in WWII's larges POW camp. (Communications ended with Japan and Tokyo assumed that all men were lost. After surrender, Tokyo found there were some 250,000 men waiting to be repatriated - the only good news in September 1945 for Japan.)

 

Back to the C-47s. About 20 years back I interviewed dozens of men who flew, flew in, or dropped things out of C-47s. Everybody loved the plane - it was perfect for the theater, and so reliable that it functioned well and safely even when not receiving the kind of maintenance that allied planes got later in the war. I think the C-47 has lovely lines - almost classic really. But the snout does look a bit like a beak - or so I was told by a pilot - and many men called them "Gooney Birds or Goonies." Not one man uttered the "Sky...." heresy. There are two very nice hour long documentaries about the C-47 on YouTube - and no "Sky...:" The Brits were very keen on names for planes and they did call it the Dakota. Maybe because of the baseball mania of the period, American pilots and crews usually referred to the mounts by number. There were no WarHawks in the USAAF - but thousands of "P40s." The nickname often used in American circles was "Jug"; and there also a few "Forts." But by and large, Army airmen of that generation kept to numbers. Navy planes, however, were usually called by their names. For one thing, if not, Marine and Navy pilots would have had to deal with two F4s and a F6. I'm not even sure the SBD or TBM/F had numbers. On the other hand, the USN were spoil sports when it came to nose art - whereas USAAF crews were allowed nose art galore. In 8th AF, some of the "girls" that decorated the heavies were painted by professional artists. Do note, the immature use of shark's teeth was a German invention, copied for some reason by both US and especially RAF pilots in the desert. They also were known in the otherwise classy 5th AF B-25 "strafers" which made an art form out of destroying ground targets and small ships for generals Kenney and MacArthur. Those talents were best on display over the JAAF's major base in New Guinea at a field complex called Wewak. 5th AF gave them the whole treatment and demolished the base and some 300 planes in three days in early 1944. "Wewak" then became a verb. If 5th AF "Wewaked" a target - it was pretty much gone. By 1945 there were Wewaked Japanese ex-bases across the Pacific. Japan really did pick a bad opponent in WWII.

 

 

A model boat is much cheaper than a real one and won't sink with you in it.

GAF
  • Member since
    June 2012
  • From: Anniston, AL
Posted by GAF on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 9:11 PM

Eric>  Well done!  A fine tribute to a great aircraft, and thanks for a history lesson in a nearly forgotten WWII battlefront.

Gary

PS> One thing I did notice was the lack of de-icing boots on the color image and your model.  Was this standard practice for C-47s in the South Pacific?  I think they're missing on some of the 1st Air Commando aircraft also.

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 7:27 AM

Gary, 70's?!  I wish.  We did manage to get up to the upper 50's on Monday.  Now we have freezing rain and temps will be back down into the 20's.  Glad to see you could get some painting done!

Eric, Very nice!  I've just started dabbling around with weathering.  For the first couple of years I did completely clean builds.  It certainly adds more realism to the model.  I'll get a pic posted to the first page, feel free to grab a badge if you want!

 

GAF
  • Member since
    June 2012
  • From: Anniston, AL
Posted by GAF on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 3:30 PM

Keyda> Yes, its in the 70s again today, and should be again tomorrow.  Friday the cold returns, and it will be down in the 20s at night.  Still, this short spring-like weather was a welcome relief from the frigid temps we experienced last week.

Meanwhile, I think I've found the aircraft I'm going to replicate for the 1st Air Commando Group.  The Yankee Air Museum paid tribute to a heroic pilot by naming their version "Hairless Joe".  The pilot is Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, who flew her in the 319th TCS.  Cole is more famous as Doolittle's co-pilot on the famous Tokyo raid, and the last surviving member of the Raiders.

Here is a link to the article on Lt. Col. Cole and the Yankee Air Museum's "Hairless Joe".

http://warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/yankee-air-museums-c-47-becomes-hairless-joe.html

I've only got to figure out how to do those letters with color and "white" images.  I can use the photo above in a paint program, but printing them with white edges is impossible.  This will take some ingenuity.  Tongue Tied

Gary

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 3:41 PM

If you draw the decal with an OD background and print on white film, it should work pretty well. Trim in close around the general shape and blend the white edge in with a little of your OD paint.

I made this "three" with a black background, speaking of Doolittle.

 

Great photo, nice subject.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

GAF
  • Member since
    June 2012
  • From: Anniston, AL
Posted by GAF on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 3:53 PM

Thanks, GMorrison!  I was thinking of something like that.  The problem becomes that the scale is 1/87 (HO) scale.  It's going to take some steady hands!  Know where I can get a pair?  Wink

Gary

PS> Ran across this story concerning the 1stACG and the first helicopter rescue.  Wonder if anyone makes an R4?

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 11:32 PM

GAF

Thanks, GMorrison!  I was thinking of something like that.  The problem becomes that the scale is 1/87 (HO) scale.  It's going to take some steady hands!  Know where I can get a pair?  Wink

Gary

If you make the decal like shown below, it should be pretty usable.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

GAF
  • Member since
    June 2012
  • From: Anniston, AL
Posted by GAF on Thursday, February 7, 2019 12:55 AM

GMorrison

 

 

 

 
Yep, one cool dude!
 
"Where do we get such men?" - James Michener
 
Gary

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Thursday, February 7, 2019 8:42 AM

GAF
 
"Where do we get such men?" - James Michener
 
Gary
 

The last line said by Fred March in The Bridges at Toko Ri, my all time favorite war flick.

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: New Port Richey
Posted by deattilio on Thursday, February 7, 2019 5:02 PM

 

I’m still here!

 

I took a weekend to finish a 1/35 LVTP5A1 that had been languishing in “almost finished purgatory” for too long.  Got it finished and shipped off to a USMC recruiter in Texas - an AmTrac'r of course.
Got back to my “Gooney” and its been throwing hurdles down left and right.  Managed to loose one of the propeller hubs from the resin set – it only comes with two so had to order a whole set just for that hub.  Its also gone three rounds of prime, find a gap, putty, sand, prime.  Surprisingly, I haven’t knocked off any of the antennas!  I’m finally at a point where the couple discreps I can spot are small enough (or I’ve given in) to live with.
Hoping to get some color on it this weekend while also pushing forward with a 1/35 M151. 
Bench is a tad crowded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WIP:
Trying to get my hobby stuff sorted - just moved and still unpacking.

 

"Gator, Green Catskill....Charlie On Time"
 

 

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Thursday, February 7, 2019 5:38 PM

Nice choice Gary!  Looking forward to seeing it!

deattilio, Putty, sand, prime, repeat, I know it all to well.  I did it several times with Mini W7.  It got to a point when I decided to ask hubby if I was just being too picky about it, and he said to me what spots are you talking about?!  Lol. 

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: New Port Richey
Posted by deattilio on Monday, February 11, 2019 8:04 PM

 

COLOR!!!!  Well, at least some color.
Finally got some color on the C-47.  I managed to get the underside painted but, my paint cup didn’t hold enough paint to the entire topside.  Topside is slightly lighter (faded) than the underside – as the African is brutal.  I’ll finish up the tan before applying the heavily faded green on the topside.  Control surfaces will be last and are a darker color.
Easy part – these C-47s carried no markings.

 

 

 

 

WIP:
Trying to get my hobby stuff sorted - just moved and still unpacking.

 

"Gator, Green Catskill....Charlie On Time"
 

 

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 10:58 AM

Looking good!  I think the markings on Mini W7 were one of the more challenging parts of the build, lol.

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 11:36 AM

We drove up to NC to visit the grandkids a couple of weeks back and both of us came back with some nasty stuff going around passed down to us from the kids. My wife caught it first and two days later it hit me. We both have been very sick for the last week but the doctor says it's just a nasty cold. Anyhow today was the first day I have felt a lot better and can sit on the bench and get some work done.

The wing decals were singly cut out but the edges kept curling up on some spots even after repeated applications of Solvaset which is SUPER strong. I had to use s small brush and future to paint the clear acrylic over each letter and number to keep them down. I still have to do the bottom of the wing.

These darn decals were a huge PITA to bond down. 

I still have to touch up some tiny spots here and there.

  

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 3:48 PM

That is the main reason I hate this time of year, sickness.  My kiddo is currently home from school with a low grade fever, congestion, and a nasty cough.  Hoping I don't catch it!  I have to much going on, can't be down and out with a cold.

I hate when you have to fight with decals.  They look great despite the trouble they gave you!  Looks like you'll be done soon!

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Towson MD
Posted by gregbale on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 9:10 PM

PJ, that Cubana scheme is a beauty!

Since the GB still has a while to go, I'm considering doing another 1/72 bird as well. Seems to me I've got an old Airfix/MPC gunship stashed away somewhere....

Greg

George Lewis:

"Every time you correct me on my grammar I love you a little fewer."
 
  • Member since
    May 2016
Posted by B-36Andy on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 11:18 PM

Hi everybody--

Better late than never! I've been trying to post pics to the build and finally my daughter will help me with this soon! Can't wait!

I've started with a 1/48 DC-3 monogram kit but since December other things have been added. Since Christmas my grandsquirt wants to have a airport in her room so we are making one out of foamcore and making hangers out of cereal boxes. We will use 1/144 DC-3s among other planes ---she has a Revell Embrayer and 727. They are slap together but fun!!

Will be at a regional contest this weekend and will look for more DC-3 kits. Is the Roden better than the Minicraft? 

So this is working out for both of us! She has hangers for her planes where she puts them to bed and gases them up and flies them and I have 1/144 models where it's fun to do research on airlines and different airliners. Anyone used Pointerdog decals? They seem to have about 30 different markings for DC-3s.

With the group build I hope to have a few 1/144 done and maybe the 1/48 in Delta livery---

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 11:21 AM

Thanks K and Greg. These decals fought me all the way but thanks to Future I was able to get a solid bond. I have a set for a Super Connie but will NOT be using them for the same reason. I did manage to grab an AM set in Eastern Airlines colors that are just gorgeous. And again thanks Greg for answering my question about these decals.

I picked these up a while back cause they come in different colors and sizes and come in handy as light bulbs for a fraction of the cost that MV Lenses run. 

I drilled out the plastic lights and glued these on, next the clear cover will go on.

I also took the exhaust pipes and drilled them out and carefully carved the oval opening with a sharp #11 blade. Now they will get metalized.

This EZ Line is the BEST rigging material I have ever worked with. This stuff is awesome and will get mounted on my DC3.

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    August 2016
Posted by Keyda81 on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 2:41 PM

B-36Andy, Sounds like loads of fun!  My kiddo used to be interested in the models, still is but only slightly.  She's glued to her video games currently.  I don't really mind, she's got a nasty head cold, and I don't want it!  Lol.

plasticjunkie, I'll have to take a look around Hobby Lobby for those gemstones, looks like they fit the bill perfectly.  I drilled out the exhaust on Mini W7 as well.  Looks so much better that way.  I used stretched sprue for the antenna wires, seems to work decently enough.  I'll have to give that EZ line a try one of these days.  I'm pretty sure people use it in taxidermy too, for sewing up the hide. 

 

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: New Port Richey
Posted by deattilio on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 5:15 PM

gregbale

Since the GB still has a while to go, I'm considering doing another 1/72 bird as well. Seems to me I've got an old Airfix/MPC gunship stashed away somewhere....

I had the same thought!  If I can squeeze it in, was thinking branching farther afield.  I have a spare BT-67 conversion set or could pick up either an Li-2 or L2D.

 

 

WIP:
Trying to get my hobby stuff sorted - just moved and still unpacking.

 

"Gator, Green Catskill....Charlie On Time"
 

 

  • Member since
    May 2017
  • From: Denver, Colorado
Posted by MrStecks on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 10:48 PM

plasticjunkie

Thanks K and Greg. These decals fought me all the way but thanks to Future I was able to get a solid bond. I have a set for a Super Connie but will NOT be using them for the same reason. I did manage to grab an AM set in Eastern Airlines colors that are just gorgeous. And again thanks Greg for answering my question about these decals.

I picked these up a while back cause they come in different colors and sizes and come in handy as light bulbs for a fraction of the cost that MV Lenses run. 

I drilled out the plastic lights and glued these on, next the clear cover will go on.

I also took the exhaust pipes and drilled them out and carefully carved the oval opening with a sharp #11 blade. Now they will get metalized.

This EZ Line is the BEST rigging material I have ever worked with. This stuff is awesome and will get mounted on my DC3.

 

PJ, the plane is looking fantastic.  And using the kiddie jewels for small lenses looks like it works pretty well.  EZ Line is the best.  I love it.

 

deattilio - Always feels good to start laying down paint.  Looking good.

 

Cheers,
Mark


On the bench:  Revel 1/48 B-25J Mitchell

In the queue: Tamiya 1/48 F4U-1A Corsair

  • Member since
    May 2016
Posted by B-36Andy on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 11:57 PM

Good C-47 action in the movie Island in the Sky---about the Air Transport Command.

Ernie Gann was a airline pilot in the 30s-40s. He wrote the story that became a movie. Supposedly fiction but it is all true, even the main characters were real people during WWII. Gann wrote the story, then was the adivisor for the filming, and then flew the C-47s in the movie for the arieal shots. Great flying in the movie!

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