C-47 Skytrain/Dakota/DC-3 GB

Got a DC-3 ride in 1987. Driving from Denver to Cheyenne, a DC-3 flew across the interstate. I followed it to an airfield that had a sky diver club. I asked if I could hitch a ride and watch the sky divers jump--they said OK. I really just wanted a ride in that bird. When I got close to that poor ship---it seemed that every piece of skin had wrikles and dents! No finish just bare tarnished aluminum. The cargo doors were gone and the inside gutted---just the floor and ribs and outside skin were intact. When I got in you could see hundreds and hundreds of pin holes of light all thru the cabin--holes in the outside skin of the bird! All the sky divers crawled in and just sat on the floor--maybe 40 of them.

At 10,000 ft they crawled out in groups of  4-7 on a set of bars on the outside of the fusalge--and pushed off together. The force scooted the tail sidways about 3 ft. It was a great ride! I wonder what ever happend to that ship------

Thanks Mark. You'll be surprised how many things one will find at HL for our hobby. The dried floral section is great for diorama vegetation. You can use those packages of moss for very realistic terrain cover and the dried thingies to make bushes and trees. Lots of other stuff in other departments to use too like the gem stones and other goodies. 

K

What ever you do do not get this crap, it will knock you down for several days, guaranteed. The congestion and caugh is just atrocious. Thank God we had no fever, just congestion and caugh. My wife got it worse since she slept with both our grandkids in the same bed, they are plum crazy about their grandma. It's been about 3 weeks now and we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If anyone does want to build another, just let me know what scale and version, and I'll get it added to the list on the first page!

plasticjunkie, I'm trying to avoid it as best I can, lol.  I've sprayed lysol through the house, and I'm letting her sit in her room on video games all day, so hopefully she keeps most of the germs in one place!  She's had a low grade fever the past few days, a nasty cough, and she's pretty congested.  Hopefully she'll be feeling a bit better today. 

Just a small note on my build. Cubana De Aviacion started back in Cuba around October 1929 as a subsidiary of Pan American Airlines. Around the early 1940s the stockholders decided to buy out the Pan Am stock and became privately owned. It was a very profitable airline in the Latin American routes and eventually extending service to New York, Miami and Spain. Unfortunately the airline was confiscated in 1959 by the communist Castro Regime.  My particular markings date to around the mid 1940s.

K please use the first picture on the completed page. By the way that is a 1940s era luggage sticker I was able to find and use in the picture. Thanks for letting me participate. Please click on the pictures for closeups.

That looks great plasticjunkie!  I really like the two tone white over metal finish.  Feel free to grab a badge if you like, and I'll get your pic up on the first page!

Thanks K!

Plasticjunkie> That is a cool looking DC-3!  Great work.

Keyda> I second that "Don't Get This" comment.  I had it early in December and it took 3-4 weeks to recover.  It was rough.  It got into my lungs and only some heavy doses of antibiotics managed to get rid of it.

Gary

Thanks Gary!

GAF

Plasticjunkie> That is a cool looking DC-3!  Great work.

Keyda> I second that "Don't Get This" comment.  I had it early in December and it took 3-4 weeks to recover.  It was rough.  It got into my lungs and only some heavy doses of antibiotics managed to get rid of it.

Gary

 

One of the biggest reasons I hate this time of year, sickness.  She finally went back to school today.  She was off for 3 days.  She could of gone yesterday, but I always make sure she's fever free for at least 24 hours before sending her back.  Now if only all the parents would do that with their childeren, it would probably reduce the amount of kids that come down with it. 

GAF

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.

Gary

 

I scroll through once in a while to see the progress on various builds. Y'all are doing such great work. This image of "Hairless Joe" caught my attention. When my wife and I were at Oshkosh, I photographed the art as it was being done by the artist. So cool.

PJ, that Cubana bird looks awesome!

The classic sticker is a nice touch.

gregbale

PJ, that Cubana bird looks awesome!

The classic sticker is a nice touch.

 

Thanks Greg!

Fotofrank>  Ah, that's a great photo!  There's one in the article I linked earlier which identifies him as Kevin “Max” Wisniewski. One thing I need to find out is if the art was applied to the other side as well.  Thanks for posting that!

Gary

%$&)#^!!!  – that was one of the reactions this weekend.
Thought I was making good progress.  Got the tan sprayed top & bottom, masked and sprayed the green.  Then as I removed the mask it brought up the tan paint.  Came close to chunking it into the backyard but figured I should keep going.  So, I sprayed the control surfaces then returned with some tan to repair the damaged areas.  I was glad I opted for the repair as it came out well enough.
Managed to get all the pokie-out items on as well as the tail wheel and main gear legs.  The wheels are for the Airfix kit and didn’t fit well.  On first try they bowed the gear out.  I drilled the wheel hubs so the gear mounts would fit.  I drilled them too deep and now the wheels don’t fit/stay centered.  That is a next weekend challenge.  I also have to tackle the flaps and get them hung.  Props are on but not secured.  Finish line is in sight.

deattilio, Looks good despite the paint troubles!  I was so paranoid that I was going to pull paint up when working on Mini W7.  Normally I'm only a little nervous, but with using craft paints I was super worried about it.  I de-tacked every piece of tape I used on the back of my hand.  I was so glad it didn't pull any paint up, and rather surprised as well.  I was kind of expecting it to happen, lol. 

Changing the scheme for my 1/72 build. Tod Anderson at PointerDog7 was able to take the photos I found plus some research material that was gifted to me and create the early and late schemes for Pioneer Airlines. They flew passengers around Texas on routes that weren’t too far off from bus routes, and probably near the same amount of stops. This was the first plAbe my dad rode on, from Dallas out to Mineral Wells, TX. He said it stopped twice on the 100 mile trip and he had a crush on the flight attendant in charge of him. My dad will get a kick out of seeing this plane again, even at this size  

Ozmods out of a Australia makes the passenger door part that replaces the cargo doors so I ordered one of them. My kit is the Testor/Italeri kit with the cargo floor but the doors will be closed and you can’t see in the windows, so no worries. Here is the artwork, as finished by Tod. I’ll probably get a bunch from him, took a long time to find someone to do them  

Verrrrry tasty scheme!

Look forward to seeing it decked out!

I decided after everything that's gone on lately I need a little vacation.  So I took a drive out to Geneseo to vist the real Whiskey 7.  She's in the hanger for winter maintenance.  I even got my hands dirty helping out a little bit.  Hope to go back and do it again soon.

Keyda81

I decided after everything that's gone on lately I need a little vacation.  So I took a drive out to Geneseo to vist the real Whiskey 7.  She's in the hanger for winter maintenance.  I even got my hands dirty helping out a little bit.  Hope to go back and do it again soon.

Sounds like a great day!

Greg, It was really nice to finally meet some of the guys there, like the head mechanic, and the newsletter editor.  Both really nice guys.  I'm hoping I can go back out again soon.  It was nice to get out of the house and kind of forget my troubles for a bit!

"Mini Whiskey 7" is a bit difficult to see at night.  So I opted to add some LED's inside the display case.  The ones I used were actually meant to help light up inside the bed of a pick up truck.  I painted them yellow, and scratched up some legs to make them look like spot lights. 

I covered the wires from the lights with fake grass, the switch and battery are mounted outside on the side of the base. 

Now that just rocks!

GMorrison

Now that just rocks!

What he said!

Excellent lightstand camouflage!

gregbale

 

 

GMorrison

Now that just rocks!

 

 

 

What he said!

Excellent lightstand camouflage!

 

Thanks guys!  I had considered lighting up the plane itself, interior lights, landing lights, etc.  But I decided against that since I wanted it to look like she was sitting there on static with the stairs, gust locks, and what not.  Maybe I'll build another one some day, light it up, and have motors in there to spin the props. 

That looks awesome K but make sure the lights don’t get very hot. You don’t want to warp anything With the heat generated by the lamps.

plasticjunkie

That looks awesome K but make sure the lights don’t get very hot. You don’t want to warp anything With the heat generated by the lamps.

 

Thanks plasticjunkie!  They barely put off any heat at all.  I made sure of that, lol.

TheMongoose

Keyda put that in the tips and technique section on How to Make a Great Build Better! Lights really look the part and in that last darker shot it looks like the plane being illuminated at dawn on the field. I really like the look of it all together.

 

Lol, I was annoyed with the fact I couldn't see it to well from where I sit in the living room!  Thanks Mongoose!

Hi all! everyone seems to have some nice builds!

I am still here and can't seem to get the picture thing going---So I'll tell you what I'm working on. Visited a contest in San Antonio and bought several airline kits from vendors.

I've started a 144 DC-3 Minicraft kit and am to the decaling stage. It has Pointerdog decals for the Monarch Airline livery. Also have a Italiari DC-3 that will have Vintage Flyer Eastern Airlines markings. I am doing both these birds with decal windows. Never done one this way and hope it looks OK. ( Also working on a Williams Bros C-46 and boy is that a handful!!!)

Has anyone used Pointerdog Decals? They seem to have thick carrier film and I hope that disappears when the clear coat goes on.

Keep up the good work!!

B-36Andy

Hi all! everyone seems to have some nice builds!

I am still here and can't seem to get the picture thing going---So I'll tell you what I'm working on. Visited a contest in San Antonio and bought several airline kits from vendors.

I've started a 144 DC-3 Minicraft kit and am to the decaling stage. It has Pointerdog decals for the Monarch Airline livery. Also have a Italiari DC-3 that will have Vintage Flyer Eastern Airlines markings. I am doing both these birds with decal windows. Never done one this way and hope it looks OK. ( Also working on a Williams Bros C-46 and boy is that a handful!!!)

Has anyone used Pointerdog Decals? They seem to have thick carrier film and I hope that disappears when the clear coat goes on.

Keep up the good work!!

 

If you want to email me the pics, I can post them for you.  keyda81@aol.com