C-47 Skytrain/Dakota/DC-3 GB

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.

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.

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. 

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

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. 

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

Thanks jeaton.

My sympathies, Keyda.

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.

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

Mark

Keyda 

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

Hi,

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

Profound condolences on your loss, Keyda.

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

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.

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!

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!

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!

Looking god Gary! 

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

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

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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. ;)

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

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.