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Italeri Douglas C47 'Skytrain'


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I am intending to convert this wartime aircraft into a post-war aircraft of 'RAF Transport Command' with its brighter colour scheme.

 

35439875513_50719e9ea8_z.jpg

 

The parts

35411948684_6a1080fcc3_z.jpg

 

The scheme I want to recreate . . .

35439904903_7d4b75f16d_z.jpg

Can anybody give me a good match for the Grey(?) on the lower section of the fuselage please ??

 

many thanks 

Ian

Edited by Mancunian airman
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Light Aircraft Grey is your weapon of choice: BS381C:627 or near equivalent.  Humbrol 166, Xtracolor and Xtracrylix also make this colour. Humbrol 40 is also reasonably close but is gloss, whereas 166 is satin.  I've an idea that Gunze and/or Mr Colour also produce paints that match Light Aircraft Grey.

 

There's been a discussion in a Harrier WIP thread about colour equivalents (Vitaliy is the builder) where I commented that there is a 10% tolerance on BS colours so, as others have also said, choose a grey (other shades and colours are available) that compares well with your references and apply it.

 

It's a shame that your photo doesn't show much of XV232 in the background as her undersides were also painted in Light Aircraft Grey, and I'll bet they look different to KK116's.  Contrast that with the Medium Sea Grey on the top of WR963's fuselage between them.

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I dont know if its a post-war mod. but the transport Command version has 8 windows either side so a little bit of drilling, filing is required.

Masked off prior to drilling. The 'new' windows may appear slight undersize but that is a preventative measure as I then intend to file so as to get as good a match as the originals.

37464814326_0f99e3d53b.jpg

 

Anybody got a some spare windows as I going to need 3 such . . .

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I have assembled the tailplanes; parts 24/25 &26/27 -- straight forward enough

The bottom/top sections of the main wings 30/31 & 32/33 are taped to the piece that comes separate, 23 so I could then hold them in place, beneath the fuselage, this showed the rather large gap at the wing root joint . . .

37534453942_acbcd9c60a.jpg

 

 

36855985084_348bd271ab.jpg

 

the additional 2 windows can be seen on the Port side as well as the gap

 

More to come 

Ian

 

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Watching this thread with interest now.  Hadn't spotted it earlier.

The Italeri kit, released by Airfix as an RCAF Rescue plane was residing in my stash, ready for - well an idea with skis entered my head, and Ice Pilots.

However a colleague of mine put paid to all that!  

She brought her gran over to Jet Age.  Late grandad had flown with the RAF, during the Berlin Airlift -  she's got a picture of a Dakota, could I build a model of it?

Here's the picture:

Rachels_Dakota.jpg

First thing that I spotted is that passenger door.  But the kit has parts for that!  I never counted the windows, I doubt that anyone else has.  That serial number is KN564 - so that's the one I have to build.  Other dubious points are the roundels, and what looks like collector rings at the fronts of the engines.

The following week, I'm shown the log-book.  This is respected like a Family Bible.

Starts in about 1947, flying Ansons.  A previous log-book destroyed in a mess fire somewhere in the Far-East.  

Then thru Dakota OCU at North Luffenham - my first ATC camp.

Then to Op Plumber - and this is where KN564 makes its one and only appearance.

Then to No10 Squadron, and off to Gatow every day, for a lot of days!

Moving off Dakotas, 3 flights recorded in Meteor T7s, finishing with a solo,  but then back to Ansons again.  He's not around to answer questions.

Op Plumber interested me, so I looked that up a bit.  This was flying equipment, tools and mechanics around from the UK, to the airfields in Germany that were supporting the airlift.  The USAF had no equivalent, resulting in mechanics scavenging and improvising to keep their aircraft flying.

Anyway, here's the resulting model

Airfix_C53_Dakota0.jpg

Granny is absolutely over-the-moon with this, and it has pride of place in her house.

 

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Isnt that fascinating . . . 

I like the model with the prop spin and I also like the painting.

The Italeri kit looks fairly simple in its construction but the wing root joint isnt that good. Did you have the same issue ?

 

The thing with the windows is that the kit might be right but I am basing my model on an example that still flys today so it may well have been modified . . ..

 

Onwards and upwards . ..

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Went out and got all the paint required for this scheme:penguin:

 

I never seem to follow the instructions in the order given, I had to think about the order of painting to minimise masking etc so I decided to start with the 'Cheat line' 

 

37601570471_ff85be5c28.jpg

 

Wrongly or rightly I just referred to the photo of the Dak and used the Mk.1 eyeball so nothing scientific I'm afraid :tmi:

Edited by Mancunian airman
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Slow progress but progress at least  . . .

Here are a few bits that I have started; wheels, some painting and the repair to the u/c leg . . . the fuselage windows are in

 

37670944336_2c29b34981.jpg

 

I have heard that there is a gap between the fuselage and the wing root so in anticipation of issues in that area, I have glued a 'fillet' in place that will be cut and filed before joining 

37687140822_5308779dd8.jpg

 

Thanks for lookin in 

Ian

 

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Mind the order you build the engines/cowlings.

The engines with their back plates have to go into the cowlings when the two halves are joined.

I missed that; I joined the cowling halves, cleaned up the joint then found I couldn't get engines with their back plates into their place. They go in from the rear but they'll sit about 1.5mm in too far; that affects how far the props sit in, too far in and they touch the cowling

I cut the back plates down then stuck another on using spacers. Took a bit of fettling but I got them in, in to their correct place

 

I have the same wing gap on the port side, nowt on starboard. I had to put a 5 thou plastic card shim on the forward end of the wing centre section as well to bring it level with the fuselage and the wing roots up too. For filling the wing root gap I'm using superglue & talc filler

 

Your subject appears to use the fuselage top V aerial. Check its placement. Italeri would have you mount it forward of the astrodome but any photos I've checked have it aft of the astrodome

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The 8 window fit is quite common post war. I plan on building a Cambrian DC-3 at some point they also had the eighth window.

 

With regard to the wing root fit I've built a few of these kits and never had a major issue but I seem to recall that the fuselage if left to its own devices takes on an ever so slight oval shape, but a slight downward pressure on the fuselage top pushes the sides out and the gap disappears, I used strong elastic bands wrapped around the wing fuselage area  to provide the downward force while the glue sets. 

 

 

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Perhaps a sprue spacer-pusher to push the fuselage wing-root area apart a bit might do the job? There is room there for two; one forward and one mid-way.

I might try that on my next one

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