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1/72 Italeri AC-47 Gunship - Puff


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Puff the Magic Dragon,
A bird of days long gone,
Came to fly the evening sky,
In a land called Vietnam.

 

1/72 Italeri AC-47 Gunship "Puff the Magic Dragon"


Here is my build of the classic Spooky Gunship which provided much needed CAS for troops in contact and remote, exposed SF camps and outposts in Vietnam.

Built pretty much OOB except for EZ Line for aerials and a bristle from an old paintbrush for the whip antenna.  Used Xtradecal Stars and Bars as the kit ones were out of register.

The kit is superb and goes together very well - it was a pleasure to build apart from the cockpit glass.  In retrospect I should of split it down the centre and attached it to the fuselage first.

 

Primed and then airbrushed freehand using Xtracrylix matched FS colours for the camo and Vallejo for the lower grey.  A Flory Grime wash was used to add a touch of subtle panel line highlights (I think black would be way too much).  Glossed, decaled and then sealed using Xtracrylix flat varnish.

 

This was the original Puff Gunship which started its life as a converted Mail Courier sporting a lovely NMF and white livery (1965).  It was repainted in the standard and familiar SEA TAC scheme in 1966.  Weathering is of a minimum as I wanted to depict it as it would of looked as it returned to operations with its new clothes.

 

I have an ESCI kit in the stash that will be built in a simlilar scheme but sporting a black belly.

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers all,

Phil

 

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Great looking model. Well done!

But I would have hated finding myself at the receiving end of the little black thinks protruding from the side....

JR

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Hello,Phil - The Dakota is a superb subject and what makes this build even more so is the brilliant job you’ve done with the paintwork.That freehand camouflage looks perfection to me.

All The Best,Paul.😉👍

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Fantastic model. The paintwork is excellent.

 

I've been reading about them recently and didn't realise that so many were shot down by ground fire - 12 out of the 40 or so that saw combat!

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Hi Phil!

Your Spooky is looking great!  Think I have the same kit in the stash for more than 25 years. Found it a little disappointing that Italeri only offered markings options for the early AC-47s as I would have prefered the version with the black belly to match better with the other two gunships.

Cheers, 

             Mario

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