Paul J Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) These are my two for this GB. One has a scheme chosen but the other could be any of the others from the LE set or even one from a Whiskey Jack set.So many schemes ......The Morton one.Hmmm. A bit of a difficult one this. The diagram is from the Whiskey Decal insert showing the discrepancy of the Minicraft kit fin/rudder. Too much like hard work to rectify on a time scale so I have opted to put up and live with the kit as is.Work commenced. Shouldn't take too long in producing these as there are few parts in the kits. But its the painting and decalling which will be the most laborious I think. Mainly in choosing which option for my second one!By the way. If anyone is stuck for a scheme for their 1/144 build (if there is another out there?)I can spare the late Pacific Western option from the LE set. Or "maybe" one of the others. Or even the unwanted ones from the kits!! Edited April 20, 2014 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Welcome to the GB! Neat looking little kits. hmm some very tasty looking options on that decal sheet I'm looking forward to seeing these built up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham77 Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Watching with interest, am keen to add a 1/144 DC3 to the collection so will be interested how you find these and maybe if time at home permits I may try and join the build. Cheers Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 The airliner sig theme for SMW is Douglas Aircraft - I would mind betting there will be a few of these present I might add one to my to-do list for this gb actually, and with SMW in mind Might be worth pointing out that the Minicraft kit does have a couple of issues, the most obvious - when you build it - is the engines are too close to the fuselage so the props hit the fuse....how or if you fix it is up to you..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) Hi Kevin,(and all) I have built a couple before. The closeness of the engine to fuselage I hadn't noticed except by the props which I cropped a tad and will do so again here. I believe the kit is actually a scaled down 1/100th Nitto as all the things I noticed about that kit are repeated such as the wheel hub detail, windscreen size and angle, the fin, and all the surface detail. I'll live with most of this as overall its not too bad, but, there is always the Welsh Models kits but price wise....... Edited September 4, 2011 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Might be worth pointing out that the Minicraft kit does have a couple of issues, the most obvious - when you build it - is the engines are too close to the fuselage so the props hit the fuse....how or if you fix it is up to you..... Hi Kev, I hadn't noticed that about the engine positions either, so thanks for the heads-up. I have the Welsh Models kit as well so I will do a comparison and see what/how to resolve cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) I'm just back in from the 'shed' after doing a bit more work on my two. I think one other problem is the length of the nacelles around forward of the cooler intakes. Before adding the engines to these parts, they need about 1.0mm taken offdown to the oil cooler intakes on the underside! The whole length from the leading edge of the engine cowlings back to the LE of the wing looks too long. Too late for mine now but worth a mention I think. Edited September 4, 2011 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 In this size I'm not sure it needs fixing overall - from certain angles the kit reminds me of a curtiss commando so the shape isnt quite right, but overall it still looks close enough like a DC3. Props I guess trimming them slightly is the quickest fix, it's been a while since I built the two I have, one Pan Am, one BEA, but you convinced me...I'll add American Airlines to my build list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 A few pics of the two builds so far..... A bit of wing root filling due to short moulding... sliightly. And the underside... Back on top but the left side with windscreen blended in. This area will be replaced by decal. The number two build. This one in white plastic! And the chosen scheme.Decals by Whiskey Jack A bit of warpage. The underside. (Yawn...) Some paint on the number one build which was in grey plastic from the first issue of the kit with the PanAm, KLM and Swissair decals. The first one is cuddled up with tissue for the topside appliance white while on the right is the other still in bare plastic! The Morton one in progress with the light aircraft grey and white done.... ... and with the de-icer boots. Painted on freehand. So, I do things the hard way sometimes and too lazy to use decal trim or masking tape but not a bad result! Finally for now, the small bits prepainted and waiting to be fitted. Both sprues here. See you somewhen over the weekend maybe with more progress for the No1 build complete hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 (edited) Final image of finishing process and the finished article. First stage of decalling. I have to say this, but the S&M decals were fairly forgiving during application considering the printing. The windscreen decal was a bit problematical. On applying, I noticed the side windows ended up in a peculiar direction. I very carefully cut these off in situ with a new blade and transposed the positions from right to left and vice versa. Doing this positioned them the correct way. I also needed to add a white outline to these and from my stripy decal stock, found the narrowest stripes and cut them to size needed and Bobs your uncle, a neat window frame. This underside view is a bit fuzzy so I might replace. This last image shows my model posed infront of an image I found of the real thing at LGW. Its a nostalgia trip for me as these used to be a daily flyover where I used to live south of Horsham and is probably why I came to love the sound and sight of the DC-3 for ever! The S&M cheatline is a bit too long by the way and needed to be trimmed undr the tailplane where it went too far aft and to the tail/fuselage tip whereas it actually needs to stop midway under the tailplane. The crew door and cargo door decals were from the Leading Edge set and ones not used on a previously built model sometime ago. The kit only has the single passenger door and I needed to eradicate the engraved outline for this and some of the panel lines in roughly the area where the cargo door was to be. It worked out OK and for such a small model doesn't show up, but the decals go some way to enhance this area. I cropped the rather pointed tips of the props and rounded them off to better represent the HS props used. The small narrow window just above the cheatline was from a black stripe decal left over. The stripes were used to edge the de-icer boots as on closer inspection my freehand painting was not that good and showed in a 'prototype 'photo! Now I've posted up all the photos of my finished model I noticed I forgot to colour the exhausts! Oh well! Just one final anecdote, I found in my passenger flying log that I flew in 'MRA at North Weald Fighter Meet as a joy flight on the 28th June 1986 when operated by Air Atlantique!!!! Other DC-3s I've flown in were G-AGJV (Air Anglia, Greenham Common, 7/7/74), G-AMPY(Intra, Gatwick,local, 7/11/76), and G-AMSV on a day trip to Jersey from Eastleigh 30/04/83( which was sister ship to 'MRA while at Mortons!!). Edited September 15, 2011 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Thats very cool that you flew in that aircraft the you now have a model of. very nice by the way, the model looks great. kudos to your freehand de-icer boots on the leading surfaces, they look very neat indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 (edited) And here is my second (and last of my Dak kits in my stash!!!). Firstly a few pics of the build. There is not much to show of the build as there really isn't a lot. but the first pic shows how, by pencil mark, and where I adjusted the length of the too long nacelle of the 'Minigraft' kit. It needs to be shortened from forward of the oil cooler (on the underside) and is about a millimetre.( the un fitted part in lower part of pic).The engine and cowl is then fixed in place as per norm( The upper part of pic). This small mod makes an improvement to the overall look. The operation wasn't carried out on the Morton one though. The following images show various stages of painting and application of decals and this time black stripes to edge the dec-icer boots to the flying surfaces as opposed to hand painting up to a panel line!!! All I needed to do here was just paint up to the decal and this resulted in a nice sharp edge. There are few other in process images in post 1 of this thread showing the World Wide Airways decals by Whiskey jack. Edited September 14, 2011 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 (edited) And now some more of my finished DC-3 CF-JIZ. Other pics in the GB Dakota Gallery thread. Finally above the cabin, I added a couple of aerials from old tooth brush bristles! I quite like this scheme with the white around the nose trimmed in green and the red just adds to the periods colourul finish. As for the kit, I know it has shortfalls but it still captures the lovely looks of the DAK. Now these are done its time to go on and start the P-47s...... Edited September 15, 2011 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moofles Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Oh very nice, love them both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It'sAllGoneHorriblyWrong Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Lovely and colourful. And in this scale you could do a shelf full. Hmmm... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 (edited) One could! I see that leading Edge are going to re release their civvy Dak sheet with 5 options ( which I have) in 1/144 and 1/72. Good news. Edited September 15, 2011 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 Found 3 more pics of CF-JIZ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 It does look superb Two colourful Daks and I do love the rose on the rudder of the second one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 24, 2011 Author Share Posted September 24, 2011 I realise I shouldn't mention this here but as its a current GB and apt, I have a set of decals to 1/72 by S&M for G-AOBN the BUA Calibration Dak with dayglo/orange tail fin that operated from Gatwick up to the late 60's at least. If any one here who is thinking of doing a 1/72 build and stuck for an interesting marking scheme please PM me and we can sort out a deal for these. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev1n Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I'd be interested in the Pan Am and Eastern decals that came with your kits if you dont want them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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