Minicraft Douglas DC-8s in 1/144 - FINISHED !...

[mitchem]

Back in July 2010, I started designing some decals for the CargOman Douglas DC-8 on this very web-site.

While scratching through my lap-top recently, I stumbled on the unfinished design and with the re-release of the Minicraft DC-8, I figured out that it would be rude not to have a go at building one. Unfortunately, I deliberately ordered two of the blighters and then "accidentally" ordered a set of Ray's excellent Air Zaire decals as well (if you get my drift) !!!

So here we have it :

DC-8-63 of Air Zaire, DC-8-55 of CargOman and a DC-8-43 of another airline (Couldn't stop myself from ordering another Minicraft kit - they look brilliant !)

So while I'm waiting for the resin engines to arrive, time to cut up the fuselages :

DC-8-63 on top, fuselage cuts made (to make a DC-8-55) in the middle, and one I already glued together to make a DC-8-43 at the bottom.

This is going to be madness (and slow)......

Wish me luck.

Edited May 3, 2014 by mitchem

[keefr22]

Good luck!

Looking forward to seeing this lot on the table...!!

k

[mitchem]

...and they're off !

-63 ahead by a nose from the -55 followed closely by the -43 :

Made some bulkheads, buttoned up the fuselages and gave the cockpit areas a lick of paint. (Punters tip : if you're going to have a go at shortening the fuselage on these kits, I'd recommend gluing the three bits together to make a half before gluing the halves together. on the -43 (right hand side) I made one half and then tried to glue three separate bits to it. Unfortunately, I found the plastic to be a bit springy and it wasn't as easy as I thought. Luckliy 240 grit came to the rescue as it always does !)

Comments welcome.

mike

Edited April 22, 2013 by mitchem

[keefr22]

Why don't you do it properly & use 120 grit....??!!

Looking forward to seeing these done, always liked the -8

[stringbag]

Hi Mike.

Looking forward to these progressing. As a matter of interest, what engines are you proposing to use? I need some myself but haven't found anything up to now.

All the best.

Chris.

[madaboutmodels]

looking very good!!!

Im going to do a couple Minicraft DC-8's

[mitchem]

Hi Mike.

Looking forward to these progressing. As a matter of interest, what engines are you proposing to use? I need some myself but haven't found anything up to now.

All the best.

Chris.

Hi Chris.

Apologies for the delay in responding but I've been waiting for some of the engines to arrive.

F-resin DC-8-30* engines on the left and Contrails DC-8-50/61 engines on the right

*Yes, I know they're not the right engines for the -43 that I've got in mind, but they're near enough for an accuracy-heathen like me !

Both sets of engines will need a bit of cleaning up, and although the moulding on the Contrails bits are a bit rough in places, they're way better than starting from scratch with polystyrene tube and filler.

Edited May 5, 2013 by mitchem

[stringbag]

Thanks Mike.

I'll wait and see how they turn out and then decide which to go for.

Good luck

Chris.

[mitchem]

Moving on (very slowly), I knuckled under the pressure and bought myself a cutting device for making my own masks.

So.....we've got the -43 in the middle (waiting for the canopy section to be added and faired in), the -63 at the top (with the canopy section fitted and faired in and with my masks attached - just awaiting paint) and the -55 at the bottom (painted and masks removed)

It's amazing how the camera picks up the faults. I can see that the -55 could do with a bit of polishing to remove the paint ridges.

Of course, I couldn't resist the temptation to cut out two of the schemes with the cutter and then try them out on the tails :

-63 at the top, -43 in the middle and -55 at the bottom. (The -55 has some filler on the leading edge of the tail which needs to be sanded flush)

Must stop playing with the cutter and get back to the models !

[halcyonjet]

Looking very good. Any chance of letting us know what the mysterious 'cutter' is, as the CargOman titles look superb!

Dave

[mitchem]

Cheers Dave.

The cutter is the Silhouette Cameo and it's usually used for card crafts (and other things). It comes with software and is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. Once you have the image loaded, all you have to do is trace around the outline (one button operation) and then hit the cut button. The little machine does the rest.

I use Ultra Mask film (it's like a thin vinyl) for making the masks. I've used them here to make masks for the wheel hubs before spraying the tyres - not something I'd normally do as it takes all the fun out of licking my own chin when I'm trying to brush paint the tyres without going over the rims !

[Colin @ Freightdog Models]

Love the Cargoman scheme, I spent three years between 1989-92 dispatching Z-WMJ (ex A40-PA) with Affretair at Gatwick twice a week, Afrettair's DC-8's where the shiniest ones I ever worked with. I have a photo somewhere with Gulf War 'mission markings' (thirteen yellow camels I think) that where painted on the nose by the door in 1991. Cargoman was before my time but I'm pretty sure it was Jack Malloch's flag of 'sanctions busting' convenience to keep freight moving from Amsterdam into Rhodesia via Oman.

Colin

[mitchem]

You're right Colin !

Jack was heavily involved in 'sanctions busting' and the CargOman DC-8-55F was one of his. (It was purchased from Seaboard World Airways by Affretair (Jack's freight airline) in 1972 and was originally registered in Gabon as TR-LRQ. IN 1977 it was "leased" to CargOman (dare I say Jack's freight airline ?) and flew with them until 1982 when it was returned to Affretair, re-registered as VP-WMJ and had the name "Capt. Jack Malloch" painted under the windscreen on the port fuselage. In 1983, it was re-registered again as Z-WMJ before being sold to Trans Air Cargo Service in 1997. It was eventually scrapped in 2005 in Kinshasa after having flown for nearly 40 years.

The aircraft used to be parked up behind Affretair's hangar at Salisbury airport during the day and then leave under the cover of darkness at 3am to head north and do it's stuff - 'Busting Sanctions' !

Jack had quite a colourful life. After being accepted by the RAF in 1943, he received his wings and was sent to war in December 1943. He was one of the original ferry pilots who flew the Spitfire Mk.22 from the UK to Southern Rhodesia in March 1951. Unfortunately, after an extensive flying career, Jack perished at the controls of his recently renovated Spitfire Mk.22 in March 1982. (If anyone's interested, there's a video of the restoration available on Youtube "Spitfire : The Pursuit of a Dream" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WLxrePTYp0 )

Edited July 9, 2013 by mitchem

[snapper_city]

Cool build. Hooked till the end.

[halcyonjet]

The cutter is the Silhouette Cameo and it's usually used for card crafts (and other things).

Thanks for the information -looks like something else I need/must have lol.

Dave

[mitchem]

Shoot ! Really got bogged down with this build. Still asking myself if I really needed to try and build three of them at the same time ? Did I really need to prove to myself that I can't multi-task ?

Anyway, got a bit fed up with staring at three white fuselages on the work-bench, so I decided to give myself a KUTA and test drive my home-made decals on the CargOman -55 :

Now I know where the demarcation line needs to go on the lower fuselage, I'll strip the decals off and put the replacements on when the paintwork is finished.

Onward and upward, hey ?

mike

Edited September 28, 2013 by mitchem

[stringbag]

What a cracking job Mike.

Looking forward to more progress.

Chris.

[keefr22]

Strewth, forgotten all about these - how long did it take you to clean the cobwebs off - it's looking very shiny!! Still no joy with the replacement engines?

You bringing the Antonov down next Wednesday - I'm guessing you must have finished it seeing as how you're back to Douglas' finest?!

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Nice work, You are making great progress.

[madaboutmodels]

Looking very good!

Keep it going!!!

[MikeW]

Hint Hint - any progress here? I am really interested in what you could do with the Contrails engines - I mangled a set onto a United bird, and more than just sketchy skills, they just don't look right somehow.

( I am halfway through the Air Rhodesia 720 currently - without your knowing it at the time of course, you were the inspiration for that one )

Cheers,

Mike

[mitchem]

Thanks for the interest Mike. The engines......???

I was a bit worried with the Contrail engines as they looked a bit plump to me. Having been really impressed with the resin engines on the Welsh Models Boeing 720 kit, I took some desperate measures to get my grubby hands on the resin engines from their Iberia DC-8-55 kit. Let's just say I wish I hadn't. They're nice, but to be honest, there wasn't much difference between the two. Yes, the Welsh Models engines looked a bit narrower, but the Contrail's engines had the edge with regards to details. To top it all, the Welsh Models engines involved a lot more work than I bargained for as I had to make new pylons for them, and once that had been done, I then had to cut slots in the wings to fit them in. Once that had been done, I couldn't get the "angle of the dangle" right. so I had to resort to cutting the inboard engines off their pylons before re-attaching them after some judicious filing and sanding.

Well I got there in the end (in spite of my best efforts) and I've painted them up using Alclad shades but I'm thinking that the contrast between the polished aluminium on the front of the cowlings and the steel shade behind is a little too stark for my liking. I'm thinking a trip back to the paint-shop is in order.

Anyway, I've dry-fitted the wings and engines onto the Alitalia -43 for a quick look-see :

Comments and advice welcome.

mike

[Jessica]

Well those are the fan engines from a -50 series DC-8, so they wouldn't be on a -43. The colours look fantastic though.

[MikeW]

"Angle of the dangle" - Hope you don't mind if I borrow that expression at some time - perfect summation.

Like the engine colour too - there never seemed to be anything subtle, and colour coded, on old DC-8 engines.

What I really like though, is the attachment / blending job you've achieved with the top part of the 'over the wing' pylons. A very flimsy part to be filling and sanding around - I ended up with strategic gaps between upper wing surface and pylons on my attempt.

Cheers,

Mike

[MikeW]

Just received a new pack of contrails DC-8-50 engines to convert a DC-8 to an Aero Mexico aircraft.

What a difference - the first set I bought ( same eBay seller ) some years back, I almost needed an oxy-acetyline torch to clean up, and the package the mailman brought me today, I could snap off the the flash with my fingers, and have it ready to go.

Lovin' life,

Cheers,

Mike