1:144 Minicraft DC-6 with Draw Decals 'Cayman Airways Cargo'

[Viking]

I have always liked the big propliners that found work as cargo haulers when the new jets started taking all the prestige work with the major airlines in the 1960's and 70's. There are a few kits for the big Douglas airliners and Lockheed Constellation, mainly from Minicraft, and even fewer aftermarket decal sheets to put on them.

Having found Draw Decals sheet to Cayman Airways Cargo DC-6, I just had to have one. Both the kit and decal sheet were obtained at this years Telford and work started as soon as I got home. Decal sheet reviewed Here

Minicrafts kits can be a bit hit and miss in terms of accuracy but as a general rule those of Douglas aircraft are very good, whilst the Boeing subjects are less so.The Dc-4, DC-6, MD80's and particularly the DC-8 are excellent. The Boeing 737's are also good, but I feel that the 707, 727, 757, and 777 require a fair bit of work to improve them. Lucky for me then that I'm starting a DC-6!

The build is fairly straightforward. I started by scraping and sanding the insides of the wing trailing edges to refine them a bit, not strictly necessary but worth the effort. I also put in a strip of plasticard to act as a lip inside the fuselage where the wing trailing edge will meet.

The fuselage fits together nicely and even features a rudimentary flight deck.

Most work is on the engine cowlings which come in two halves each with a separate engine. Rather than fit all three together at once as suggested in the instructions, I just fixed the cowl halves together and let them dry.

It is then easy to sand the inside lips of the cowls with a bit of wet and dry paper wrapped around a paintbrush handle, and fix the engines in from behind by lightly sanding around the rim and push them in with a cocktail stick through the crankcase.

I fixed the cowlings on to the nacelles before fitting the wing, as they need a bit of filler all around and it is far easier to sand them without having the fuselage in the way.

I will attempt to keep the cockpit windows clear as I like the look better than using black decal, so the clear part was fitted and a white Milliput applied to fair it in. It is then sanded down to smooth the filler and join, and Micromesh cloths used to polish the windows back to full clarity.

At this point the wing can go on, and all is set aside to dry before more Milliput is used to blend the wing/fuselage join.

Thanks for looking,

John

[mitchem]

Watching this one with interest John - bound to be spectacular when it rolls off the production line.

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

[Viking]

A bit more progress, wing is on and all joints filled with Milliput and sanded.

I'm going to try and keep the cockpit windows clear and have masked them. I made the masks with a strip of tamiya tape on a piece of clear plasicard. Placed over the cockpit window decal on the Draw sheet, and cut around to produce a mask the matches the window decal.

A bit more filler needed on the underside wing/fuselage join. I have fixed the nose gear doors in place as I plan to use Alclad, and don't want to be messing the finish up later by trying to glue the doors on.

Halfords grey plastic primer from the rattle can sprayed on. Almsot certainly a ridge will build up around the cockpit masks, so I have removed them and smoothed them off with micromesh cloths. The rest of it smoothed with ultra fine steel wool.

[Edit] Forgot to say the cockpit masks are replaced and..[/Edit] Then a rattle can coat of Halfords 'Appliance White' all over. I'll leave it for a few days to harden off, then it will be masking time and Alcald being sprayed on.

Thanks for looking,

John

[woody37]

Coming on well John, it's a sweet looking liner

[mitchem]

"Then a rattle can coat of Halfords 'Appliance White' all over. I'll leave it for a few days to harden off....."

Looking good John, and thanks for the tip.

I've been modelling for more years than I care to remember, but I still can't find "Patience" on any of the on-line retailers' web-sites.

[Viking]

Slow but steady progress here. The cockpit windows are unmasked and have come out quite well.

It's now ready to have the white masked off, for which I made a photocopy of the decal sheet and cut the cheatlines out.

They are very useful as guides for where the masking should go, and are constantly used for checking.

Masking on, I've taken account of the turtles shell needing to have white under it. Hopefully this should all be in the right place when the decal goes on.

I've been modelling for more years than I care to remember, but I still can't find "Patience" on any of the on-line retailers' web-sites.

I've a solution to that mitchem, build several at once so that you can leave one (or two) to set/dry/solidify/whatever!

Now I need the engine nacelles to be black, and the rest to be in natural metal. So I figured it would be easier to do the black first, and the the silver. Plus black makes an excellent undercoat for silver. But I wasn't keen to use enamel black as it takes so long to dry and attracts dust.

So I had a go at using Citadel's 'Chaos Black' thinned 40% with warm water and airbrushed on.

It gave a lovely smooth finish - I'd say it was a success. But now I had to mask off the nacelles. Fast forward two hours;

At last! The Alclad can go on, and the masking come off.

My camera is struggling under artificial light in these dark eveneings, I'll get some better pics at the weekend. Trouble is I leave for work in the dark, and arrive home in the dark and never see daylight around my house until the weekend, so can only do pics in the evening under artificial light on weekdays.

Thanks for looking,

John

[pinky coffeeboat]

Coming on lovely, John.

I've got the same modelling frustration at the moment with leaving for work in the dark and coming home in the dark. Also, I'm not sure if I should be spraying primer and appliance white outdoors in this weather (cold, but dry), so I've got a stack of kits waiting to be progressed with rattle can painting.

Again, great work.

Jeff

[stringbag]

Lovely work as usual John but do me a favour and slow down a little. Give mere mortals like me a chance.

[mitchem]

I've a solution to that mitchem, build several at once so that you can leave one (or two) to set/dry/solidify/whatever!

Thanks for looking,

John

They're going to be corkers when they're finished John, and although I like the thought process behind building kits at the same time to let them have a chance to dry out, let me just say that building a couple of the same kits may not have been the best way I could have put your plan into action ! My three DC-8s are sucking the mojo out of me !

Still - watching yours coming along nicely while mine cure....

mike

[Viking]

Thanks for the comments, work proceeds slowly!

Jeff - I share your frustration with spraying from rattle cans in this cold weather.

Mike, been watching your DC-8s, it's inspired me to ask for one for Christmas. I'll do a shortened one, your Alitalia version is looking gorgeous.

Anyway, back on topic, a better picture of the basic airframe with some exhaust staining now added;

Got the undercarriage on now, and push fitted the props in just for a look-see of how its all coming together;

I'm now ready for the good bit - applying the decals. Draw decals are on an overall carrier film so you need to cut around each subject.

And at this point yesterday afternoon other duties called and had to go and sort out putting up the Christmas tree. Oh how pleased I was to do that, but If I want a DC-8 to come my way I had better join in the Christmas spirit!

Got one side on tonight, pics to follow when the rest are done.

Cheers

John

[mitchem]

Who needs decals ?

[goggsy]

Looks lovely, looking forward to see the decals on.

[snapper_city]

This is coming along great. Looking forward to seeing the decals on.

[jeewee]

Thats looking really great! Can't wait for the decals to come on.

Great stuff,

Jw

[Paul J]

Lovely scheme chosing and looking good. I have quiet a liking for the 6 so will keep tabs on the progress.

[Viking]

Finished!
Gone to Ready For Inspection

The main lesson I learned was 'fill the engraved door outlines before painting!'. I forgot and there is a faint outline of them under the big cargo doors.

Cheers

John