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Entex Normandy C-47 ++FINISHED++


CliffB

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I would like to enter with this Entex kit from 1973 please.

 

P1100543.jpg

 

The box lid promises 'a lot of fun' and I was impressed by the fact that the kit is 'precolored'.  The only problem is, that colour is white!

 

P1100544.jpg

 

At first sight it looks like you are getting two kits for the price of one, but in fact it's just two alternative fuselages - one DC3 and one C-47.  The parts look nice, with recessed lines and quite a lot of internal detail (at least by 1/100 standards).

 

As I'm only ever likely to build one DC3/C-47, I thought I should go for the definitive version - an OD C-47 with invasion stripes.

 

P1100545.jpg

 

Fortunately, the decals look quite usable, so life should be good.

 

P1100546.jpg

 

See you at the start.

Cliff

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, stevej60 said:

That look's a cracking kit for it's age Cliff,be popping in on this one what scale is it?

Hi Steve and nice to have you along. 

I've yet to open the poly bags, but yes, so far the kit does look very promising ;)

It's 1/100 scale, which fits in nicely with most of the other stuff that I'm building at the moment.

 

 

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3 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

I have two of these not built, like this kit better than the 1/144. Much nicer kit.

That sounds encouraging then :)

I built a 1/144 scale Welsh Models C-47 (solid resin), years back.  It was nice enough, but expensive and rather too 'instant' for my taste (not much to assemble).

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The 1/144 kit (minicraft) one, has horrible wheels, that's the biggest problem with it, The Roden one looks good from pictures I've seen of it. Haven't seen the Welsh one yet. With a bit of work they can be nice. I bought the 1/100 ones because I want to make dios for them and the 1/72 ones would be to big for the dios I want.

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  • 2 weeks later...

With my Maritime Patrol Catalina out of the way, I thought I might start on this C-47.

 

First impressions are good.  There are mostly very fine recessed panel lines and things seem to fit OK.  The sprues are marked 'Nitto', so this probably explains the good news.

 

P1100575.jpg

 

You'll note though that there are no locating pins for lining up the fuselage halves, nor any support for the cockpit internals.  Just like a vac-form in fact (but without the sanding :winkgrin:).  So I'll be adding a few plasticard tabs to help.

 

Almost unheard of amongst my 1/100 builds, this one has a relatively detailed cockpit, which even includes an IP decal.  Just a couple of ejector pin marks to fill on the front bulkhead.

 

P1100576.jpg

 

You'll notice a couple of holes on the cockpit floor.  This is where the seats go and this is where things start to go slightly weird.  Is it me, or are these seats really small?

 

P1100577.jpg

 

Cheers

Cliff

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, CliffB said:

Is it me, or are these seats really small?

Yes seems like they're smaller than they should be. I wonder if its an optical illusion because of scale thickness of the plastic ? However once you close up the fuselage will it really matter or be seen ? 

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Yes seems like they're smaller than they should be. I wonder if its an optical illusion because of scale thickness of the plastic ? However once you close up the fuselage will it really matter or be seen ? 

You're right - the saving grace :)

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Not a bad kit as I remember A re-box of the Nitto . Went together reasonably well although it was some years ago I still have a Doyusha one ( same plastic I think ) which may make an appearance later so will be watching 

Martin H

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/18/2019 at 6:10 PM, Grandboof said:

Not a bad kit as I remember A re-box of the Nitto . Went together reasonably well although it was some years ago I still have a Doyusha one ( same plastic I think ) which may make an appearance later so will be watching 

Martin H

Hi Martin. Yes, I think you're right about the Nitto origins and also the Doyusha re-box.  It's certainly not a bad kit, but as you'll see, not perfect either!

 

On 2/18/2019 at 9:58 PM, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

A surprising amount of detail in this kit, having built a couple of the Italeri kit which lacks in the cockpit area.

Thanks Ray.  I've now painted up the cockpit and added the IP decal.  I'm still bemused by the 'micro-seats'.  You can see the back of the navigator's one in this photo.  It's tiny - some of the instrument faces are as big!

 

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Generally, everything seems to fit together OK, but I am having a problem with the fuselage halves. 

 

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Not only is there some distortion on the port half, but also that side of the nose is noticeably longer than the starboard.  Visually, the starboard looks the more accurate profile to me, so I'll have to sand the port side to match. It's going to be touch and go on the thickness of the plastic however, so I've reinforced the inside with some epoxy putty.

 

P1100591.jpg

 

I've also made a start on the glazing.  Two sets of cabin windows are provided: solid for the DC-3 and perforated for the C-47 (I'm assuming these are rifle ports?).

 

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Finally, here's another oddity - the tail wheel.....

 

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The part has a strange lump moulded on the top.  It looks as though it should locate into something within the fuselage, but there is nothing.  The lump seems to have no purpose, other than to prevent you from fitting the tail wheel after the fuselage halves have been put together. I shall cut it off ;)

 

Cheers

Cliff

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11 hours ago, CliffB said:

  Two sets of cabin windows are provided: solid for the DC-3 and perforated for the C-47 (I'm assuming these are rifle ports?).

I think those were air vents ? You could spin them to open or close ?  

AvRkYf9.jpg

 

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Not 100% sure but i believe thats what they are. The DC-3’s had a vent duct above the windows and thats not in any of these photo’s. 

 

Dennis

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52 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I think those were air vents ? You could spin them to open or close ?  

Not 100% sure but i believe thats what they are. The DC-3’s had a vent duct above the windows and thats not in any of these photo’s. 

 

Dennis

That makes sense.  A pity though - a broadside would have been pretty impressive......

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8 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Cliff, you were correct on the ports in the cabin windows, they were for sticking rifles out of for self-protection.

Thanks for the clarification Ray :thumbsup2:

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I've just realised that the C-47 represented by this kit is actually a museum piece at the Airborne Museum at Saint-Mere-Eglise in France.

Here's a link to the appropriate web page.  Here's a further link that takes you to the history of this particular aircraft.

 

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Hi folks - here's a quick update.

 

P1100597.jpg

 

Like others in this GB, I inserted the windscreen and cockpit assembly after the fuselage halves were joined together.  All went together OK with no dramas.

Not long now until some paint :)

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On 2/28/2019 at 7:28 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I stand corrected

I heard the story of guys piddling out those holes in the windows, or at least trying, a bit cold. Don't know how true it is but it was told to me as a heard story from vets, wouldn't be surprised given most males mentality.

Edited by busnproplinerfan
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On 3/5/2019 at 11:38 PM, Dansk said:

Looking good cliff. It’ll be exciting to see it wear olive drab and invasion stripes next.

Thanks Paul.  I must say though, that I'm a bit nervous about relying on decals for the invasion stripes (particularly the ones which wrap round the fuselage and over the fin)

On 3/5/2019 at 11:48 PM, busnproplinerfan said:

I heard the story of guys piddling out those holes in the windows, or at least trying, a bit cold. Don't know how true it is but it was told to me as a heard story from vets, wouldn't be surprised given most males mentality.

No comment! :winkgrin:

22 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Coming along nicely Cliff.

Thanks Steve, I've been distracted by my F-15 Trainer of late, but having got that out of my system I'm back on to the C-47 now.  I should have the primer on today.

 

Cheers

Cliff

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OK, so not the most stimulating of photos, but I always like it when I first see my models homogenised under a coat of primer.

 

P1100599.jpg

 

 

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