Berlin Airlift C-47 1:72 (assigned to the shelf of doom) Reborn, and now FINISHED*

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Paul

 I am very pleased to read that you are going to build the Airfix C47 , I am sure that you will enjoy your build ..

 

Patrice

 

[Dansk]

3 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning Paul

 I am very pleased to read that you are going to build the Airfix C47 , I am sure that you will enjoy your build ..

 

Patrice

 

Thanks for the good vibes Patrice 👍

[Dansk]

I’ve have a lot of restored mojo with the prospect of the new exciting kit arriving any day. Yay.


I couldnt really do so much on it while waiting - but i did start on the aftermarket wheels.
To my untrained eyes the aires just look better size wise, they are chunky and feel right - although the eduards are weighted nicely and the details are more precise and accurate, but they feel a bit too small. So i went with my gut and prepped the aires in primer.




So i’ll just wait for the kit now i thought...

...but i know i’ve always wanted to try chipping with hairspray - i’m gonna do some experimenting on the now defunct hobbyboss kit so thats got some paint and hairspray variations ready for testing. 



So i’ll just wait for the kit now i thought...


....but while twidling my thumbs waiting for the postman with the dak i figured i’d get out the airfix ‘autocar’ tractor unit - just to casually see what could have been if the ambitious project had gone as planned. 

Well the autocar kit is beautifully made so i started putting a few bits together just for fun... 
In no time at all without any problems i had most of the chassis built so i continued on with assembling a few cab parts and priming it all.

 

 

....While i was at it i thought lets see how the trailer unit looks....
The quality is a long way from airfix...




....but anyway i started building this too to see how it would look. Well same thing again, it kinda built itself fuss free. Only thing was i needed to scratch a fold-down back, this came out ok even the (not sanded properly by me) rough surface looked like abused wood a bit. 



so everything was going splendidly and really fast. I was on a roll....

So i’ll just wait for the kit now i thought...

...So then, what the heck - let’s get those wooden (resin) boxes out, after a tedious ten minutes of de-flashing all 8 million of them i then primed them!



So really quite by accident this stuff all started coming together by itself 



- So now i can consider making the tempelhof scene again but lets see how time plans out with the dak itself - that’s the priority.

....Speaking of which this package arrived just now. Hurrah!



(But hmmmm... I ordered the mk iv on the website but this came instead. No matter - same same i think?) @janneman36you will know

Sorry for the text-heavy post - onwards with the build.... 🛫

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Dansk

[janneman36]

@Dansk yes Paul it is exactly the same kit...glad t oo see that your mojo arrived ...

Nice work on that truck so far!

 

cheers, Jan 

[Dansk]

Evening all.
I managed to grab a whole bunch of time for modelling this weekend.
The airfix kit is really nice to work on. I’m glad i did this. So much fun.


First off:
Reduced the ejection pins and a bit dodgily replaced the structure where there wasnt any.
Nowhere near perfect but it’ll do.


(Primed below)




Put a hole where there should be glass and i couldnt resist a bit of homemade soundproofing here and there again to make it less plasticy although never to be seen.







Painted and futured lots of boxes.

 

I will give the boxes some washes next.

Busied up the radials with some wonky ignition cables and busied up the wheel wells a bit.











I experimented with chipping on the old hobbyboss wings. I’ve never done this before but it’s fun - but very hit or miss - i think its an art one has to learn. Sometimes it looks rubbish sometimes it looks good.

 

 

Applied the same technique to the airfix interior.
Painted things silver over a primer and then hairsprayed and then painted green let it dry for a while and chipped it off after soaking in water.

So everything looks a bit bashed. But i think maybe chipping works best on big flattish surfaces but Its now got a coat of future and i’ll try a wash on it after that.
(Looks like the new plan of sealing the aircraft closed has gone out of the window)

(Still gotta do the cargo hold floor)

 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by Dansk

[janneman36]

Doing well i think with this one, nice progress and i hope you enjoy the kit 😉

 

cheers, Jan

 

 

 

[Dansk]

11 minutes ago, janneman36 said:

Doing well i think with this one, nice progress and i hope you enjoy the kit 😉

 

cheers, Jan

 

 

 

Yes Jan much better!

[Dansk]

A bunch of stuff done tonight
my boxes are all done and matt coated.
I think they came out ok.

 

I built one of the resin crew.
The ww2 resin ground crew figures look awesome by eye IRL.
but they are just so small (his head is as thick as a cocktail stick) that when you shoot them macro they look absolutely ridiculous. 
This kung fu karate guy’s expression is hilarious. I think when i try and paint him he’s gonna look even worse.

I tried with another arm to cut off a hand and rotate it and stick it back on so it would be better for holding the box. But the hand shot out of my pincers at mach 2 never to be seen again. I didnt dare do it again so i might hide one hand under the box.

He’s gonna be at the dak cargo door passing over boxes. He sits here on the old hobbyboss decking.

 

 

I have been weathering this old workhorse, a greasy wheel bay dry fit here...

 

 

.... and dirty cowlings and bulkheads. 

 

(Still gotta do the floor)
I think the soundproofing behind the bulkhead is working here.

 

Maybe the weathering on the fuselage interior is too heavy? A lot will be hidden by boxes and kung fu guy but it looks really really trashed here - maybe I should bring that back a whole lot now i see it on screen. The camera does intensify the contrast - its less hard contrast in reality, but still very weathered. 

 

 

(Note to self: stop mucking around with the interior and get on with the outside.)

 

 

All thoughts, criticism, advice, comments and opinions welcome 👍

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Dansk

[Dansk]

This evening i’ve subdued the inner fuselage weathering. I felt it was too much yesterday even though this will be a heavily used workhorse.

 

And made the cargo hold flooring.

 

 

 

 

The interior was dry fit and is now mated to the starboard fuselage.

 

I reused the hobbyboss seats as its near on impossible to make out their detail through the cockpit glass, and i reused (albeit slightly trimmed to fit) the photoetch IP. Again this can’t be seen even with the rear doors open and peering up. For this reason i left out the control yokes and engine levers.
But i did steal the stars and stripes newspapers from the hobbyboss as they where made already and it’s a fun easter egg on the navigators table.

 

Next up i guess putting a bunch of boxes in the hold and painting and installing kung fu guy (although i may leave him ‘til the end of the build as i find it daunting to paint a figure having not done one before and it will probably look utter rubbish)

 

Thanks for reading if you did

Edited March 19, 2019 by Dansk

[janneman36]

I did read it and i like what you are doing so keep the good work Paul !

 

cheers, Jan

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Paul

 Very good job on the interiror and when I see all the weathering job you have done I guess that you are going to have fun weathering the outside ...

 

All the best

Patrice  

[Dansk]

7 hours ago, janneman36 said:

I did read it and i like what you are doing so keep the good work Paul !

 

cheers, Jan

 

1 hour ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning Paul

 Very good job on the interiror and when I see all the weathering job you have done I guess that you are going to have fun weathering the outside ...

 

All the best

Patrice  

Thanks a lot chaps

Yes i can't wait for the outside Patrice! 🙂

 

[TEMPESTMK5]

59 minutes ago, Dansk said:

 

Thanks a lot chaps

Yes i can't wait for the outside Patrice! 🙂

 

Hi Paul

I must say that I can't wait to see the result of your paint job  ..

 

Patrice

[Dansk]

My daily update:

The evenings work here:

 

 

I tried a technique i’ve seen to create glazing for the new window i’d opened up by filling it with pva glue. The glue dried clear and looks pretty much like the kit glazing it works quite well.

 

Stuck a load of boxes in place...

 

 

 

 

 

... with the rear doors open You can actually sort of see them and all the way up to the bulkhead (if you ever felt like squinting up there.)

I’m not totally convinced kung fu guy and his buddies are the right scale even though they should be, i know they are on their resin bases but they all feel a bit big(?) 

(still not excited about the thought of doing the figures)

 

And the radials are nestled in their little homes

 

 

 

Hopefully soon onto the outside.

 

I’m really enjoying this airfix kit! Glad I restarted the project with it.




 

Edited March 20, 2019 by Dansk

[Paul821]

Congrats on getting this build back on track, your work to date is great. and I look forward to developments.

 

18 minutes ago, Dansk said:

tried a technique i’ve seen to create glazing for the new window i’d opened up by filling it with pva glue.

I've used this before, often for parts lost to the carpet monster, but now rather than use PVA glue, which can be hit and miss, I use Deluxe Materials "Glue 'N' Glaze, which has never let me down.

[Dansk]

19 minutes ago, Paul821 said:

Congrats on getting this build back on track, your work to date is great. and I look forward to developments.

 

I've used this before, often for parts lost to the carpet monster, but now rather than use PVA glue, which can be hit and miss, I use Deluxe Materials "Glue 'N' Glaze, which has never let me down.

Thanks Paul, sounds like i should invest in that. Do you have a pic / link of where you’ve used it?

[janneman36]

Hi Paul,

 

i think your kung fu mate is a tat big but his collegue would be perfectly fine as i also need to bend when entering  a Dakota 😁

And i am 1,79 in the metric system...

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Im 6’7” tall and have been inside both C-47’s and DC-3’s on a few occasions. I can tell you they're definitely not spacious. I believe the interior of the C-47 at its maximum width is 99”. If thats the case you could measure the interior of the kit. Then figure out if its 99”. If it is use the measurement, and measure the two standing figures. It should give you a rough idea of how tall they are, and how tall the interior is ?  

[Dansk]

I forgot to measure the little fellas this evening but i decided To follow your lead (copy you 😁) building the wings prior to the fuselage @janneman36



Also I found a cheapskate way to make the lights look half decent.
I cut off two bits of rounded end clear sprue...




...and sanded the sharp points down.
when they’re in place behind the clear part i think they will do the job actually.






 

[janneman36]

Great idea about those lights it is something that i might borough😉

By the way remember  to put the wings against your fairing when you have glued it on the fuselage in order to position them correctly and get a smooth fitting joint..

I must say you are on the roll with this beauty ...

 

cheers, Jan

[Liam Harrison]

So you've decided against modelling hundreds of individual bottles of milk?? Shame!

 

Looking great! I'm glad you found a way to continue your build.

[Dansk]

50 minutes ago, Liam Harrison said:

So you've decided against modelling hundreds of individual bottles of milk?? Shame!

 

Looking great! I'm glad you found a way to continue your build.

Haha, There’s still opportunity to stick a couple of cows and a camel in there 😁

[Dansk]

20 hours ago, janneman36 said:

Great idea about those lights it is something that i might borough😉

By the way remember  to put the wings against your fairing when you have glued it on the fuselage in order to position them correctly and get a smooth fitting joint..

I must say you are on the roll with this beauty ...

 

cheers, Jan

Bit confused jan, does one construct the fuselage and fairings first, 

then use them to align the wing upper surfaces,

then glue and mate the upper wing surfaces with the lower wing surfaces (once aligned) 

then the wings and the fuselage can be seperated until mated at a later time when necessary -is that the plan?

[janneman36]

1 minute ago, Dansk said:

Bit confused jan, does one construct the fuselage and fairings first, 

then use them to align the wing upper surfaces,

then glue and mate the upper wing surfaces with the lower wing surfaces (once aligned) 

then the wings and the fuselage can be seperated until mated at a later time when necessary -is that the plan?

I do the fairings first and align them against the constructed wings ..

this was for me the way with dealing to construct the wing  on forehand without having too much attached on the fuselage during construction and also to clean the fuselage on the inside wich couldn’t be done when attaching it after everything would be installed as i don’t have the military seats installed..

 

cheers, Jan

 

 

[Dansk]

2 minutes ago, janneman36 said:

I do the fairings first and align them against the constructed wings ..

this was for me the way with dealing to construct the wing  on forehand without having too much attached on the fuselage during construction and also to clean the fuselage on the inside wich couldn’t be done when attaching it after everything would be installed as i don’t have the military seats installed..

 

cheers, Jan

 

 

Ah - makes sense, now i know what you mean. Thanks!

By the way while we’re dialoguing, i’m gonna attempt to rivet this with a riveter tool.

Do you know good reference for a daks rivet pattern?