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Airfix C47 BEA Dart Dakota G-AMDB


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Glad you flagged this one up to the front of the list again, Dansk. 

I've missed loads of the build. 

What an excellent result @janneman36, and an epic paint/decor job.

 

I had a mini success recently with de-icer boots on a foil wing, which might be useful for future reference. 

Took a piece of clear decal paper and sprayed it well with satin black rattle - can. 

I did a test piece with the corner and it worked well. 

So I measured up the wing leading edge and accurately cut 2 tapered strips, and slid them on. 

Perfect result. Lovely straight edges cut with a blade, no masking and no paint bleed. 

And no ripping up foil or decals. 

I plan to use the method by choice in the future.. 

 

Good luck with the final finish 

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On 7/22/2019 at 8:54 PM, Dansk said:

Hey Jan did you continue with the build? 

I would love to see how it ends up!

Hi Paul it stalled at the moment as i had a few holidays😎 and i don’t know at the moment if i am able to do it at the side from my Saturn project wich is for a club project and needs to be finished for the end of november...but it will be finished and i let you  know..

@rob Lyttle thank you for the nice words always appreciated..

Regarding those deicerboots i had the exactly same idea as you had but for me it was important that i held that very nice matt finish wich i like of the stynylrez matt black.

At first it was allready painted black before i even started the foiling but during the process i lost some paint as i had to redo certain area’s ...

The painting up front worked like a charm but because of my inexperience with the foil i had this marred at some point and solved in this manner.

 

cheers, Jan

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After the remark of Paul  and Rob the project started to itch again 😁

So i started to remove the foil and underlaying paint due to gassing of the resin wich created bubbels underneath my foil..

Probably this was due to the paint layer not thick enaugh at certain points or not there at all due to the polishing i did..

48363983387_9ceda784ee_b.jpg

 

Cheers, Jan

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Thank you @Nikolay Polyakov ...

A small update as the engines are primed again with allclad gloss black primer and i am happy with the result😀

There are a few superficial dustspecs on the paint and i still have to remove them.

I can buff it up a little and there is even a slight chance that am going to use the AK metalizer paste for this in order to avoid the bubbles under the the foil..

I allready used that paste to camouflage the damaged corners of the foil and was quite happy with the result ..

 

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 Cheers, Jan

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3 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Those side panels that take the impact of ice from the props are a bit redundant now. 

That is totally true but they kept those in place! Eventually they were reverted to piston power so maybe they thought it would be fine to leave em on for the two years they flew..

And thank you all for the nice comments this is always much appreciated and helps to push on😉

 

cheers, Jan

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9 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

So I guess it wasn't considered to be a successful trial overall? 

Depends on your definition of successful.

The Dart conversion wasn't intended to provide a Dart powered Dakota.

The Dakota was a convenient airframe available for trials to develop operational procedures for Dart powered aircraft, and for route proving trials prior to delivery and introduction to service of the Dart powered Vickers Viscount, which was in developement at the time. This shortened the introduction of the Viscount into service on suitable routes, and both BEA and Rolls Royce learned a lot about commercial operation of the Dart engine, so it was a successful trial for it's intended purpose.

The Viscount took over the passenger services previously operated by the Dakota, and full use of the Dart engines performance couldn't be achieved on Dakota passenger flights due to lack of pressurisation (pilots had to operate on oxygen at cruising altitudes) so the Dart Dakota was only ever operated on freight services. Once Viscounts were available to BEA, then the few pilots and engineers with Dart experience were required to introduce these into service. The installation of developement engines in the Dakota had introduced de-icing, water/methanol injection and other engine related problems. If the intention had been to convert the Dakota fleet to Dart power no doubt these issues could have been overcome relatively easily, but it wasn't, the airframes reverted to piston power and plodded on with the rest of the Dakota fleet until they were sold on in 1962.

As a long term permanent conversion to Dart power, no, it wan't successful, but as above, this was never the intention.

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Really nice work there, what glue did you use to attach the foil to the plastic? I really want to try this method myself but haven't tried it yet as I don't want to ruin a perfectly good model lol.

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12 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

So I guess it wasn't considered to be a successful trial overall? 

You have read the post of Dave and i don’t have anthything to add as that is the only true story as they were just paving the way into a new era👍

@Dave Swindell thank you for adding the full story ..

@Deano353 i use Microscale metal foil adhesive and this can be thinned down by water as well.

 

Cheers, Jan 

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16 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

So I guess it wasn't considered to be a successful trial overall? 

The conversion was not part of a trial to see if a turboprop powered DC-3 was feasible. The aircraft was converted to allow future Viscount crews experience in handling turbine engines. Once the first Viscounts began to enter the fleet, the need for the Dart Dakota faded and they were eventually "de-converted" back to piston power.

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8 hours ago, janneman36 said:

thank you for adding the full story ..

You're welcome, I've been lurking watching this one with interest, excellent progress so far.

I have the Welsh kit to do this in 1:144, though it may end up being used to convert the Roden kit.

I'll be doing G-ALXN, together with a standard Dakota G-ALXL - why those two? well one was named Charles Rolls, and the other Henry Royce, should make a nice pairing...

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/8/2019 at 8:17 PM, Moa said:

Wow! so beautiful, and what craftsmanship!

You inspired me Moa with your fabulous builds😎 in my eyes you are a true artist!

Small update again on those engines as i had finally the courage to polish it all with the AK silver color paste ...

I must say it is really easy to apply and to correct  if needed and how do i know 😆..

There is a small difference in shine on the pictures but that is because the end of the nacelles are aluminium  and overpolished due to the trial and error ...

I think that this will be less visible when they are being coated with a clear coat like the rest of the aircraft..

Thank you all for the great comments..

 

cheers ,  Jan

 

 

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14 minutes ago, janneman36 said:

in my eyes you are a true artist!

Jan, the feeling mutual.

(let´s not talk too much about feelings to the British, they get embarrassed).

I remember when we went to England to visit my wife's family and I started -in my native South American exuberance- to bestow big hugs and kisses upon all  present, to their dismay and discomfort 😳

 

 

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50 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

"I say, Mavis, that South American chap is a little Over the Top, don't you think??" 

"Yes Dear.... More than somewhat, I'd say.... Quite startling, really.

More tea....?" 

 

Wish I'd been there.... 😅

No doubt some dialog of that sort went on.

Still, they love me and actually correspond with me more than they do with my wife.

I guess it's a throwback to the exoticism of the colonies. Mystery and excitement!

 

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