GliderGuider Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 19 September, 1944. British and Polish Airborne forces are surrounded by Germans around Arnhem. That afternoon the RAF mounts a major resupply operation. 164 aircraft approach the drop zone at 1,500 feet. German defences open fire, and Dakota KG374 is hit twice in the starboard wing. The flak gunners concentrate their fire on the damaged Dakota. Its pilot, Flight Lieutenant David Lord, checks on his crew. Fortunately they have all escaped injury. The navigator, Flight Lieutenant Harold King, informs Lord the drop zone is three minutes away. The number 2 engine is burning intensely but the crew decides to press on. Lord takes the Dakota down to 900 feet to allow the supplies to be dropped more accurately. A couple of minutes later KG374 has dropped supplies to the beleaguered troops - but two containers remain on board. Lord circles around for eight minutes to join another formation dropping supplies, still under constant fire and with the engine burning fiercely, and makes the second drop successfully. Lord remains at the controls to allow the crew time to bail out of the crippled Dakota. King helps the other crew with their parachutes, but suddenly the crippled Dakota breaks up, flinging King out. King parachutes to safety but sadly the other five crew members are killed. King is taken prisoner of war. Flight Lieutenant David Lord is awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his skill and bravery. Lord's aircraft, KG374, will be the subject of my group build. Being a relative newbie it's also my first group build and first work in progress on any forum so wish me luck and I hope you enjoy following the build! Image below courtesy Gary Eason's Flight Artworks website. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 I hope you all enjoyed that bit of history. Now to the kit! It's an Airfix 1/72 Dakota: I've also purchased some other goodies to go with it: I'm about to start assembling those 26 seatbelts. I know I won't be able to see them once she's built, but at least I'll know they are there!!! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Beautiful tribute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 20 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Beautiful tribute Thanks, I always like to spend some time researching so I can find some really inspirational subjects to build. It's amazing what some of these crews went through - and I'm not just referring to just the VC winners either. Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Good morning Matt Very good tribute to some very brave men .. Have fun I will follow your build . Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Hi Mat. Great subject to model, I built the model many years ago using the old Airfix kit. One thing that I remember was a very good 4 page article in the IPMS magazine by Neil Robinson for their D Day 50th Anniversary issue in March 1994, I found this very interesting. One of our IPMS members may have a copy. Robin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 A great tribute story. I'll be following this build for sure. One suggestion, if I may. Can you post larger pictures, like in the 800x600 size. I want to be able to see your build properly. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 Thanks Patrice, Robin and Chris! 7 hours ago, dogsbody said: One suggestion, if I may. Can you post larger pictures, like in the 800x600 size. I want to be able to see your build properly. How am I supposed to hide my mistakes if I post large pictures?! In all seriousness though thanks for the suggestion and I'll do that - it looks like Flickr compressed the images after uploading so it's probably my inexperience with Flickr showing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Flickr does give you some options for posting size. I don't know if you're using a PC or phone/pad. I can use my IPad but I normally use my PC. This is about the size you used: This is the 800x600 range: And this is the 1024x800 range. I usually use this size. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I just thought I’d try my iPad and have noticed that all my above pictures all look the same size. Weird! I’ll try posting a picture from Flickr using this pad. Okay, so you don’t get a posting size option using the IPad. It still looks to be a good size, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 47 minutes ago, dogsbody said: noticed that all my above pictures all look the same size Im finding that as well ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Army_Air_Force Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Just spotted this thread and by coincidence, just shared this picture of the grave of Flt Lt Lord VC with a friend in Arnhem. I was reminding him that it was 12 years since we Jeeped and Dodged around the sites of conflict around Arnhem Watching the thread with interest. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Im finding that as well ? But only on my IPad. On my PC screen, there are 3 sizes of pictures. The handheld devise must even it out somehow. Frikkin' electronic magic! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 Thanks for the info Chris, but just a suggestion, maybe we should take any Flickr discussion somewhere like this post? 2 hours ago, Army_Air_Force said: Just spotted this thread and by coincidence, just shared this picture of the grave of Flt Lt Lord VC with a friend in Arnhem. I was reminding him that it was 12 years since we Jeeped and Dodged around the sites of conflict around Arnhem Watching the thread with interest. Wow, I would love to do that sometime. Thanks for the pic! Anyway I've been making some good progress the last couple of days so will post an update on this hopefully this afternoon! Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 15 hours ago, GliderGuider said: Thanks Patrice, Robin and Chris! How am I supposed to hide my mistakes if I post large pictures?! In all seriousness though thanks for the suggestion and I'll do that - it looks like Flickr compressed the images after uploading so it's probably my inexperience with Flickr showing. No worries! I was just trying to help a fellow member with picture posting issues. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 Right, technical issues aside I hope (thanks again Chris for pointing these out), so finally I can post some progress! I have painted the seats (Humbrol 226) and have started adding the seatbelts. And I've glued the seats onto the fuselage side. The other side is in progress. So far it looks as if I will be able to see these through the windows after all so I'm glad I made the effort. I'm also glad Eduard gives a couple of spare seatbelts...... More to follow across the weekend. Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 I'm starting to do some dry fitting now. Here's the cabin floor, painted in Humbrol 156, with a couple of bulkheads. Looks nice to me. What's that you say? A bit too clean for a military transport? Oh, OK then... To achieve this effect I used some thinned matt black and dark grey, and some Vellejo "mud and grass". It's just dabbed about here and there, washed into the recesses, and generally wiped around a bit. Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Nice! And good sized pictures. My old eyes can see details now. One suggestion, if I may. Knowing the close tolerances in some of the newer Airfix kits, maybe removing the paint from the edges of the floor and bulkheads might help when joining the fuselage halves together. I did that with my Hurricane, following earlier warnings from other modellers, and I didn't have any real issues. Just a quick swipes with some fine grade sandpaper and it was done. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 Here's a very quick update with today's progress. I've assembled most of the bulkheads now, and started on the instrument panel and cockpit area. And, I've just been doing some dry fitting to make sure it all goes together. You may also notice a few worn paint (i.e. a bit of aluminium paint) around the fuselage sides. From googling Dakota cockpit images I've noticed some of them get very worn, not surprising given that these aircraft were real workhorses. And finally... 13 hours ago, dogsbody said: One suggestion, if I may. Knowing the close tolerances in some of the newer Airfix kits, maybe removing the paint from the edges of the floor and bulkheads might help when joining the fuselage halves together. I did that with my Hurricane, following earlier warnings from other modellers, and I didn't have any real issues. Just a quick swipes with some fine grade sandpaper and it was done. Chris Thanks, great suggestion and I have started doing this. So far from dry fitting with all the main interior parts (floor and bulkheads) inside, the fuselage fits together with no gaps whatsoever. This should save lots of cursing later! Hopefully I'll be back with some more progress on the cockpit during the week. Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Good morning Matt Very good job so far.. Cheers Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 Hi everyone, A couple more pictures of progress on the cockpit. I used Eduard's photo etch to replace the kit throttle controls, which was quite challenging with my eyesight but I'm quite happy with it (actually I'm amazed the throttle levers didn't all end up lost on the carpet!). I just have a couple more bits of photo etch to put in on the cockpit side walls then I'll be able to glue the fuselage halves together. All the best, Matt On 2/17/2019 at 7:27 PM, TEMPESTMK5 said: Good morning Matt Very good job so far.. Cheers Patrice Thanks Patrice. I'm really enjoying being part of this group build, it's inspiring me to try and put a bit more effort into the little details and try some new techniques. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Good morning Matt Very good job on the cockpit especially in using the Eduard throttles levers.. My eyesight is not very good and I use Tamiya Head Magnifier .. Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Hi everyone, I'm now up to the stage where I can reveal how well (or not) I followed Chris' advice (above) on assembling an Airfix kit given the tolerances they manufacture their kits with. But along the way I'm going to demonstrate his point. But first, I mentioned I was going to do some more photo etch in the cockpit - I've added the cockpit sidewall and overhead instruments. Then, I thought I'd do some dry fitting. By this stage I had sanded down the bulkheads and floor a little. Without the interior parts the fuselage fits fairly well. Maybe it could line up a little better along the top seam, but nothing too serious. But with the interior parts added... ouch! As you can see a fair bit of sanding may be required to get this kit fitting properly. So, I got to work sanding the main bulkhead (part C4) and the floor. And here has been my Sunday so far. Sand, dry-fit, sand, procrastinate. Walk away. Sand, dry-fit, sand, procrastinate. Walk away. Repeat a few more times. Anyway, after still more procrastination I decided I'd had enough sanding for one day and glued the fuselage halves together...... I'm pretty happy with that, especially as these photos are quite large and really emphasize any gaps. She'll need a little filler in a couple of small places, and I'm sure I will have to do some more sanding around the wing roots when it's time to fit the wings, but with a bit of work it should work out. We'll see! That's all for today. Enjoy! Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Good morning Matt Very good progresses .. I had to do some sanding too .. Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 On 2/21/2019 at 7:30 PM, TEMPESTMK5 said: Good morning Matt Very good job on the cockpit especially in using the Eduard throttles levers.. My eyesight is not very good and I use Tamiya Head Magnifier .. Patrice Thanks Patrice, I also have a magnifier, but it's not that great and my wife also uses it for her hobbies - no, not model planes (yet!). So thanks for the tip that Tamiya make them, I'll look into this, I'm sure it will be better than what I have! 46 minutes ago, TEMPESTMK5 said: Good morning Matt Very good progresses .. I had to do some sanding too .. Patrice And thanks again Patrice. The good news on mine is it appears the wing joins will be just about perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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