stever219 Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 That’s funny peculiar Matt: I had very little difficulty getting my fuselage together, but all sorts of (not) fun getting gap-free upper wing root joints. I didn’t bother with the Eduard sets this time as so little can be seen inside, but I did make masking tape seat belts for all occupants. I have the same version of this kit as you, rather than the civil, Coastal Command or USAAF boxings, and intend to finish from the box it as the SEAC version as possibly the most un-sung of all of the RAF’s Dakota operations. I’m impressed with your work on this kit and I’m sure it’ll be a fitting tribute to Flt Lt Lord, his crew, and all those other transport crews who gave their all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 3 hours ago, GliderGuider said: 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! And thanks again Patrice. The good news on mine is it appears the wing joins will be just about perfect. Good afternoon Matt I have been using headlamp magnifiers since about ten years ago , 3 or 4 years ago I replaced the basic model I used with a Tamiya model and I really saw the difference I do not regret my investment .. Cheers Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 More progress from during the week, and she's starting to look like a Dakota now. I assembled the wings to the fuselage first, and in spite of lots of dry fitting there which indicated the fit would be perfect, I still managed to end up with a couple of cracks. Fortunately these were quite small and didn't go for the entire chord of the wing root, just a small section. These are being taken care of with Tamiya putty. No such issue with the tailplanes and rudder, and I like the way the tailplanes slot into both sides of the fuselage - no chance of me mucking up the dihedral here! Not too long until I get to start painting I think - just a bit more cleaning up to do on of the joins first. Here are a couple of photos - enjoy! Matt 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Good afternoon Matt Very good progress 👍 Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 (edited) On 2/14/2019 at 12:01 PM, GliderGuider said: 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!!! Safety first. You never know what might happen over a drop zone. It seems the air support was really poorly executed in Market-Garden. The prevailing attitude was 'keep the fighters and bombers out of the way' so right through the campaign the Luftwaffe was able to execute raids and move their ground forces with minimal disruption. And given it was Air Force commanders who refused to abide a landing directly on Arnhem Bridge and thus created the ludicrous situation of a drop zone miles from the battle, it was not a great moment for SHEAF's air chiefs. Edited March 8, 2019 by Peter Lloyd 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 On 3/4/2019 at 4:24 AM, Peter Lloyd said: Safety first. You never know what might happen over a drop zone. It seems the air support was really poorly executed in Market-Garden. The prevailing attitude was 'keep the fighters and bombers out of the way' so right through the campaign the Luftwaffe was able to execute raids and move their ground forces with minimal disruption. And given it was Air Force commanders who refused to abide a landing directly on Arnhem Bridge and thus created the ludicrous situation of a drop zone miles from the battle, it was not a great moment for SHEAF's air chiefs. In the film A Bridge Too Far they blame the RAF but the person who vetoed the landing near to the bridge was Maj. Gen, Brereton USAAF,..... head of the Allied Airborne Army. The RAF also wanted to fly 2 x lifts on the 1st day, but again he vetoed it because the USAAF crews were not experienced enough to fly in the dark apparently!! When the RAF again volunteered to fly themselves,.... it was again vetoed. Even if the RAF had been able to fly in the 1st Airlanding Bde in the morning,.....followed by the USAAF carrying 1st Parachute Bde,... with the RAF returning in the early evening with 4th Para Bde,...... and with some closer DZ`s,.... the battle could have been much more different As for the Recce using armed jeeps which were ambushed en route to the bridge,...... the 6th Armoured Recce Regt offered to provide some of its Airborne Tanks for the job,.... but again they were refused. More RAF aircraft could have been released for Arnhem by not flying Gen Browning`s Airborne HQ in with the 1st lift,....... as they performed no function for the majority of Op Market Garden. Good luck with this model,....... a very important Dakota flown by a heroic crew in tragic circumstances, All the best mate Tony 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 @tonyot, fascinating stuff! I understand Maj. Gen. Brereton's idea behind daylight drops was to avoid troops becoming dispersed all over Holland, similar to the dispersion experienced on the D-Day drops, which I guess is fair enough up to a point. That's interesting about the additional drops being refused though in spite of the RAF volunteering though. I gather Brereton also refused the trial of double tows (one Dakota towing two gliders). I wonder if they could have used FIDO to allow more drops? Bomber Command seemed to manage taking off and landing in fog, and at night too! Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, GliderGuider said: @tonyot, fascinating stuff! I understand Maj. Gen. Brereton's idea behind daylight drops was to avoid troops becoming dispersed all over Holland, similar to the dispersion experienced on the D-Day drops, which I guess is fair enough up to a point. That's interesting about the additional drops being refused though in spite of the RAF volunteering though. I gather Brereton also refused the trial of double tows (one Dakota towing two gliders). I wonder if they could have used FIDO to allow more drops? Bomber Command seemed to manage taking off and landing in fog, and at night too! Matt Hiya Matt,..... I believe that the RAF idea of two drops in one day would have resulted in both being daylight drops,...... just that the take off for the first would have been at night,.....and the landing from the second would have been dusk,....running into night,..... both within the capability of RAF trained crews whose class mates from training ended up on night bomber sqns and who were themselves fully trained for night ops. Brereton`s fears were with the USAAF crews,...... but why he did not go ahead with the RAF proposal is puzzling and maybe just more evidence of a belief that they would win the battle whatever the case because they believed the enemy was broken? If the USAAF had been allowed to carry on and drop 1st Parachute Bde in the afternoon as planned,.... then with the RAF effort of two lifts in the morning and early evening,..... then most of 1st Airborne Div could have been on the ground on day one,........ especially if the glider effort from Brownings HQ had been diverted to take combat troops into Arnhem. Half of an Airlanding Battalion had to be left behind to facilitate Browning to deploy his HQ into the fray on day 1. Tony Edited March 12, 2019 by tonyot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted March 13, 2019 Author Share Posted March 13, 2019 17 hours ago, tonyot said: Hiya Matt,..... I believe that the RAF idea of two drops in one day would have resulted in both being daylight drops,...... just that the take off for the first would have been at night,.....and the landing from the second would have been dusk,....running into night,..... both within the capability of RAF trained crews whose class mates from training ended up on night bomber sqns and who were themselves fully trained for night ops. Brereton`s fears were with the USAAF crews,...... but why he did not go ahead with the RAF proposal is puzzling and maybe just more evidence of a belief that they would win the battle whatever the case because they believed the enemy was broken? If the USAAF had been allowed to carry on and drop 1st Parachute Bde in the afternoon as planned,.... then with the RAF effort of two lifts in the morning and early evening,..... then most of 1st Airborne Div could have been on the ground on day one,........ especially if the glider effort from Brownings HQ had been diverted to take combat troops into Arnhem. Half of an Airlanding Battalion had to be left behind to facilitate Browning to deploy his HQ into the fray on day 1. @tonyot, I think the Allies suffered from thinking the Germans were broken a couple of months later at the Battle of the Bulge as well. It's an interesting "what if" scenario - what if half an additional airlanding battalion (in place of General Browning's HQ), an extra drop of troops (e.g. General Sosabowski's Polish brigade) and the tanks you mentioned earlier made it to Arnhem early in the operation? Anyway, thanks for the historical background, and I'll read up more on Market Garden soon as I've always been interested but never really researched it in great detail! Anyway, I have some more progress to report, and she looks a lot more like an RAF Dakota than last time! The interior designer in me decided that Airfix Grey didn't look quite right, so I've applied some Neutral Grey (Humbrol 128) and Olive Drab (Humbrol 155). I've also added the windows and landing gear. This all went together very nicely (and quite quickly in the end). The light's fading fast here but I've managed a couple of quick photos. Matt 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 Time for a very quick update. The engines are in place (although I'll need to do a bit of cleaning up on the cowlings), she's now painted and invasion striped underneath, and I've started applying the decals with assistance from Decalfix. These Xtradecal decals sure are thin and delicate (much more so than I'm used to), so I've had to go a lot slower and more carefully than anticipated. Not to mention I accidentally lifted up four perfectly applied digits of the serial when applying the fifth and final one - I figured it was a sign I should walk away! Never mind, I have heaps more spares so will start again. I've uploaded a couple of pics as a sneak peek but unfortunately the rest of the decals will have to wait as I'm away for the next week. All the best, Matt 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 Hi everyone, After a couple of weeks with little time to finish this off, I've managed a really good go at the Dakota the last few days. I'll start off showing the weathering on the underside, as a great comparison to the shot just above. For this I used some heavily thinned black as a wash into the panel lines, and added some oil streaks with Humbrol Gloss Oil Stain wash. This was all then streaked in the direction of the airflow with a cloth. It's the first time I've really tried this and I'm really happy with how it turned out with not much effort. You may also notice I've added the various doors and antennas. More to come very shortly! Matt 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 Next, I had a go at adding the antenna wire. I'm using E Z Line for this. It does look a little thick but I'm happy with it considering it's this first time I've done this - I may try the thin E Z Line or one of the alternatives I've just discovered on another post next time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 Hi everyone, Finally I did another light panel line wash to the upper surfaces and added a subtle touch of aluminium around the nacelles to simulate worn paint. And with this I think I'll call my build finished. It's been fun, with a few challenging moments when trying to get the fit just about right, but not too difficult. As a tribute to a VC winner I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It's been great fun taking part in this group build, so thanks again for your comments, advice and historical knowledge, and many thanks Patrice for hosting. Seeing other builds on this forum is inspiring me to try new things and improve my skills. I'll add some photos with a better background to the group build gallery in due course. All the best, Matt 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janneman36 Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 Hi Matt this one is looking great, nice wheatering as well.. cheers, Jan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 I've just caught up with this one in the gallery Matt. It's all looking nicely worn and having the doors open certainly adds interest 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 On 2/24/2019 at 9:20 AM, stever219 said: I had very little difficulty getting my fuselage together, but all sorts of (not) fun getting gap-free upper wing root joints. Oh, good: thought it was just me. Enough to induce several months of procrastination. (Sorry for your pain, obviously.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Great work Looks the part Worth the effort Martin H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Awesome looks the beezneez! 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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