Old Airfix Dakota Anyone?

[alancmlaird]

....And by that, I mean REALLY old - the one that was released way back in the 1960s.

Having gone further back in my notorious 'historic stash' stash than living memory (I can rarely remember what i had for lunch these days), I found a mysterious box with TWO complete Dak kit. The strata layers indicate eighties, and they are in grey plastic - I think it was first issued in silver originally.

I did build an Airfix Dak in the Seventies - a conversion to a Dart-Dakota no less! But I can't remember if the kit was any good - apart from the dihedral on mine being almost flat.

My question is......whats the opinion of BMers regarding their accuracy? Are these kits worth building?

[viscount806x]

All kits are worth building Alan. I have some of those kits and have built them too and at a time of prehistory, they were the only option. The dihedral is easily correctable by taking out a small slot on the upper wings. Go on, you know you want to do it!

Nige

[Work In Progress]

It's a fairly poor kit - it's not just the dihedral, the fuselage is pretty funny-looking too.

 

Depending on the box, it may be worth significantly more on the collector market than as a thing to build. They are quite scarce as Airfix modified the moulds in the 70s to make the AC-47.  

 

If you specifically want to make a point by building it, fire away. But otherwise the Italeri kit as reboxed by Airfix, and the new Airfix kit, are both a much better use of your time.

 

Some visual comparisons available in this thread

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by Work In Progress

[alancmlaird]

Thanks Nige - my instincts too! I have Airfix's new one to keep me right, and I can its the spare decals on one of the old ones. I was a bit confused by the 'middle years' reboxings of Airfix/Revel/ Italeri/ESCI/UTCobley. And I'm quite happy bulidling ancient kits that haven't been replaced, so you are indeed correct - thanks for the encouragement.

 

Work in Progress....Sadly the boxes are long gone, and no instructions either. They seem to be complete (no obvious gaps in the sprue) but have probably no value to a collector. The retail price of another couple of new tool Airfix daks would be a bit daunting, but the Revel etc reboxings turn up at about £10 a go seems extremely cheap! Might be a better option as you suggest. Hmmmmm!

Edited March 9, 2019 by alancmlaird

[dogsbody]

If you need a copy of the instructions, let me know. I still have mine from the late 60's.

 

This is the back page that I photocopied for some reason.

 

 

 

Chris

[Admiral Puff]

What others have said. It was the first 1:72 C-47, but that's about all it's got going for it. Funny shape, clunky detail, the undercarriage is a joke. About the only thing they did get close to right was that it was covered in rivets, just like the original! It's more a collector's item than anything else these days.

[Ivor Ramsden]

Build it! That's what it's for. We of a certain age built hundreds of these Airfix Dakotas in our youth without worrying too much about accuracy other than the lack of dihedral. I'm enjoying restoring one which was built in the 1960s in the old Silver City colours. It will never be an accurate model of a Dakota but show it to anybody and they'll instantly recognise it.

If you're needing decals, 26 and S&M produce a range of post-war civilian schemes for the Dakota.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Ivor Ramsden

[Hook]

19 hours ago, viscount806x said:

All kits are worth building Alan.

 

Even Starfix..?   

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

[Hook]

Incidentally, a German review of the later AC-47 incarnation, complete with instructions, just popped up over at ModellVersium.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

 

 

[viscount806x]

On 3/9/2019 at 5:06 PM, alancmlaird said:

. I was a bit confused by the 'middle years' reboxings of Airfix/Revel/ Italeri/ESCI/UTCobley.

 

 

Ah, so you noticed the confused tool swapping doings. A year or two back, I did an exercise to try and work out whose toolings were in who's boxes and it wasn't easy. The Esci and Italeri kits are from different tools but both have appeared in Italeri boxes and one or other (I forget which) was issued by Airfix, Italeri I think. On top of that, some Esci kits contain a passenger door so that a DC3 can be built. The Esci kit has a misshaped upper roof above the cockpit which Red Roo does a new forward fuse section for but a bit of filing improves it. (But thanks Ed Russel of Red Roo anyway, greatly appreciated) .

The original point you made about building the old kit is still valid and it can be a bit of fun trying to get a model out of an old kit. I did a similar thing with an old Lincoln Viscount which took months of filing and filling. I eventually achieved a model and a lot of fun at quite low cost and investment except time and going a bit mad, which often is all we want, not the mad bit though .

Have fun! Nige

[alancmlaird]

1 hour ago, viscount806x said:

A an old Lincoln Viscount which took months of filing and filling. I eventually achieved a model

Lincoln! Forgot all about then - think i've got one of their Connies or DC7s in the back of the loft... now where's that big file I had?

i'll probably have a go at the old Airfix Dak ..... maybe as a 'giant road test' like the car magazines do, and compare them side by side. At a first look, the old kit seems reasonably accurate compared to the magnificent new one. Its all the extra detail that makes the new one great.

Thanks for the encouragement Nige. 🤗

[DennisTheBear]

Use both in a diorama of the factory producing them. That way the dihedral problem doesn't matter.

 

DennisTheBear

[DennisTheBear]

https://www.mps.aero/about-us/dc-3/

 

Scroll down for inspiration.

[TonyW]

Both versions scrub up just fine for me...

 

I'm happy to build an old kit straight out the box though. Purists, look away.

 

 

 

Tony.

Edited March 16, 2019 by TonyW