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Nnyea....what's up, Dak?


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Delving deeper into my historic stash, this emerged.....

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....while waiting for Airfix's new Dakota to arrive, maybe even in time to participate in the recently finished Group build (it didn't)

 

Airfix's new C-47 is soooo good, surely these 40 year olds (two kits in the one box) are pretty much retired?

Hmm.....wonder if all the bits are there, I'll just.......

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....and.....

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.....with a bit more filler here......

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.....and there.....

 

I mentioned finding these kits a few weeks ago on BM, and got a 50% encouragement to finish the old moulding (the other 50% reckoned they were a waste of glue). 

The general shapes seem accurate, the fuselage and wing joins were horrendous, the fit of the cargo doors made me wonder if they were intended for this kit, and the windscreen had draughty gaps top and bottom. One kit had a badly distorted fuselage, the other had a fin like 'Free Willie' the captive whale. a kettle of hot water sorted those out, while the dihedral seemed about right. Lots of rivets - but reasonably restrained.

 

Did I mention they came with no plans or decals in evidence? Oh well, here goes. No pressure.

 

The price on the box says 52p. Those were the days!

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I like the idea that you will build this, and yes it still does look like a C-47 Dakota, don't put it beside the new one when it is built though, good to see the moving control surfaces again, gave me a lot of play time in my youth

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Thanks Graham. The control surfaces will be glued in place - though i also loved them to move too, wen i were 't' lad. It looks as though the undercart is designed to retract too!
I remember the excitement on buying the Airfix Anson (my ENTIRE pocket money at 1/9d) to discover the wheels went up. :penguin:

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1 hour ago, alancmlaird said:

Lots of rivets - but reasonably restrained.

Good luck with these old jobs. 

I gave mine a makeover into a Civilian Lufthansa DC3 with spare Italieri decals and very smart she looks, too. 

Your rivets are restrained?? 

Mine weren't...! 

 

I've seen a couple of examples of the new tool kits and very good they look for sure. 

But these old ones make a decent model with a bit of effort, and good fun along the way.. 

Are you going military, or something more stylish?? 

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9 hours ago, alancmlaird said:

I mentioned finding these kits a few weeks ago on BM, and got a 50% encouragement to finish the old moulding (the other 50% reckoned they were a waste of glue). 

 

Kits are for building.  I hope this makes it 51%,  ;)

Quote

Did I mention they came with no plans or decals in evidence?

 

Would some spare Italeri AC-47 decals help?

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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6 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Your rivets are restrained?? 

Are you going military, or something more stylish?? 

Rivets not as bad as i remembered from other kits of the era - e.g. Heron, or Revel's original Condor!

 

Military, or something more stylish? Sort of both ,....I'll use up some spare decals i was given. Waste not, want not, what?

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6 hours ago, alancmlaird said:

Thanks for the offer, Andre, but my friend (Scmitar) gave me a set from the new Airfix Dak, so I think that would be a suitably ironic use to smarten up their old one!

Excellent! I'm not familiar with Airfix's AC-47, so I had no idea how easy she is to build as a stock freigher.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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On 5/25/2019 at 7:50 PM, Hook said:

Excellent! I'm not familiar with Airfix's AC-47, so I had no idea how easy she is to build as a stock freigher.

Its just the stock original mouldings from first release, plus an extra sprue of machine guns to be positioned to project out the open port-side rear windows. plus presumably decals of course. In the spirit of IKEA flat-packs, I'll do a pic of the bits i've got left over at the end. if i remember!

As I mentioned, the fit of the freight doors is pretty bad, an the moulding for the passenger door surround is especially so, so makes me wonder if some sort of modification was made here to replicate the Gunship subject. I don't remember it being that bad when I built my first one - but then it was 45 or so years ago!

 

Edit.... Ah. Just discovered the Gunship version has modified rearmost windows!

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On 5/26/2019 at 8:52 AM, alancmlaird said:

Edit.... Ah. Just discovered the Gunship version has modified rearmost windows!

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Port window had to be filled in on my chosen subject, starboard window needs to be enlarged to same size as others. (Note cargo door fit.....will be mostly left alone as a warning from history!). This shows the danger of starting to assemble a kit before you have  clear idea of the final subject. Doh!

 

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First boxing shows original window configuration, though still has too many windows on the port side!

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'Mazin how a bit of rain increases modelling productivity. I broke my usual rule and was (carefully) painting some bits while other areas were still drying. Usually this can guarantee I will touch wet paint somewhere in the process, but I got away with this time. Sharp-eyed members will notice the use of new Dak decals on old Dak kit. These decals are lovely, perhaps a bit thick and need plenty of MicroSet and MicroSol to ensure sticktion. the port fuselage registration even has a cut-out for the door hinge.

Might apply an over-all matt varnish though. The paintwork is showing 'tide' marks from the decal applications and a few handling scuffs and stains.

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So, perfectly acceptable result - from a 40 year old kit! Is it worth trying to bring it up to today's standard? No, that wasn't the point. ~It was a liberating experience though, not really bothering how well or not the build turned out, as the alternative was putting both unbuilt kits in the bin.

I really intended to be building both old Daks simultaneously, but this first one took wings (!) and it got finished way ahead of the other one.

(Even sharper-eyed members will note that the rear-most window should be the same size as the others. That can wait till I know it can be successfully accomplished on the other Dak!)

 

I'll turn to the second one now. I know I should be simply building it using the alternative Dan-Air markings that I have from the new Airfix kit's decals (I might yet), but I fancy something a bit more adventurous - aided and abetted by Mr Scimitar.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 30/05/2019 at 07:11, alancmlaird said:

perfectly acceptable result - from a 40 year old kit!

Very much so. That looks good to me! 

Can I offer one suggestion, as you set about the next one....? 

I hear what you're saying about not trying to bring an oldie up to the latest kit standard, but there's an easy add-on that makes an impact. 

The u/c legs can be cross braced with stretched sprue easily while flat on the bench... 

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.... Although I have to admit that I had the Italieri version as reference. 

Sure helps the overall look for a couple of bits of sprue... 

IMG_20180519_111643

 

Are you underway with the next one? 

You're right about the pleasure of working with these old kits. I'm definitely with you there 👍

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On 6/15/2019 at 12:19 AM, rob Lyttle said:

The u/c legs can be cross braced with stretched sprue easily while flat on the bench... 

IMG_20180517_212748

.... Although I have to admit that I had the Italieri version as reference. 

Sure helps the overall look for a couple of bits of sprue... 

 

I agree. While the 'empty' undercarriage bay is invisible most of the time, that wee mod to the u/c makes a big difference. I'll be adding that to the 'finished' Dak as well as the next one (which incidently will need undercarriage doors!). Thanks for the idea.

The next one is started, but hols, DIY and generally being distracted is getting in the way of progress....

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  • 1 year later...

.....well, that took a while. There were a few changes of plans along the way (the red and black Air Atlantic Dak was a contender for a while) but I finally decided to go for a just-post war Railway Air Services C-47 still in its US camouflage colours with civilian identity on the top to accompany my previous model. This aircraft was one of the few that plied its trade around the provincial airports Renfrew/Turnhouse/Speke etc just post war.

Pretty much standard old Airfix, the camo finish does a grand job hiding the rivets! A few extra windows added, enhanced u/c (a bit) as ordered, and still sans a few aerials and exhausts that have gone awol since i started. I put them somewhere safe.

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Self-drawn and printed decals courtesy of reliable old Mac and obstructive obstreperous Canon ink-jet.

Oh well, might get it finished in another couple of years, and yes, it does have half a windscreen missing 😗

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Lovely :) Vintage models are cool, and this one certainly ticks the box. 

 

On 5/25/2019 at 12:17 AM, Graeme H said:

don't put it beside the new one when it is built though

Not sure if I'd agree with that, if only for the opportunity of having a talking point in how much (or not) model kits have come in the intervening 40 to 50 years. 
 

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Walking down the memory lane... This was the third model I've ever built; some 40+ years ago. When Britfix glue was the only game in town and frosted clear parts weren't a problem. It was also a valuable lesson about saving money. My weekly allowance was something like five Finnish marks and this carried a price tag of around 30 FIMs. Back then one GBP was something like 7 or 8 FIMs. Initially my completed model stood on the shelf without paint but I applied the Gunship camouflage later on.

 

It is nice to see these old kits still being build. Looking forward for the next update.

 

Cheers,

Antti

 

 

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Those look lovely Alan, so pleased you've shown the second one as it allowed me to catch up with the finished first one, both real beauties. I do like nicely done classic kit, as both of these are. :)

Steve.

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Many thanks, guys! Your comments have made me determined to add the missing bits to finish - even if I have to scratch-build them. I have one of the new-tool kits in the stash, I really must add it to the 'must do' list for the side-by-side comparison when I get some free time - retirement just doesn't seem to involve the pipe and slippers of popular myth.

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2 hours ago, alancmlaird said:

retirement just doesn't seem to involve the pipe and slippers of popular myth.

I'm old enough but not yet stopped work, even so, I'm beginning to see evidence of the truth in your words. :(

I would love to the new kit alongside the old ones, Hopefully they look about the same size. ;) :D

Steve.

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10 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Hopefully they look about the same size. ;) :D

 

Steve.

I had an unfortunate occurance with a 1/72 Revell Camel and some after-market decals probably designed for the Roden kit - they didn't fit because the Revel kit is smaller!

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