Paul Bradley Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Just completed these for the Colourful Dakotas GB over at UAMF - the Italeri kit as a post-war Swissair machine and the new Airfix kit as an Air Atlantique example. DC-3s01 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr 03 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr 02 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr 01 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr aadak01 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr aadak02 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr aadak-3 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr Decals by 26 Decals - the colours are a little off as was the size of the titling and emblems, but they behaved well. Not too keen on the Airfix kit - had some unexpected issues with fit, but it does look nice now that it's finished. Interior was re-arranged from the Airfix kit to better represent the layout, with aded seats from the ESCI kit: IMG_0167 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr Back in July 1985, I made my first and to date only flight in the classic Douglas DC-3, and treated my brother to his first ever flight for his birthday. This was at an airshow at HMS Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent, and the aircraft carried special markings celebrating the 50th anniversary of the type. 35 years on, I finally got around to making a model of that aircraft! daedalus85-02 by Paul Bradley, on Flickr 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Very nice work on both Paul, I must get back to work on mine! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jyguy Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Superb !Interesting to hear that the Airfix kit had some fit issues ,I was beginning to think that it was just the One I built. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Very nice indeed. The Airfix model certainly looks the part for me. Keith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coors54 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Where are all the rivets? 😀 A great pair of Daks, the AIrfix one captures the nose profile very well. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 Cheers, guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Both are stunning, but the Airfix kit is right on! Love the interior, especially as it's visible through the windows, and you did an expert job adding the extra window on either side of the forward fuselage. If you haven't already, you should display these under "ready for inspection" to show them off more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Fantastic work Paul. Both are absolute beauties! Beautiful finishes too. Couple of quick questions. What did you use for the extra window, and having the decals for G-AMSV and G-AMPO myself, how did you find the 26 decals? I've not used them before myself. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 Cheers, guys! 51 minutes ago, fightersweep said: Fantastic work Paul. Both are absolute beauties! Beautiful finishes too. Couple of quick questions. What did you use for the extra window, and having the decals for G-AMSV and G-AMPO myself, how did you find the 26 decals? I've not used them before myself. Steve Thanks, @fightersweep! The windows - I've accumulated a lot of spare clear parts from kits over the years; I just cut/sanded down some spares. The openings, chain-drilled then filed, were made exactly the same size as the existing ones, such that I could have used the the kit ones in those positions - that's how I knew I'd made them large enough. It was then a question of masking all the windows to the same correct size. As for the decals, they were OK. They are colour laser printed on clear decal paper, which means the colours are very translucent, so I wouldn't want to use them over any colour except white - luckily, that's the base colour of this aircraft, of course! It's continuous carrier sheet, so they need to be cut individually from the sheet. I laid them down over a Future coat, then Future coated them after they were dry. Unfortunately, the colours appear very patchy in places, and I don't know if that's a product of the decals themselves, an issue with the Future coats, or silvering - decal solution didn't help. The colours of the stripes are a little off - too bright, I feel - and the size of the airline titles, emblems and registrations are all a bit off. The stripes also didn't match on the top and bottom of the model, but that might be because they weren't created for the new Airfix kit. On the other hand, they are the only decals available for these aircraft, and I'm generally pleased with the results. I'd reservedly recommend them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 @Paul Bradley Thanks Paul for taking the time to answer my questions. Much appreciated, and I think I'm a little less apprehensive about making holes in the Airfix kit now! Interesting observations about the decals too. I have used other laser printed decals before and know to give them extra care, but I also know they can have their individual quirks. I used some laser printed decals from Red Pegasus recently, but they were excellent and very opaque with strong colours. Performed beautifully too! The only thing I've noticed about the G-AMPO decals on my sheet is the pointed joint at the top of the fuselage (presumably the bottom joint too). It appears to be a continuous curve on the real aircraft, but I think I can live with that. It looks fantastic on your build. Hope mine comes out half as good as yours! Best regards; Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob998 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 (edited) 21 hours ago, Paul Bradley said: Back in July 1985, I made my first and to date only flight in the classic Douglas DC-3, and treated my brother to his first ever flight for his birthday. This was at an airshow at HMS Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent, and the aircraft carried special markings celebrating the 50th anniversary of the type. 35 years on, I finally got around to making a model of that aircraft! Was your pilot Gary Numan by any chance? He used to fly the Air Atlantique DC3s around then, iirc. Edited July 20, 2020 by Rob998 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 1 hour ago, fightersweep said: @Paul Bradley Thanks Paul for taking the time to answer my questions. Much appreciated, and I think I'm a little less apprehensive about making holes in the Airfix kit now! Interesting observations about the decals too. I have used other laser printed decals before and know to give them extra care, but I also know they can have their individual quirks. I used some laser printed decals from Red Pegasus recently, but they were excellent and very opaque with strong colours. Performed beautifully too! The only thing I've noticed about the G-AMPO decals on my sheet is the pointed joint at the top of the fuselage (presumably the bottom joint too). It appears to be a continuous curve on the real aircraft, but I think I can live with that. It looks fantastic on your build. Hope mine comes out half as good as yours! Best regards; Steve I had a feeling they were curved over the top but couldn't find a good reference photo. Unfortunately, the 26 Decals instructions are rudimentary and don't include a top view. 45 minutes ago, Rob998 said: Was your pilot Gary Numan by any chance? He used to fly the Air Atlantique DC3s around then, iirc. I have no idea! And I was more into OMD than Numan! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 8 minutes ago, Paul Bradley said: I have no idea! And I was more into OMD than Numan! I'm very partial to both, but it would be fun to see what Andy McClusky could do with a DC-3! Gary's recent stuff has been some of his best though. Finally back on form. Shame he doesn't fly any more, but fully understand his reasons. We had a B-26 Marauder bomb group re-union at our museum in 1992. Gary volunteered to display Eddie Coventry's Yak 11 for us all. Blistering display that I still have on VHS. Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jyguy Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 (edited) Regarding the Atlantique Dakotas and the "stick of rock" or coloured bands livery I hate to say the fleet differed.G-AMPO certainly had a Continuous smooth set of loops over the top G-ANAF for instance had the pointed version. The original 26 Decals sheets were marked for use with the Italeri/Airfix kit.This was prior to the Airfix new tool kit when the company were offering an Italeri kit in an Airfix box(A07005) with decals for ZA947 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Mr Webb,certainly flew the Dakota though never commercially. Edited March 19, 2021 by jyguy spelling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 6 hours ago, jyguy said: The original 26 Decals sheets were marked for use with the Italeri/Airfix kit.This was prior to the Airfix new tool kit when the company were offering an Italeri kit in an Airfix box(A07005) with decals for ZA947 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. That explains the less-than-stellar fit to the new kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXANTOMCAT Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 On 7/20/2020 at 6:19 AM, jyguy said: Superb !Interesting to hear that the Airfix kit had some fit issues ,I was beginning to think that it was just the One I built. Me too- I’ve built two with no issues! love the AA Dak! TT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Love a Dakota or two.... or more...!!! Nice work on both . I have built 3 of the new Airfix ones and not had too much of a problem with any of them... they just need to be treated nicely and thoughtfully during building. One point I'd like to make is the Italeri has trim tabs to both ailerons when there should only be one to to the starboard wing if I am not wrong. Whereas the Airfix lacks trim tabs altogether!! Easily remedied by scribing them in following photos or plans as guides. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 43 minutes ago, Paul J said: I have built 3 of the new Airfix ones and not had too much of a problem with any of them... they just need to be treated nicely and thoughtfully during building. Well, that's the thing - I went into this with both eyes open as all new Airfix need care due to the tight tolerances. And though the fuselage and wing sub-assemblies had gone together pretty well, mating the wings to the fuselage resulted in some nasty gaps and steps. Very unexpected and most unwelcome! I'm still not at all sure where it went wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 They look absolutely gorgeous great work. The Air Atlantique machine is great and if I recall they used to fly into Lydd Airport occasionally, although when I was a nipper we had Skyways Dakota's, we were very lucky in that they flew in just outside the corner of our school field and used to love watching them come in during break time along with Bristol Superfreighter, Heralds and Viscounts, a great period in time. Thank you for rekindling the memories. Great work All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMB Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 On 7/20/2020 at 7:52 PM, Paul Bradley said: Cheers, guys! Thanks, @fightersweep! The windows - I've accumulated a lot of spare clear parts from kits over the years; I just cut/sanded down some spares. The openings, chain-drilled then filed, were made exactly the same size as the existing ones, such that I could have used the the kit ones in those positions - that's how I knew I'd made them large enough. It was then a question of masking all the windows to the same correct size. As for the decals, they were OK. They are colour laser printed on clear decal paper, which means the colours are very translucent, so I wouldn't want to use them over any colour except white - luckily, that's the base colour of this aircraft, of course! It's continuous carrier sheet, so they need to be cut individually from the sheet. I laid them down over a Future coat, then Future coated them after they were dry. Unfortunately, the colours appear very patchy in places, and I don't know if that's a product of the decals themselves, an issue with the Future coats, or silvering - decal solution didn't help. The colours of the stripes are a little off - too bright, I feel - and the size of the airline titles, emblems and registrations are all a bit off. The stripes also didn't match on the top and bottom of the model, but that might be because they weren't created for the new Airfix kit. On the other hand, they are the only decals available for these aircraft, and I'm generally pleased with the results. I'd reservedly recommend them. Superb jobs. However, sorry to have to mention this but there is an error in the 26 decals Air Atlantique stripes round the nose. They should not come to a point at the top of the roof, but curve round the top smoothly. I'll let Ray know! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) Cheers, Adrian! Not much I can do about this one now unfortunately, but useful info for any future builders! 😎 16 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: They look absolutely gorgeous great work. The Air Atlantique machine is great and if I recall they used to fly into Lydd Airport occasionally, although when I was a nipper we had Skyways Dakota's, we were very lucky in that they flew in just outside the corner of our school field and used to love watching them come in during break time along with Bristol Superfreighter, Heralds and Viscounts, a great period in time. Thank you for rekindling the memories. Great work All the best Chris Cheers, Chris, I'm glad to have stirred pleasant memories for you! Edited July 24, 2020 by Paul Bradley 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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