Raspberry Dakota

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

On 2/13/2021 at 1:58 AM, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Don't do what I did.

D'oh! That was my plan

 

I've had a play around with the engines in the cowlings and trying to get them centred

 

And so far it looks doable so I painted the rest of the engines

Shakey hands, good for mixing paint, not good for painting paint.

 

Anyhoo, as a last resort there's always the XCG-17 route

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Douglas_XCG-17_in_flight.jpg

 

 

On 2/13/2021 at 6:55 AM, jyguy said:

The astrodome bubble was removed on 947 and the base ring had a flat circular plate over it.

That's a fine looking Dakota there jyguy, I like what you've done with the cockpit window. I'm going to pinch that for mine as my window is missing too!

 

While watching paint dry I found a couple of parts that could be pressed into service on the belly

 

A slice off that tank half should approximate the Radome, and I'll fill that wing light full of Kristal Klear

 

There's another window under there too that is missing from the Xtradecal info, but is apparent on photos

 

That Radome slice is now obviously twice as big as it should be, but I might just let it be.

 

There's precious little detail under the nose for the forward window location, so I'm going to just take a stab in the dark.

 

And as for

23 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

What could go wrong?

I refer my learned member to the post I made a few moments before...

 

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

I think you're fine with the engines.  What I would recommend is fitting the little P&W R-1830s into the cowlings, fixing them in place with scrap plastic, and testing their fit, together with the cowlings, against the firewalls. Remember that the firewall part is keyed, so the R-1830 will only fit one way.  I resolved the issue by cutting off the keyed portion attached to the firewall so the P&W could go any which way.  The important thing is not to let the engine gearbox jut out beyond the edge of the cowling, but you can check photos of the real thing to be certain.

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Yes you're right, no I couldn't live with it, so off it came. It put up quite a fight, so eventually the whole panel came with it

 

That TET is marvelous stuff!

 

After a bit more searching, what looked like the carb intake from a Spitfire was rounded off and pressed into service

 

I hope I CAN live with that once it's had a couple of coats of disguise and hidden out of the way.

 

On went the upper outer wing sections

 

Now then, they are distinctly single position pieces, locating not just on the spar / bulkhead, but on pips too.

 

So it was odd that although everything eventually clicked, one lower wing section was an easy fit (and will most likely require filler) and the other was contrary

 

It felt like the upper wing sections were offset about 0,5mm to the main central lower piece. Something to look out for on my next one.

 

Regardless, it's progress

 

Bigger than I thought she'd be (a bit like a girl I just met!)

 

 

Anyhoo, I have been pondering on the sequence of painting. White first, obvs, then mask and red, then mask and blue. But I'd like to get the engines all red after the blue. And the upper colour should go on after the lower colour

 

But at least Airfix have provided deep grooves to guess at where the demarcation lines should be.

Take the red waistline stripe, for example

 

Ah, yes, those are the window frames moulded on to the windows. No popping them in once the paint's on, it's masks akimbo for the lot of them.

 

Regarding the painting, I have in mind an experiment to see how convoluted I can make it.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

I have this nagging feeling that there's something I need to advise about those windows.  There's one set that's a little weird, because of the placement of a line somewhere in full view.  You should be careful not to put them in too deep, otherwise there will be unrealistic ridges around them from the outer fuselage skin.

[Lewis95]

Looks like she's coming along quite nicely. Regarding the windows, whilst I haven't fitted this kit, single windows on an airliner are rather draining to fit so check the fit of each one before fixing. Fell into the "bugger it" trap with my Otter and well... They ain't pretty! 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

I thought this was odd...

 

The tail stabs have only half of the outer hinge brackets moulded, so I looked at the instructions

 

Ah, right then, there's only supposed to be one inboard hinge part on the lower skin.

 

But it still means that the lower half is short shot on both sides

 

Not to worry, they're on the underside anyway.

 

 

Anyhoo, on with her legs

 

My plan is to assemble them , remove them for painting, and fit them when there's less chance of me destroying them.

 

Those eight little struts that go from just behind the axle are quite fiddly, fitting not being helped when three of them are short so they all have to be aligned again.

 

Engine mounting smoothed and on, doors carefully placed flush and glued before they fell in

 

Windows and associated masking next

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[dnl42]

How did I miss this? Every day with Dakota is a better day! 

[heloman1]

Just found your build, it looks like a 'nice' kit, far better than the original that I built as a teenager, many years ago. I recently finished the Italeri kit as a SAAF Dazzle Dak TT.

I like the raspberry ripple schemes, seems to fit the Dak well.

 

Colin

[bigbadbadge]

Coming on well and looking great when test fitted together.   I am impressed with the size in 72nd scale like you say  she is a big old girl.  Good luck with the Windows.

Chris

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Sorry it's been a while, general lull in mojo etc, so I diverted onto a vintage build

 

 

Anyhoo, on with this masking.

 

On 2/28/2021 at 9:07 AM, bigbadbadge said:

Good luck with the Windows.

Chris

Thanks Chris, they didn't go too bad in the end, helped markedly by that orange Cutting Mat

 

The bubble on the top got the blanking treatment, one less thing to mask!

 

And then the windscreen

 

I'd a nagging doubt that some TET worked its way under a corner of tape, so I put her down for a bit.

 

I had a go at the props, wondering if I could use a decal offcut for the black leading edge

 

Turned out after a measure of some frustration that I couldn't, so a bit more masking

 

Some touching up and they should be ok

 

Not wanting to start the White paint, I then put her aside again and started a starter set or so

 

I'll make an effort to knuckle down, honest.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

[bigbadbadge]

Window masking looks good, so does the Lancater and Tiffies.   I like the idea of the prop leading edges too  good idea to use the decals. 

Great work 

Chris

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Window masking looks good on the windscreen, AND I would recommend using some white glue to fill in the gap above it, so as to prevent dust/paint intrusion.  It may take multiple layers of white glue to accomplish this, but the results will be worth it.

[Ruskin Air Services]

On 2/27/2021 at 10:14 PM, ProfSparks said:

Hi All

 

I thought this was odd...

 

The tail stabs have only half of the outer hinge brackets moulded, so I looked at the instructions

 

Ah, right then, there's only supposed to be one inboard hinge part on the lower skin.

 

But it still means that the lower half is short shot on both sides

 

Not to worry, they're on the underside anyway.

 

 

Anyhoo, on with her legs

 

My plan is to assemble them , remove them for painting, and fit them when there's less chance of me destroying them.

 

Those eight little struts that go from just behind the axle are quite fiddly, fitting not being helped when three of them are short so they all have to be aligned again.

 

Engine mounting smoothed and on, doors carefully placed flush and glued before they fell in

 

Windows and associated masking next

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

Yes there's a few short shot parts the other is the crew boarding ladder 😬

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Spurred on by the joys of Spring, I now bring you an update of two halves.

 

Half 1 deals with the flat tyres and associated undercarriage

Quite happy with those, will add the prominent hose line once they're installed

 

And the props

Again, quite happy, they'll look ok on the engines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half 2 deals with Saruman The White.

 

Two thin coats of White Stynylrez, followed by two thin coats of Tamiya X-2 White. Not as impressed as I felt I should have been, primer and gloss coats still transparent through to the grey plastic. Any other colour receiving the same treatment would have had no chance.

So did I continue with the Tamiya like I knew I should, or did I try something else, new and exciting?

 

Bring on AK Interactive AK-2052 White FS17875.

 

Now, I've just had AK perform well on my side builds of Lanc and Typhoons, so no worries, right?

 

It went on smooth, dried flat, but in the finish there began to appear gritty lumps

 

I quickly wiped it off with paper towels, and made a mental note to not spray AK over Tamiya ever again (amongst other things)

 

So here she is, one step forward, two steps back

 

There may be another side build in the offing...

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[bigbadbadge]

Those props look fab and so do the engines and main gear.  Good luck with the white paint, I usually use an aerosol paint for white on Airliners now (I brushpaint normally but white is a so and so to paint on)

Chris

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Agree that working with flat white paint can be a real pain, and I too am debating whether to worry about the bumpy finish on my most recent project, or leave it alone.  I used Polly-S and it should behave better!

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Regarding the pebbly finish on the white paint, I solved my problem by gently wet-sanding it using MicroMesh flexible 3200 grit sanding cloths.  I would encourage you to do the same before you add antennas or other protrusions.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Great work- I’ve built two and my second was better than my first. Both went together with hardly any filler but the fit is not tolerant of any paint between mating surfaces and it’s very easy due to the soft plastic to over sand when cleaning up. The oversize tail cap bugged me too! 
 

TT

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Not wanting to be beaten by an inanimate object, I gave her a couple of rounds of stern glowering, followed by a going over with some abrasive language, and eventually a rub down with some lightly gritted teeth.

 

Then, throwing caution to the wind, I succumbed to what I thought might have worked in the first place:- Tamiya XF-1 Flat White, cut 50/50 with IPA

 

You'll notice the "F" and "Flat" in that paint code, non of your glossy rubbish.

 

That's with one coat on. Another smoothing and spraying is in the pipeline.

 

Moral of this episode would appear to be STICK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW (unless it's on an experimental build that you can bury somewhere in the Lab later)

 

 

Anyhoo, perhaps I might park her here and subject a minor build to the red and the blue phases, wouldn't want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

I would attach the wings and horizontal stabilizers, and get the fit right, before applying additional paint.  I would also strongly advise using a white-based primer paint over the whole model.