Correcting Heller DC-6 1/72

[Vesa Jussila]

Hello fellow modellers,

 

When I was looking very nicely made conversion of DC-7 in ready for inspection section I remember that I have one Heller kit waiting in stash.  I built one years ago and that I remember that list was not short.

There was instructions in Finish magazine Ilmailu. I don't have any notes anymore left about that, so I need to now trust you dear fellow modellers.

I couldn't fine list from this forum, only some generic discussions.

Something was wrong in engines, but what else?

 

Waiting your comments.

[Graham Boak]

There's something a bit off with the shape of the rear fuselage in the tail area, but no idea what it is.  There was, IIRC, an article mentioning it in an old Scale Aircraft Modelling, when the kit came out. 

[CarLos]

There is a two-part article by Ian Huntley in SAM abour correcting and converting the DC-6. I have it scanned on my disk. Send me a PM for a link!

 

Carlos

[Vesa Jussila]

Thanks @CarLos PM in your box.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Dear @CarLos: would you mind sending me a link too?  I have drawings for the DC-4 I was thinking of scaling up to 1/72 to get the lower curvature on the DC-6 fuselage right.  I have a long-term plan to build G-SIXC.

[CarLos]

I taped together the Heller DC-6 and the Revell DC-4. The difference is a lot bigger than that shown in the article, so is the DC-4 also a little off in the other way? Anyone has access to any drawings quoting the distance from the elevator to lower line of the fuselage?

Anyway, assuming that Revell is right, correting the DC-6 can be done making a cut as marked in the photo bellow and rotating a little the lower back portion. Easier than adding filler, in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

Thoughs?

[Admiral Puff]

That might work ...

 

Part of the Heller kit's problem is that rather than being a smooth curve from the tail unit to the wing trailing edge, as shown in the Huntley drawing, the lower fuselage is a straight line from the tail, blending to the lower line of the rest of the fuselage in a fairly sharp curve. That will still need to be addressed, although what CarLos proposes will probably make the job easier. 

[Moggy]

But then the elevators have been moved off position.

 

Cheers, Moggy

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Hmmm.  IF you're willing to sacrifice the C-54 kit, you could give the Heller kit a new rear fuselage, or better yet, turn the C-54 into a DC-6 (not a DC-6B), through a fuselage extension, new engines (HaHen), revised tail, and new cutouts for the pax windows!

[TheyJammedKenny!]

On 2/18/2021 at 4:13 PM, Moggy said:

then the elevators have been moved off position.

Just refreshing this old thread.  It appears the horizontal stabilizers are at the correct horizontal position on the Heller kit, so I suggest cutting around them and leaving them in place if you make this critical series of cuts, followed by the rotation, as @CarLos demonstrates.  Whatever the case, the drawings are a viable alternative, I think.  I've downloaded them and have in mind to print them to scale for my own conversion.

[Moggy]

The only reason I have not built my C-54 kits is that correcting the tail of the Revell kit is a rather complex proposition.

Early on I bought a Mach 2 C-54 - which is based on a conversion of Heller's DC-6. In the early '90 I converted a DC-6 into a C-54; this involved a lot of sawing, reconfiguring, scratchbuilding...

Since it received a bare metal finish (using S'n'J) I spent filling (with Green Stuff) waiting for it to dry for at least 6 days and then sanding repeatedly... repeating the cycle for about seven weeks!

But I digress; Mach 2's kit was created the same way; this means that it has a tail with everything in the right position - thus suggesting the usage of its tail (parts of it) as an improvement kit. 😜

 

...and I'm still pondering... 🤪

 

BTW the drawings are 100% right they were made using Douglas works' drawings and ultimately drawn by the late great Ian Huntley. Mr Huntley is the gold standard other scale artists are measured against. 😎

 

Cheers, Moggy the Saw

[TheyJammedKenny!]

You might consider sacrificing one of the two Revell C-54s to replace the rear fuselage of a DC-6, along with a new set replacement resin engines/props.  That way you'll know you're in business.

[Moggy]

I just dug up one of my C-54s and one of the DC-6s and compared them.

 

The Revell C-54 tail is almost exactly the same as Heller's DC-6. There's very little to choose between them; Revell's faults are small and subtle just like the DC-6's.

 

I did the comparison taping one C-54 half to a DC-6 half using the fuselage diameter to keep everything in the right place and matching the fin non-mobile part as datum; it has worked rather well

 

The DC-6 matches the SAM scale drawing... including the faults of course 😜

The C-54 has its elevator fins almost 1 mm lower than the drawing; then again - once built not really visible unless parked right beside the DC-6 😇

Some of the confusion is caused by the different way the elevators are mounted; this goes for the wings as well.

 

The easiest way to fix Heller's tail is to follow the Scale Aircraft Model's drawings - not only correct but a LOT easier.

Sawing up the C-54's tail to replace the DC-6's is exchanging one set of easily fixable faults for another - at the cost of one expensive kit and a lot of (difficult) work

 

The engine cowlings can easily be sanded into a better shape.  I have one of HaHens conversion kits - the early 707/720 engines; they are OK but but not great. Caveat emptor.

 

Cheers, Moggy

Edited November 4, 2024 by Moggy
amplifying on the method used for comparison

[TheyJammedKenny!]

42 minutes ago, Moggy said:

Caveat emptor

Indeed!  Thanks so much for comparing the two rear fuselages.  I think it's easier for me to add plastic to the lower part of the Heller fuselage and create a new, more gradual curvature that replaces the kit's abrupt taper.  Before I waste money on new DC-6 engine cowlings, I'll work with what I have.  The hardest part is drilling out the carburetor and oil cooler intakes, however.  My prospective project is to build G-SIXC in her early 90s color scheme.  Very sharp!  To do this, I'm combining two kits: the C-118 and the "international" DC-6B in SAS/UTA colors.  SIXC has the large cockpit door of the international DC-6.  Fortunately, I had a kit I'd built in the 80s and was ready for scrapping, so I simply cut off the right side of the forward fuselage and presto.

[CarLos]

Yes, it may be easier to build up the lower edge than to cut and twist. I would make a lower profile in plastic card and use automotive filler.

 

[Coors54]

On 11/4/2024 at 9:01 PM, TheyJammedKenny! said:

My prospective project is to build G-SIXC in her early 90s color scheme.

White top, silver belly, green cheat line? Nice.

 

I ran the hangar (Hangar 7 at Coventry) when we repainted SIXC with the black belly, I thought she looked sharp then 😁

 

I also took the cockpit door liner home one weekend and painted the Vargas girl from a P-61 “Lady in the Dark” (SIXC was used on a lot of night time cargo flights), unfortunately the script style could be read as “Lady in the Dank”, which of course is how every engineer and crew member read it!

 I have photos when we rolled her out of the hangar but they are pre digital and I haven’t scanned them, they’re also in an album buried in the loft, must sort it out.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with this.

 

Dave

 

 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

7 hours ago, Coors54 said:

White top, silver belly, green cheat line? Nice.

She's a looker, all right.  It appears her wings and tail feathers were unpainted aluminum, possibly with some protective paint behind the engine nacelles, though you'd know better than I.  Her belly appears to be light aircraft grey, Boeing BCAC707 grey, or something quite similar.  I've got the Stephen Piercey book on air freighters and she features prominently in the DC-6 section.

[Coors54]

I was with Atlantique in the twilight of the Six’s operations, 9/11 put paid to things commercially and it was increasingly difficult to operate as most airports had stopped carrying Avgas in the quantities required plus maintenance costs were just too much to bear. So it’s sometime ago now but my memory has the wings and tail planes in painted silver rather than natural metal, but I could be wrong there, the black areas behind the engines were painted gloss black to disguise the large amounts of Philips Oil shed by the R2800’s!

When we put SIXC in the black belly scheme I had the engine cowling panels machine buffed to a high shine to add some 50’s glitz.

 

Dave

[Coors54]

I’ve dug out my Air Freighters book by Steven Piercey and it looks as though the belly is as you say almost a Boeing grey, the wing leading edges are natural metal (hot air de icing would prevent them being painted) but it looks like the wings might be the same light grey as the belly.

I wouldn’t get hung up on what grey, we tended to use what was available or what was a good deal when repainting!

[Irish 251]

Here are a few images of mine of G-SIXC.  The grey was similar to the Boeing shade, I would say. (Different film types and lighting can make it look slightly different from photo to photo.)

 

 

[Admiral Puff]

Nice! And those shots show very clearly the "smooth curve" in the lower rear fuselage that I mentioned in my post above.

[TonyW]

Nice pictures, thanks for posting them.

 

It's interesting how much the overall look changes on the plane by adding the black stripe to the lower edge of the green cheat line. I prefer the white demarcation, but I'm Old School.

 

There's a Heller Group Build starting here in the new year. I intend to add one of these planes to the GB. The info posted in this thread is going to come in very handy at that point.

 

Tony,.

[Dave Wilko]

On 11/8/2024 at 8:08 AM, Coors54 said:

I was with Atlantique in the twilight of the Six’s operations, 9/11 put paid to things commercially and it was increasingly difficult to operate as most airports had stopped carrying Avgas in the quantities required plus maintenance costs were just too much to bear. So it’s sometime ago now but my memory has the wings and tail planes in painted silver rather than natural metal, but I could be wrong there, the black areas behind the engines were painted gloss black to disguise the large amounts of Philips Oil shed by the R2800’s!

When we put SIXC in the black belly scheme I had the engine cowling panels machine buffed to a high shine to add some 50’s glitz.

 

Dave

One remembers her climbing up out of Manchester at around 06.30 one morning when heading off to work,she sounded magnificent.

[CarLos]

Almost there!
 

 

 

[CarLos]

 

 

If this is right we need a new "Correcting Revell DC-4" thread!