An RAF No.233 Squadron Dakota III, as it appeared in mid/late July, 1944

[mark.au]

G'day all;

 

Here's my recently finished Airfix 1/72 Dakota finished as an aircraft belonging to No.233 Squadron, RAF.  I chose this particular aircraft to build for a few reasons, not the least being that I've actually been inside it as it's housed in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario (not far from where I used to live).  The build itself was inspired by the story of the "Flying Nightingales" and I built the model and wrote my piece around those remarkable, courageous and largely unsung women who risked their lives in these Air Ambulances; the aircraft weren't marked with the Red Cross because they carried munitions and supplies on the outward leg of each trip.  More info in the sig link.

 

So, here's the WIP which as usual outlines the build as well as the decisions I made in how to mark and weather the model.

 

 

And, here's the photos of the model.  It's not perfect (the most egregious fault being the way the astrodome has sunk into the fuselage - I tried to get it out but it was well stuck) but I very much enjoyed building it and will certainly build another.  I'd like to complete one as the next iteration of FZ692 when it joined No.437 Squadron RCAF in September 1944.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers;

Mark.

 

[bigbadbadge]

What a great backround Mark, they were very brave .  You have created a cracking model there, it does look lovely,  great work fella. 

Chris

[Dunny]

Lovely work Mark - the decals certainly turned out nicely!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Moskiman]

Really nice build and a great story - must confess I'd never heard of the Nightingales until I read that piece. Great stuff

[woody37]

That's superb Mark, very neat and iconic scheme

[Edge]

Really, really lovely model. I love the restrained weathering and overall finish.

 

Edge

 

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Very, very well done mate, the base kit is very good but you have managed to take it to another level and it’s a very fitting tribute to those incredibly brave men and women who flew them during WWII.

 

Iain

[Wulfman]

A lovely Dak, great build !

 

Wulfman

[SAT69]

32 minutes ago, (ex)Sgtrafman said:

Very, very well done mate, the base kit is very good but you have managed to take it to another level and it’s a very fitting tribute to those incredibly brave men and women who flew them during WWII.

 

Iain

Definitely agree

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Mighty fine work there!  This is one of the best C-47's I've seen here, and definitely better than my own efforts at a post-war one.  Thanks so much for capturing this beauty.

[Brad-M]

This is a great build Mark. I hope you let us know if and when the decals get mass printed for sales.

 

Cheers,

Brad

[dogsbody]

That came out quite nicely! Well done. 

 

I've only been down to the CWH museum once, back in '88, for the first flight of their Lancaster.

 

 

 

Chris

[Hamiltonian]

Oh, that's a lovely finish. Beautiful.

[mark.au]

14 hours ago, Moskiman said:

Really nice build and a great story - must confess I'd never heard of the Nightingales until I read that piece. Great stuff

Neither had I, it was a random post on Instagram that my wife sent me which triggered the project.

 

7 hours ago, Brad-M said:

This is a great build Mark. I hope you let us know if and when the decals get mass printed for sales.

 

Cheers,

Brad

Will do Brad.  Hopefully it will be only a couple or three weeks until I get the test run to try out.

 

Thanks to all for the comments, much appreciated.

 

 

[Gary Brantley]

Super nice Mark!    

[Rabbit Leader]

Just superb Mark, although this is something we’ve come to expect from your bucket load of modelling talents. We all love a good Dak, and that my friend is up there with the very best. I agree with all the above and although the Airfix kit is an excellent starting point, it still takes plenty of still bring it home to look as good as this. 
Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

[mark.au]

35 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

We all love a good Dak

 

We do!  It's such a great shape, the epitome of the "if it looks right, it'll fly right" axiom.  Thanks for the kind words Dave, cheers.  

[dnl42]

Very well done! 

 

And an outstanding tribute to these women.

[Vinnie]

Cracking job, Mark

[Ruskin Air Services]

Cracking Dakota there, my next project must build a war time one most I've built are civilian

[Jeff G]

This is just fantastic, and I learned a lot! (And isn't that the best part?)

[stevehnz]

That has turned out beautifully. A great result from an enjoyable build, all the more so for knowing the story behind it. Thanks for sharing that.

Steve.

[Calum]

nice work

[kapam]

Sorry I'm late to the party on this one - she looks brilliant!

You have done an awesome job!

I love the weighted tyres and the undercarriage detail.

Congratulations on excellent work!