mark.au Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 (edited) The last three months have been somewhat of a rollercoaster. We've become grandparents; endured 11 weeks of hard lockdown; purchased a new home; moved from NSW to ACT while negotiating a kaleidoscope of permits and exemptions to travel lockdown rules; I've chosen this time as a good one to change jobs (and career direction, no less); and now made it through 14 days of hotel quarantine. Whew! I planned to do some modelling in quarantine and accordingly brought a basic assembly tool kit. I chose two kits to build, a Dragon 1/48 Ta 152H-1 and an Airfix 1/72 Dakota III which will be the subject of this WIP. As it turned out, I didn't get as much modelling done as I thought and indeed only made some progress on the Ta 152. Most of its major assemble is complete and I'll complete that later, after the Dakota. Those that followed along with my previous Dakota build to commemorate the "Flying Nightingales" will have read about my intention to build the same airframe's markings once it had been passed on to the RCAF. To do this, I needed to create and get printed some customer decals and they finally arrived from the US a few weeks ago, albeit to an address I wasn't allowed to go to in locked down Sydney. However, I persuaded someone to mail them for me and as you can see below, they're now in my possession and look pretty good. Construction will begin shortly, and while this WIP has potential to be a bit of a repeat of the previous, I will try to bring in a bit more of the history of this airframe to keep it interesting. *Hint* - there may be one more build in this series! Cheers; Mark. Edited November 21, 2021 by mark.au 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunny Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Crikey Mark - you're not doing things by half! Look forward to seeing this take shape, Cheers, Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Excellent another Dak , looking forward to this Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff G Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 This will be a good one! Very interested to see how it goes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 ….and so, it took a little longer to get going than expected, but we’re off. In the finest tradition of kitchen bench modelling I finally made a start to the Dakota, taking it as far as I could without being able to paint (the fuselage halves are not glued). As with the last one, there’s zero work in the cockpit beyond assembly. It’ll get a covering of interior green and that’s it. I’ll do a bit more at the rear as this also will have the doors displayed open. And then, finally, today, I was able to put the modelling cubby together and get some paint splashed about. It feels good to be back at it. I’ll be able to finish basic assembly in one or two more sessions and then it’ll be on to painting. Feels good to be back at it. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Looking forward to following this one, too! May I ask who did the custom decals for you? Please feel free to PM if you don't want it all over the board. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Excellent to see you back at the bench Mark, looking forward to the next installment. Great start fella and a very tidy work area too. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 7 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said: Looking forward to following this one, too! May I ask who did the custom decals for you? Please feel free to PM if you don't want it all over the board. Thanks! The sheet is my design which had printed by a US company. Quality was ok, not great. I’ve since redesigned the sheet with three aircraft instead of two, and had them reprinted by an Aussie company. I’ll post here when I get them and how they turned out. Happy to share company names after that. 6 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: Excellent to see you back at the bench Mark, looking forward to the next installment. Great start fella and a very tidy work area too. Thanks Chris, won’t take me long to make a mess, 😊 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 13, 2021 Author Share Posted October 13, 2021 The custom decals arrived earlier this week and they look terrific. I’m a bit concerned the diamond markings for the nose are a bit on the large side, but otherwise it all looks spot on size-wise. I’m making good progress towards using them too, almost finished with construction. I was able to do a better job with this one than the last, though having pushed forward with wing assembly prior to joining them to the fuselage there’s a small challenge to overcome to get a clean join. Details on that later. I’ll add some details in the next post on the wing join and some of the minor assembly challenges, for now here’s the progress. Cheers 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 The decals look lovely and I loke the loading bay weathering and the engines have come out well too. Looking forward to the wing assembly going on. Great job Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Beautiful job! I see you have the cowlings on and the engines painted separately. What's your plan for installing the engines in the cowlings? Can you fit them in through the front lip of the cowling? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 8 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said: Beautiful job! I see you have the cowlings on and the engines painted separately. What's your plan for installing the engines in the cowlings? Can you fit them in through the front lip of the cowling? Thanks! The pics are a little out of order, the engines are installed and the cowls glues around them afterwards as per instructions. In the pic they are already installed and masked with a little piece of packaging foam. Some build details left out of yesterday’s post; I blanked off the tail where the cone was left off, just needs a swipe with a sanding stick apparently :). I drilled out the little vent by the door, and for this one (as opposed the the previous) I also cut out the little window just aft. Finally, the undercarriage was given the treatment and looks pretty good I think. I did run into a problem gap at the wing root because I assembled out of sequence. I elected to use some stretched sprue and Tamiya Extra Thin cement to fill the gaps as the joint needed some structural integrity. A simple fix and easily cleaned up tomorrow with a sanding stick. One of the casualties of our move was “Kwitcherbitchin” - damaged beyond my willingness to repair (at the time of discovery, now I’m second guessing…). However in the spirit of this build, I.e. the same airframe some months later, I salvaged some parts to use on the new model. Some continuity of airframe where none was originally planned. Seems fitting, somehow. Once I’ve cleaned up the last remaining issues with the sanding stick, I’ll be able to start painting. Cheers. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 21 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: The decals look lovely and I loke the loading bay weathering and the engines have come out well too. Looking forward to the wing assembly going on. Great job Chris Thanks Chris. That weathering will mostly be hidden inside the fuselage but creates a good impression when compared to the previous build of the same airframe some months earlier. I’m very excited to try the decals! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Good way to make the best of a bad situation! Sorry your C-47 became a casualty. Perhaps you could establish your own mini-aircraft graveyard for salvaging parts going forward...? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 I didn't see your post when I posted earlier, poss posted at similar time by the look of it, great further progress and good to see wings on. I am sorry to hear about the original build being damaged beyond repair. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Great progress mate and I love that decl sheet that you have! I did a similar build a few years ago if it is of interest; 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 17, 2021 Author Share Posted October 17, 2021 That’s a very nice 437 Squadron Dakota @tonyot, “Fort Rea” is a prime reference for how I’m going to finish mine. Those that know me, know I love painting, so I’m in my happy place now… The process begins with a rough and ready black pre-shade and then I used a custom mix of Tamiya acrylics to put down the base Neutral Grey. With that done I post-shaded with a lightened shade to introduce some more [still subtle] contrast. After sealing with a gloss clear, I’ll do some more post-shading and airbrush work, along with some chalk pastels to finish the work-horse weathering state I’m going for (as seen on “Fort Rea”. Next, though, is the topside base coat and shading which will follow the same basic process as the underside. Cheers. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunny Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Coming along nicely Mark - those custom decals look terrific! Cheers, Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 Nice paint on the undersides Mark, looking forward to the rest of ghe painting and weathering. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 And we have stripes. I like to paint them on the base colour as it helps with depth. In this case, they are also going to be grubby so off-white is just fine for them. Next the real fun begins with a weathered topsides with over-painted D-Day stripes. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Lovely stripes Mark, this is really coming on now , looking forward to seeing the topsides and your weathering effects. Great work Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airjiml2 Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 You going to complete the trio (or the quartet) with its civilian scheme (or post war RCAF?) Jim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 34 minutes ago, airjiml2 said: You going to complete the trio (or the quartet) with its civilian scheme (or post war RCAF?) Jim I am. I’ll do the Environment Canada scheme for sure, and maybe the post-war RCAF as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 I worked quite hard at getting a worn Olive Drab finish without making it a patchwork caricature of one. Starting with a rough pre-shade I applied several light coats of Tamiya Olive Drab to complete the base layer and then added some tonal variation with Khaki Drab and even a little Khaki too. Then, I used some Hataka RAF Dark Green to represent where the D-Day stripes were over painted. I also took a bit of artistic licence perhaps; FZ692 was originally built for the USAAF and so, in all likelihood was delivered with US markings. When it was given/sold/transferred to the RAF in February 1944 it may well have still be wearing this US markings, which the Raf would have painted out - using RAF paint. So, I cut a mask and painted Dark Green on the upper wing (and same process for the underside) where the markings would have may have been. It's quite subtle but it's there. If nothing else these markings acknowledge the airframe's heritage, and I like that. Lastly, I added a little texture to the overall and called it finished. For now, at least. I know from experience that the gloss coat/flat coat finishing layers will tone down the texture a little - I'll revisit the final finish in the weathering process later. This evening I'll apply the clear gloss coat in preparations for the decals - I'l really looking forward to seeing how they look and perform on the model. Cheers. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 ...and now with a gloss coat. A lot of my texturing has disappeared under the gloss but hopefully it will come back, albeit subdued when the fish coats are applied. I'll get the underside glossed up today, and then on to decals. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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