Ray S Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 Hello all, here on this fine Forum, we are running an epic Group Build celebrating Matchbox models. There have been amazing builds shown on there, and this was my contribution, with the exception of the 'amazing' part. I used the Revell boxing of Matchbox's PK-127 Twin Otter. I have a bit of a love-affair with the DHC-6 Twin Otter, having flown in them numerous times, and have been patiently building them for quite a long time in the hope that my exertions would prompt someone like Airfix or Special Hobby to dip their toes in the water and give us a modern tooling of one. This time, I thought I would try AeroCraft's cockpit upgrade set. This comes as an upper and lower set of resin parts, along with a replacement bulkhead, and that means a major piece of surgery to the front of the fuselage. I had a reasonable result, but I think that the result in the hands of someone who was really good at repairing joins would be exceptional. I am very glad I used the part, it really makes a difference to how the Twin Otter looks, by correcting the lower profile of the front windscreen to give the characteristic downward sweep for the glazing. There is a thread to look at if you would like to see what went on during the build: This is what I ended up with: To see the difference with the windscreen, here is the upgraded one: And compared to an unmodified on from a previous build of mine, of a Yeti Airlines Twin Otter: And back to the Air Taxi again: The black and red parts of the paintwork were Humbrol enamels, brush-painted (three coats of Humbrol 60 Scarlet as undercoats and three of 220 Italian Red as topcoats), the white was Tamiya White Primer. Propellers were masked and painted rather than using the transfers, and the prop warning lines on the floats, and the cheatlines on the engine nacelles were again masked and painted rather than using the transfers. The scheme markings came from a ModelCraft sheet which was originally included in their re-issue if the Matchbox kit. I had a photograph of my own to act as a reference, and also as a reminder: Ideally, I would like to find a way of doing this as a diorama and give this model an appropriate setting. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the build, especially as it was a type I had flown in on our honeymoon, although not this registration. Thanks for looking, Ray 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 That's very smart building and painting. well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXANTOMCAT Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 Super job- still a great kit. TT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 You have a beautiful build there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 Nice stuff, I worked on the Twin Otter in the RCAF. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whofan Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 Lovely build there. When we went to the Maldives, we flew in a twin otter in the blue and yellow livery, but unfortunately no-one does that scheme as decals and Maldivian airways never replied to my request for a schematic of the paint scheme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Great looking build on the old Matchbox ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted May 15, 2022 Author Share Posted May 15, 2022 Thanks for the views, comments and 'likes' to one and all. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 Lovely!! Great work! Miguel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertielissie Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Seeing your Twotters brings joy to my heart. Superb work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorth Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 A lovely build you have there. The AeroCraft cockpit replacement makes that area of the model look right. Definitely an improvement over the original. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 Thanks again for the comments! @Whofan, there is a 'sort of' yellow and blue scheme available: https://www.drawdecal.com/product-category/airline-livery/australia-pacific-airlines/transmaldivian/ But the Twin Otter in that is not painted in the wavy style, it was the closest I could find for you. Having built a number of these now, I have always tried to do an 'improvement' on each one, but different upgrades each time, my aim is sometime in the future is to incorporate all of them into one build and get something close to an 'ultimate' (for me, that is) Twin Otter. The really difficult thing would be - what scheme? There are so many. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Turned out great Ray. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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