Douglas DC-3 Minicraft 1/144

Douglas DC-3 Minicraft 1/144

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Discussion

Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Saturday 14th July 2018
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Second DC-3 in a year, but this time in 1/144 scale rather than 1/72. I want to add a DC-3/C-47 to my airliner collection and have a few Minicraft 1/144 kits in the stash. This was one I bought not that long ago and comes with a set of markings for an FAA machine. However, as I like doing classic airliners of the 1930s to the 1970s period, I will be finishing it as an Aer Lingus Dakota as operated by them just before they were sold off in 1962.

I am using a set of decals from Maxdecals which allows a number of different DC-3 options from the Aer Lingus fleet. I'm tempted by EI-ACE as it was probably the last ever DC-3 ever built.

Looking into its history, it was left unassembled when the production line closed in 1945. It had been earmarked for completion as a C-117/Super DC-3 for the US Navy but instead it was finished to DC-3 standard for Aer Lingus. It is unusual in that it is closer to a pre-war DC-3 rather than a C-47 as it features a passenger only door rather than the enlarged cargo door associated with the C-47 versions.

The kit came out in the early 1990s, so to my mind, is quite modern. Some say its shape is a bit suspect but it doesn't look too bad to me. It comes with engine cowlings to depict either a Pratt & Whitney or a Wright powered aeroplane, which is a nice feature.












Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Saturday 21st July 2018
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A little bit of progress has been made on the DC-3. I've added the white cheatline decal on fairly early on the proceedings as the passenger cabin window aircraft name decals need to be applied on top of them. The longer they have to settle down and adhere to the fuselage, the less likely they are to move about when laying on the additional decals.






AshVX220

5,933 posts

197 months

Monday 23rd July 2018
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You'll have all of the Aer Lingus historic fleet at this rate Eric!

Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Monday 23rd July 2018
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It's something I'd like to do but there are plenty of subjects remaining -

Viscount
F-27
Carvair
Boeing 720
BAC 1-11
737-248

And many more

Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Sunday 29th July 2018
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Finished the DC-3 It's a nice little kit and I do like this particular scheme -










anonymous-user

61 months

Sunday 29th July 2018
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That looks great Eric, I love the DC-3, especially in these beautiful classic liveries.

Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Sunday 29th July 2018
quotequote all
It was nice to work on a kit that didn't need much in the way of any serious remedial surgery. My next target is to finish off the vac form Handley Page Herald that has lain unloved on the shelf in a semi finished state for a few months.

robemcdonald

9,128 posts

203 months

Sunday 29th July 2018
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Great job.

Yertis

18,659 posts

273 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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Eric Mc said:
Anyone else find that the wing insignia is making their teeth itch? I'd have had to do that differently, even if it was wrong.

Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
Itch away - or hop in a time a machine and write a letter of complaint to the CEO of Aer LIngus circa. 1958.

dr_gn

16,403 posts

191 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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The text is meant to be on a common line across both wings, normal to the fuselage centreline. You’ve applied the decals rotated too much which is why it looks wrong.

I’ve just applied the decals on an Airfix Lancaster slightly wrong, but I’ve bodged it so it looks OK.

robemcdonald

9,128 posts

203 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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I think it could be the angle of the picture. If Eric posted a plan view it would look right.

dr_gn

16,403 posts

191 months

Monday 30th July 2018
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robemcdonald said:
I think it could be the angle of the picture. If Eric posted a plan view it would look right.
The angle doesn’t change the single straight perspective line the text should be on, which you can try on the image by putting a straight edge under the text (not incuding dihedral).The straight lines on the base don’t seem too distorted, so I assume the decals are quite a bit out of alignment (same with the passenger windows if we’re being honest).


Edited by dr_gn on Monday 30th July 21:20

Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Monday 30th July 2018
quotequote all
It's for the bin then.

dr_gn

16,403 posts

191 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
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Eric Mc said:
It's for the bin then.
Depends on what you’re willing to accept. Like Yertis, it would annoy me to distraction. I’ve binned an almost finished model before purely because I screwed the decals up, salvaged what I could of it and rebuilt into a new one.

As robemcdonald said, look at it in plan (to get rid of the dihedral effect) and see what it looks like. If the decals are on the piss, sand them off, repaint and put new ones on. Correcting the windows would be far more difficult though.

You can get decals in alignment by sighting past a rule held away from the model (assuming there are no panel line or structural references). Also, looking down the side of the fuselage at a shallow angle will exaggerate any issues with windows, cheat lines etc. Works with masking too.


Eric Mc

Original Poster:

122,854 posts

272 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
quotequote all
The problem was that the decals (Max Decals) turned out to be extremely "grabby" and it was difficult to manouever them once they were on the model. The windscreen was a nightmare. So, rather than have them split or crack, in the end I decided to get them as best as I could into position.

The kit is pretty small and from the normal viewing distance it looks OK. Computer screens make it quite a bigger than it is in reality.

It looks nice next to my Aer Lingus 707 and Constellation so I won't REALLY be binning it and I'll certainly be bringing it to my model club and various model show. I've seem many much worse kits.

Next time I use Max Decals airliner decals (the only option for "classic" Aer Lingus schemes in many cases) at least I'll be aware of how they behave and take suitable precautions.

I'll be finishing off a vac form Handley Page Herald next so that should be interesting.