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World War II: Great Britain
Aircraft of Great Britain in WWII.
Hosted by Rowan Baylis
Building The Revell 1/48 Dakota
KelticKnot
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Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - 12:38 AM UTC
I had a lot of fun using a blog to talk about all the trials and tribulations, ups and downs, and interesting new techniques I tried for the first time in building Tamiya's fine Lancaster in 48th scale

It's time to push the envelope again ! Write cheques my skills can't handle ! (but mainly share a new build with everyone and enjoy the process)



An as-yet unspecified paratroop carrying Dakota based on Revell's 1/48 kit, time permitting, will be part of the Pax and Pallets campaign

My main plan of action is another cutaway build, detailing the interior complete with a seated group of scratchbuilt paras to really up the ante.

Time to break open the box and let the fun commence!
c4willy
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Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - 02:19 AM UTC
Oh I am so in! I'm often writing cheques my skills can't cash .... usually starts with the thought "how hard can it be" and at the end it's Oh .... that HARD.
Joel_W
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Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - 04:23 AM UTC
Paul,
I was with you all the way on your Lancaster build, and loved every min of it. So I'm pulling up my chair, and will be actively following your build from day 1, which is today as you cracked the box open. BTW, so what do you think of Revell's offering?

The cut-a-way concept with Paratroopers really sounds quite interesting, specialty since I've never painted a figure I liked enough to place in a aircraft or scene.

I'll also confess to spending on AM parts that my skills level guaranteed would never make it to the build it was bought for.

Joel

KelticKnot
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Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 06:21 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Oh I am so in! I'm often writing cheques my skills can't cash .... usually starts with the thought "how hard can it be" and at the end it's Oh .... that HARD.



Haha thanks Chris, It's easy to imagine how you would like something to turn out but conjuring it into reality is the trick!

I'm currently looking at the fuselage pieces and trying to will up some x-ray vision to enable me to see the sweet spot to open her up and display the goodies inside.
There's a lot of interesting stuff in the navigator's bay hidden away between the cabin and cargo area bulkheads so i'm starting to think of quite a long cutaway on one side.
KelticKnot
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Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 06:42 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Paul,
I was with you all the way on your Lancaster build, and loved every min of it. So I'm pulling up my chair, and will be actively following your build from day 1, which is today as you cracked the box open. BTW, so what do you think of Revell's offering?



Great to have you on board again Joel.
So far the kit looks good. I believe all the 48th scale Dak kits have some subtle shape problems or other but it looks like a Dak to me so i'm happy. It's marked '1978' and, having been spoiled with a couple of up to date kits, it's showing its age a little. The detail in places is a little soft and rounded but we'll be transforming most of it anyway!


Quoted Text

The cut-a-way concept with Paratroopers really sounds quite interesting, specialty since I've never painted a figure I liked enough to place in a aircraft or scene.



I'm not normally a huge fan of adding figures to aircraft but the idea of stuffing as many paratroops as possible into the interior really got my creative juices going !
I painted and modified a fair few wargames figures in my youth so I'm hoping this will pan out successfully.
drabslab
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Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 02:22 PM UTC
I will follow this with interest considering that I am also planning a dakota for the pax and pallets campaign.

JClapp
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Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 03:13 PM UTC
splendid.
AmTrac1833
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Posted: Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - 06:42 PM UTC
As a huge fan of the venerable C-47 I have to follow the build

Any plans for the AC-47 bits from the kit?
Joel_W
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Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2017 - 03:35 AM UTC
Paul,
From what I remember of all those early kits, they had raised panel lines. If that is indeed the case, will you be removing them and doing a massive rescribing?

Joel
KelticKnot
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Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2017 - 02:06 PM UTC

Quoted Text

As a huge fan of the venerable C-47 I have to follow the build

Any plans for the AC-47 bits from the kit?



No, not really... they'll probably join the bits box of items that we keep "in case they'll come in handy one day" but never use
KelticKnot
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Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2017 - 02:15 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Paul,
From what I remember of all those early kits, they had raised panel lines. If that is indeed the case, will you be removing them and doing a massive rescribing?

Joel



This is something I'm considering....
The usual problem with raised lines is of course damaging them with sanding where, for example, the fuselage halves join. I suspect a re-scribe will be necessary in some places but I don't think I'd mind a mix of raised and scribed lines.
The moulding lacks any rivet detail so this is another time consuming additional step that I might look into adding....

But right now I'm thinking I had better get started and quit talking !
KelticKnot
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Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2017 - 04:39 PM UTC
OK, we gotta start somewhere so here goes !





The moulded ribbing inside the aircraft is pretty good to be honest if a little soft-edged - certainly good enough for a standard build where you might only be able to peek in the cargo door.
However, it's too uniform in shape and we can add a lot more visual interest using different sizes for the formers (vertical) and stringers (horizontal).
Joel_W
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Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2017 - 11:26 PM UTC
Paul,
And so the adventure begins.

The rare few times that I've attempted to remove raised panel lines and rescribe them, I just followed the raised lines all on one side, in my case it was the top side, then I would rotate the part so that I could scribe those panel lines on the top side once again. I found that method a lot easier then removing the old raised lines 1st, then trying to use tape over their footprints as guides.

Joel
KelticKnot
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Posted: Sunday, December 17, 2017 - 08:59 PM UTC






KelticKnot
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Posted: Thursday, December 28, 2017 - 05:42 PM UTC
Hoping everyone had a great Christmas !
Now it's time to get back to work....



magnusf
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Posted: Thursday, December 28, 2017 - 11:48 PM UTC
Paul! I'm in for the ride though I prefer staying on board rather than flinging myself out of a fully functional aircraft (parachutes are emergency equipment and should NOT be used to play with!)!

Those seats are a really good start ! Am I right if I assume this is the Monogram kit from the beginning?



Magnus
KelticKnot
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Posted: Friday, December 29, 2017 - 07:55 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Paul! I'm in for the ride though I prefer staying on board rather than flinging myself out of a fully functional aircraft (parachutes are emergency equipment and should NOT be used to play with!)!

Those seats are a really good start ! Am I right if I assume this is the Monogram kit from the beginning?



Magnus



Thanks and welcome on board Magnus, and yes the original kit is Monogram's.
Joel_W
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Posted: Friday, December 29, 2017 - 10:53 PM UTC
Paul,
Nice going with those seats. Your scratch built efforts really look quite good dry fitted in the cockpit.

Joel
Merlin
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Posted: Saturday, December 30, 2017 - 12:49 AM UTC
Hi Paul

Lovely work as usual. Looking at a few photos on the Internet, I think the original kit seats are more representative of civilian DC-3s, so you made a good call in replacing them for a military fit-out.

All the best

Rowan
KelticKnot
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Posted: Saturday, December 30, 2017 - 03:26 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi Paul

Lovely work as usual. Looking at a few photos on the Internet, I think the original kit seats are more representative of civilian DC-3s, so you made a good call in replacing them for a military fit-out.

All the best

Rowan



Thanks Rowan, you’ve hit on something I’ve been thinking about this week:
The perils of using internet searches for reference!
It’s easier to get away with this for modern subjects but for a wartime aircraft you need to be careful. This is something I discovered on the Lanc and am coming across again on the Dakota - especially as both subjects have been extensively restored by the Battle of Britain memorial guys and a lot of google images naturally show those aircraft.
As far as the seats are concerned i went on a hunch and chose to model what I thought looked like more appropriate for the wartime look.

Im currently considering what to put in the section behind the cockpit. Im not sure if BBMF Dakota (and what ive seen in the trumpeter kit) hasnt had extra racking installed to carry modern avionic equipment....

Of course, when all’s said and done its just a model but we often get carried away with accuracy !
goodn8
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Posted: Saturday, December 30, 2017 - 10:17 PM UTC
Hey Paul!

Nice to see ya' back on your bench.
Great work and start thus far! Will surely stay tuned.

Thomas
rdt1953
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Posted: Saturday, December 30, 2017 - 10:25 PM UTC
Hi Paul - I watched the Lanc build with much admiration so count me in for this one as well . Richard
KPHB17FE
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Posted: Saturday, December 30, 2017 - 11:07 PM UTC
At the Mereville Battery, they have a C-47 that was used on D-Day. It appears they have done a good job of restoring it. Here are some of the photos I took in the RO/Nav area, Hope they will be of some help.


















KelticKnot
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Posted: Sunday, December 31, 2017 - 12:04 AM UTC
Thanks for looking in everyone and many thanks for those photos Karl, they look to be very useful indeed !
Joel_W
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Posted: Sunday, December 31, 2017 - 12:43 AM UTC
Paul,
Karl really came through with some Xmas present.
Joel
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