1/72nd scale 'Dan Air' Dakota. (1 Viewer)

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Thanks Wayne. Depending on how well the paint dries, I might be able to remove the masks later today, after polishing.
 
Another one of your builds that I've somehow missed until now. Looks like your doing a wonderful job there Terry. That kit looks very similar to the Airfix one I have. I wonder if one is a re-boxing of the other?
 
Don't think so Glenn, but could be wrong. The original Airfix kit dates back to the late 1950s/early 1960s, but not sure if the current kit is a new tool. The Italeri kit has been around for at least 30 years, and was originally Esci, IIRC.
 
The lower fuselage has now been sprayed in Humbrol enamel, Number 56 'Aluminium', this time direct onto the bare plastic, without any SNJ application. The paint performed poorly, another indication of the variable quality of the once world leader in model paints. It needed a lot of thinning just to get it to spray at all, making it tricky to achieve the tonal variation by building up the colour. Even then it struggled, and when it dried, it was absolute dead matt, not even a hint of a sheen. This wasn't a major problem, as I wanted the fuselage to contrast with the brighter shine of the wings, although a smoother finish would have been a great benefit.
Once this had fully dried, it was given a very light dusting of the SNJ powder, then gently buffed with cotton wool, finishing with a harder rub down with soft tissue, which created the slight lustre I was trying to achieve. The wings were polished with a slightly heavier application of the powder, varying the amount of buffing to give differing tones.
The masking has been removed, and those areas requiring slight re-touching are currently being addressed.
Next stage is some subtle panel line and staining work, with some tone variations around the engine cowlings and nacelles, followed by detail painting, and then the decals.
Thanks again for your interest, and I hope to show some more tomorrow.
 

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Into the final stages now, with most detail painting done, with the exception of the control surfaces and minor re-touching, and the home-made decals are on.
The control surfaces will be brush-painted with a mix of silver and gloss white, to contrast against the 'metal' of the wings, and a little more weathering applied in the last stage. Next job is all the small bits and pieces and landing gear, exhausts etc.
Note that the windscreen (and cabin windows) look black in the pics, which is just the lighting. (Windscreen frames are matt black.) Then the display base will be 'dressed'.
Thanks for your continued interest and compliments, and I'll post some more tomorrow.
 

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Great work Terry!

Re the kits, the Italeri and Esci offreings aren't the same mouldings at all (I have both).
The Esci kit is a little nicer in the small details - they got the tailwheel and 'well' correct (unlike Italeri) and provide full passenger and AC-47 Spooky interiors, depending on the version you purchase.
Where Italeri wins is in the shape and exterior detailing. The Esci nose is little off, and the kit has way too many engraved panel lines. (That said, the most accurate external appearance is in the old Airfix kit - the dak is covered in pop rivets, only Airfix have duplicated these.)

...and now back to your scheduled program... :)
 
Thanks Evan and Karl, and thanks for the kit info Evan. I can't be certain, until I find the decal sheet from the kit I built approximately 30 years ago, but, although the Italeri kit, and the old one, are identical, I seem to recall that the old one had the Esci label.
I well remember the old Airfix kit - must have built around 4 or 5 in the 1960s, including G-AMPP, the Dan-Air Dak I had a ride In, and 'helped' to taxi at Newcastle, plus one with the kit decals, for 'Silver City', who also operated out of Newcastle at the time.
 

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