1/72 Italeri AC-47
“SPOOKY” |
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Gallery Article by Edward A. Fuquay |
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The
DC-3/C-47 “Skytrain/Dakota” is a remarkable design. To this date, more than
sixty years ago since the first prototype took to the air, these airplanes are
still flying hauling cargo, passengers and acting as Gun ships. This was the
brainchild of master aeronautical designer Ed Heinemann, the then chief engineer
at the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. His design changed aviation history forever
and began the age of air travel throughout the world.
This
sturdy plane has been in use in the plains and jungles of Colombia, South
America, and no other design has been able to take its place. Its unparalleled
ability for landing and taking off from unprepared and short landing strips plus
its durability, have made almost impossible for newer designs to replace it.
Today Basler Turbo Conversions have taken in this aging aircraft and rebuilt
them to more modern standards, installing Turbo Props and enlarging the cabin,
as well as modernizing avionics and fight systems. The BT-67 is a truly new
aircraft that is preserving perhaps one of the most successful and efficient
airframe designs ever created.
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The
use of these airplanes by the U.S. Air Force in Viet-Nam, as Gun ships,
Electronic Surveillance EC-47 and for the Hearts and Minds air campaign, which
dropped propaganda leaflets or used loud speakers (Bull Shit Bombers), put these
ladies in a very attractive attire, the four color South East Asia Jungle
Camouflage. I could not resist it.
The
Italeri kit is pretty simple to build, with adequate level of detail. The
engraved panel lines are bit thick for the scale, but we have to remember that
this kit has been around for about 40 years! Geez! I must be getting old! The
only especial building technique I used was to blend the side windows to the
fuselage. The clear plastic parts tell their age as they are a bit fuzzy and
seem to have scratches. There are two strips of side windows. I cut each window
apart and thinned the positioning lip to allow the window to protrude on the
outside of the fuselage a bit. I sanded smooth the inside and polished the
plastic to a clear finish with a fingernail polishing stick available at the
cosmetics department of your local drugstore. Then I glued the windows to the
fuselage and let the cement dry for a couple of days. Then I sanded the excess
plastic making sure the window was flush with the surrounding fuselage. Finally
I polished the whole side with the fingernail polishing stick.
The
kit falls together, just like any Tamiya! Very little filling is required. I
painted the model using ModelMaster enamels, Camouflage Grey, Dark Tan, Medium
Green and Dark Green. I sealed the model with Metalizer Sealer. I used the kits
decals, these are of good register, but they silver very easily. Italeri decals
are not the best around and you have to fiddle a lot with them. I took a very
drastic approach. I mixed a few drops of white glue with Micro-Sol and put a dab
of it where the decal was to be applied. Once I positioned the transfer, I
immediately absorbed the excess liquid with a “Q” tip. After a few minutes I
would apply a coat of Solva-Set on top of the decal. Let it dry and do not touch
it! Finally I applied a thin coat of “Windsor-Newton” gloss acrylic varnish
and a liberal coat of Metalizer Sealer once the acrylic varnish dried. The last
step was a light dusting of “Dullcote”. I go very light with this material,
as it tend to give a “glazed doughnut look” to the color. I am looking
forward to building soon a BT-67 or the Turbo version of this plane. Well once
again happy modeling.
Edward A. Fuquay
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