Donald Dickson II OK, so I received this beautiful kit in the Christmas exchange last night. I am not a WWII guy. They are cool planes and all, but they just dont sparkle with me enough to build them. But there ARE a couple I find interesting. And this is one of them. Not to mention this kit is GORGEOUS. It BEGS to be built.

So here is my thing. I want to do the white washed version. Those things got filthy and nasty. So much I can do with it. But I do not know how the planes were painted. In other words, did they do it in a facotry? Were the crews slapping the paint on in the field with whatever they had at hand (like the Germans did to their planes)? Did the final product cover the camo to the point of the art on the box cover? Or were they more like the German planes that were all streaky? Or all different depending on when and where?

I have a good idea of the HOW I will do it. Though I am open to suggestions of course. I just dont want to make it look totally wrong.

Donald Dickson II Just had to do a quick dry fit. NICE!

Arne Greve Hi Donald, the russians painted some in the field and I guess some where painted in factories. So, you have the choise.

Martin Oostrom I have no idea about accuracy, but I did find this for you massimotessitori.altervista...es/colors/winter/winter.html

Perhaps we can convert you to non-shiny planes

Donald Dickson II Martin, that helps a lot! It points to the fact that you can do it however you want and no one can say its wrong. LOL

And that is not happening my friend. The occasional dalliance is the most it will amount to.

Donald Dickson II OK, so I had to move this right into the rotation. Really, its the fault of Hobby Boss. Had they not done such an awesome job, I might have been able to resist.

Cock pit done.

nikolaos kouzinis Thank you Donald. Sometimes Ι concider challenge to make a kit with problems, sometimes and aftermarket (second hand) as one in my album the TU22 Backfire which had missed parts at half. If you see it in my album (scalemates), it is scratced all of it. But it has something good these situations. You put the mind to solve problems using strange materials for scratching.

Greg Baker I agree with that. That's why I love kitbashing, scratchbuilding and general WHIF projects. Figuring out how to successfully marry the front of Spad XIII with the bottom of a Me163B Komet and create the Pirate Flapter from the animated film Castle in the Sky is a very satisfying bit of work.

Donald Dickson II Oh, doing something like that is completely different Greg. There you are creating something unique and of interest to you. So the mindset is different. As are the goals.

And with Nikolaos point, yes, but ONLY if its a subject I have an interest in. Then I will gladly putwork into it. If this had been something like an F-15, F-4, Tornado or Jaguar then yeah, I will go all out. I might bitch about it, but thats only because I like bitching.

Greg Baker Good point. I was focused more on the idea of scratchbuilding vs. Hyperdetailing using aftermarket add-one. Both can be satisfying for different goals and reasons, as you say.

Donald Dickson II Yep. And this one was solely can I get it done in time and not look like an epileptic 12 year old did it.

nikolaos kouzinis It looks good Donald.

Martin Oostrom You're a magician Donald

Donald Dickson II Nikolaos and Martin, thank you! And you are far too kind Martin.

Donald Dickson II Alright, as requested. Not even sure when I did this one, but its likely been about a year or so. It was a quicky in between build thing. I kind of like these 144 Minicraft cargo plane kits. They have a wide variety of subjects. They arent overly complicated and look the part. Not the best fit ever, but nothing horrid. I have a couple 121 versions and the 130 J super Herc in the stash yet to do. I want to get the 1/72 kit of this plane as well.

As for this kit, main thing, PUT WEIGHT IN THE NOSE! They fail to tell you that, and as you can see from the clear sprue prop I had to add to the ass, it is needed. And dont bother trying to mask the windows. Unless you are a masochist. I did. With liquid mask. And when I removed the mask, the frame work is so thin the paint didnt hold well and half it pulled off. So I used the decal anyway.

Tom That is crazy looking. Love it. Looks like something out of Captain America...

Donald Dickson II It was introduced to service in 1947 and flew in some form or another until 78. It took part in the Berlin Airlift and served primarily as a tanker in later years. It IS an odd looking plane, but that makes it all the more interesting.

Tom My first instinct when I saw it was that it was Russian/Soviet... then I saw the decals... oops.

Martin Oostrom Thanks for the album Donald. Whenever I start my 1/72 KC-97, we'll have to talk shop

Donald Dickson II Martin, sounds good to me!

Martin Oostrom I think you did a marvellous job. I like these unflashy workingman's planes. There is an air of We'll-get-the-job-done mentality surrounding them, unlike most jet fighters. I love the collection

Martin Oostrom I can't find an album on the C-97. Do you have pictures? Please?

Bryn Crandell If I see a C-5 for a decent price I'll let you know. I have the Yodel kit which is in a long line of same molds. Lockheed C-5A Galaxy (Yodel YSP-2, 1:144)

Jozef Goos good job wel done

Stephan Ryll Very nice build Donald

Greg Baker Martin - I was wondering about that C-97 as well, so I second the request for pictures. I've got one in the stash that I don't really know what I want to do with it.

Donald Dickson II Martin, thank you sir. I like them as well. I was a Load Master on C-141s, so I have a special place in my heart for cargo planes. Without them, EVERY service would suffer. Thats why I always snicker when they sat Chair Force. My response has always been, Want your mail???? Want parts for your little Cobra or Hornet there??? Hmmmmm???? Want a free ride home from Rota???? (THAT one usually gets them. LOL)

Bryn, I would snag the Roden kit, BUT, it is no different than the 141 kit, and with the horrid decals they have, and the issues a brand new mold should NOT have, NO WAY I pay the 100.00+ price tag they put on it. You automatically have to add the cost of a set of the Caracal decals, or there is just no sense building it.

Jozef, Stephen, Greg thanks!

And I will have an album up momentarily for the C-97...

Donald Dickson II And here it is gents. smokeriderdon

Bryn Crandell Looks fantastic. Nice touch with cockpit reveal.

Augie Nice don Nice!

Cuajete Very nice, Donald. Congrats for the prize!

Michael Hickey You did an extremely nice job with this one Donald.

Donald Dickson II Martin, thank you! I have 3 more in the stash now. They cleared them out at Hobby Lobby here in the states and I got them for a LOT less than retail. Depending on how deep your cabinet is, it can fit. I have it one of mine. The foot print on the cabinet is 30" wide and 16" deep.

And its been a while since I did this, so I am totally brain cramping here... Wheel thingies???
Bob, Daniel, Bryn, Augie, Cuajete and Michael, thank you all!

Donald Dickson II Ooooooohhhhhhh, Wait, I got it!!!! LOL The wheel thingies in the cock pit. There is one on top and one to each side of the center. I know they got turned for SOMETHING, just not sure what. I will have to see if they are indeed for trim.

Augie IF they are the ones I think they are, they are indeed trim (Horiz stab etc)

Donald Dickson II Yep! Thats what they are. Just looked them up. Thanks guys!

Timothy Heimer I know nothing!

Peter Hardy I'll be your friend Tim!

Timothy Heimer Thanks Peter! LOL

Greg Baker Light it up!

Wait a minute... troublemaker? You're going to hurt Tim's feelings. He's very sensitive to such things...

Timothy Heimer Don't worry Greg, I can always blame it on you and those damn locusts! LOL

Donald Dickson II LOL ummm, I meant Greg when I said trouble maker. Though Tim would work as well. LOL

Greg Baker Oooh... well, you can certainly understand my confusion. Considering my helpful nature, that's such a non-sequitur statement to make. Tim on the other hand... well, that guy is big city trouble.

Anyway, about those cargo doors on your C-17...

Donald Dickson II ROFLMAO And I rest my case.

Bryn Crandell Watch this as well.

Donald Dickson II I am doing it the boring way. All closed up. I REALLY dont want to get into detailing the inside on this thing. That would end up being far more than I care to invest on this one. LOL

Donald Dickson II OK, so this was a quickie build before I dive into the C-17. I wanted to do something besides silver. In researching I discovered that the Russians really do not have much by way of standardization. So I went with a four color scheme similar to a few pics I found. I like how it turned out. But...

This kit is horrid. Fit is horrendous. Scale seems to be off from part to part. Parts are not numbered, but there are only two trees so its not hard to figure out. The decals, all 8 of them, are atrocious. And are destroyed by lacquer dull coat. Thankfully I tested it on one of the stars on the underside. The only reason I had this kit is it was given to me. LOL

All that being said, it looks like an SU-15 to me, and with a minimal amount of effort will look decent I think.

Timothy Heimer Not bad for a kit from Hell! But then your talent saved it!

Donald Dickson II Thank you Timothy!

Ekki Good result!

Cuajete For what this kit is, you've done it pretty well, Donald. Congrats!

David Thor Beautiful! Great results. And thanks for the info on the quirks of this kit, i still have the polar version in my stash.

Clifford Keesler Awesome result Donald, well done.@Gareth,, I am getting ready to start the Academy Sea Dragon and it has the option to build the rotors and tail boom folded.

Gareth Windsor Nice Clifford, look forward to that. Generally speaking, most of the kits I've seen of Sea King don't have blade fold as an option (I've built the Fujimi kit and have the Airfix RN Search & Rescue and the Revell RN Tiger Meet Sea kings) which is why they don't look right sometimes when people do it. #1 blade down the spine and blades 2 & 5 either side of #1 straight back. It's #3 & #4 that are tricky as they rotate around 45° as they fold. The hinge would be quite flimsy too in a small scale. The Wessex (and I'm guessing the Choctaw as same airframes) needed extra support equipment fitted when they folded.

Donald Dickson II Wow, Choppa is so popular he gets credit for other peoples builds. LMAO But thank you Konrad! And David and Clifford as well.

Gareth, I have seen builds where they included the braces for the folded rotors. Evidently it was either good after market, or incredible scratch building.

Choppa Nutta Haha, sorry I just couldn't resist a cheap joke lol

Konrad Limmer Oh man...!
Of course it is Donalds one! Anyhow it is a great build

Choppa Nutta Yeah man, it is a great build

Donald Dickson II Thanks guys. And thanks for the laugh as well!

Ekki Excellent work. Well done!

Martin Oostrom We can't build in larger scales. Parts are too big for our hands

David Thor Such a crazy looking bird. Great job Donald!

Donald Dickson II Thank you all! I am humbled by your praise.

Martin, About to start up on a 1/48 H-34 Choctaw. For the same group build I did this one for.

Timothy, I swore I would not start doing them a lot. And I really AM trying not to do small planes like this in 72. But the kit had good reviews and was on sale...

David, I get a pregnant guppy vibe. LOL But a flipping FAST guppy!

Maciej Bellos Well done mate! Really shinny!

Gareth Windsor Another great job Donald. I may give the AK metals a go on my phantom when it's ready.

Łukasz Gliński It looks nice, the AK stuff gave a really cool result, but to be honest I wonder what happened to the air inlet part (pic 27). Thanks for the review anyway, good to know this kit is so nice OOB only . I have to consider buying me one as well.

Donald Dickson II Lukasz, thats my fault. I screwed up and had to hand paint that area as all the decals were on masking it would have been a nightmare. Im gonna fiddle with it at some point I am sure.

And thanks guys!