1/72 C-54 Revell in Dutch markings

[mgbooyv8]

Hi Guys and Gals,

 

At first a very good 2016 to all of you.

 

This is my Revell 1/72 C-54, I built for our Dutch IPMS magazine. A full build article appeared in the last issue of 2015.

I finished it in the markings of the 'Netherlands Government Air Transport'. This was a military disguise of KLM just after the second world war. In that period, KLM received 12 surplus USAF C-54's to re-establish the scheduled service from The Netherlands to the East Indies. On several airfields along the route, operations with civil aircraft were prohibited, hence the NGAT livery. In 1947, the disguise was no longer needed and the aircraft received their KLM livery.

 

The model is finished mainly with Alclad metal paints.

Hope you like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

Edited January 8, 2016 by mgbooyv8

[Jack]

.....moooooooooi.........

[Hubert Boillot]

Very nice

 

Hubert

[Guest]

Looks GOOD! Nice work.

[Guest Peterpools]

Peter

Amazing build and a fantastic NMF

:thumbsup:

Peter

[LSP_Kevin]

That's awesome, Peter! How was the kit to build?

 

Kev

[LSP_K2]

What a great looking machine.

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the compliments, its appreciated!

 

Kev, the kit is a nice build, but labour intensive as a result of the high parts count and the high level of detail.

A lot of alternative parts are included, which is very nice.

The fit of parts is generally very good.The interior is very nicely detailed, but unfortunately, not much of it can be seen.

However, it is a joy to put together. The reason I closed the passenger/freight doors is because the cabin interior is for a military freighter and the Dutch C-54's were equipped with passenger seats. The civil version of the kit is announced for this year. The underside of the cabin floor has holes for passenger seats, so a complete passenger interior can be expected.

 

A few comments from my build:

 

* The surfaces of fuselage and wings have some irregularities resulting from the CAD design, which are not present on the original and have to be sanded smooth. Note that on the C-54 all control surfaces are covered with linen and not with metal, as depicted by Revell. I did not change it.

 

* The nose wheel can be left off until the end of the build

 

* Add approximately 20 g more weight than advised by Revell. There is plenty of room below the cabin floor and the landing gear can cope with the extra weight. The landing gear looks fragile on the sprues, but once built, it is strong enough.

 

* Deviate from the instructions by building the main wheel bays in the lower wing first, then add the firewall of the inner engines. It is a bit fiddly, but they will click in place with correct alignment. The firewalls of the outer engines can rotate whithin the nacelles. The T-shaped hole in the firewall of the outer engines can now be aligned with those of the inner engines. This ensures correct alignment of the engines.

 

* Install the exhausts according to the instructions. Build the engines as a whole, and add them to the firewalls. The nacelles can be slided over the engines. No glue is required.

 

* To add the wings, I suggest the following procedure:

1. Assemble them without the flap area interiors (parts 108/109) or the retracted flap parts. (and without engines and landing gear)

2. Glue the lower side of the center section to the lower side of the fuselage and let it harden for at least a day.

3. Bend the wings upwards and rearwards and hold them with tape. The wings will fit perfectly this way.

4. Flood the joints at the roots from the rear of the wings with liquid cement and let harden with the tape in place. By leaving parts 108/109 off, the area can be accessed.

5. The result is a strong construction and the wings can be assebled further.

 

 

* The control surfaces and flaps can be added at the end of the build. This saves awkward masking  activities.

 

* After the gloss black coat for the Alclad was added, I masked the area's of the de-icing boots.

Then, the Alclad metal colours were added. After demasking, the de-icing boots got a matt clear coat by brush.

This saves awkward masking activities.

 

I hope these comments helps!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks for that additional info, Peter!

 

Kev

[Wetwings]

Peter, did you use the main cabin interior? I'm about to start one (which will probably end up in Airlines of NSW markings) and it seems to me that most of the interior aft of the crew compartment could be safely left out, unless the cabin interior assists with keeping the outside fuselage in alignment.

[mgbooyv8]

Hi Wetwings,

Yes, I did use the main cabin interior, but only the walls and the bulkheads.

As you already suspected, they help with aligment of the outside fuselage.

 

Another tip: the first thing you need to do is glue the cabin door surround in the port fuselage half.

This is one of the few parts which do not fit that well.

In this stage it is easier to fill and sand the outside join and reinforce the inside join with a bead of glue.

 

Good luck with your build!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[Wetwings]

Thanks, Peter - good to know.

 

And there's a glitch in the instructions. At Stage 33, it is suggested that you install Parts J92 with the step to the rear - don't! The step should face forwards, to allow the firewalls (Parts K96 and K97) to sit in place properly.

[Papajohn]

Beautiful job Peter and thanks for passing on all the detailed build tips. I'm midway thru this build and burning thru my masking tape inventory doing the '49 USAF kit scheme with the orange nose. Very labor intensive paint job! Made the mistake of installing the flaps down brackets before painting (what was I thinking?!) and have broken all but one...might as take that last one off for a matched set? Hope Revell DG sends replacements! Other than my own builder error, kit goes together nicely and plenty of room to pack the nose end with weights. Enjoy!

John

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks for the compliment Papajohn!

Usually customer service at RoG is very good so I hope you get your replacement flaps down brackets.

Please post pictures of your build when it is finished.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[Guest Uncle Fester]

Wow, Peter. 

 

Stunning work on the metal finish.  I was thrilled to see someone do one of these!  You inadvertently made me start looking at eBay and what they have to offer in this kit and it's not that expensive.  I like the Eduard photo-etch IP as you'd be able to see it fairly well in the completed model. 

 

There are a couple of these I'd love to do.  One is the bird from "The High And The Mighty" flick, which is a repainted TransOcean Airlines aircraft and I thought the orange lightning bolt American Airlines versions would also be nice. 

 

And then, this one:

 

Edited February 25, 2016 by Uncle Fester