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Airfix 1:72 Douglas Dakota MkIII Buffalo Airways.

colin m

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This build has been ticking over in the background for a few months now. I'm a gardener (amateur) so this is a busy time of the year. I've also had one of my old cars up in the air for it's two year inspection. These self imposed inspections normally produce a list of jobs for me to deal with. So, bench time has been very limited.
However, this kit was sitting there waiting for an excuse to be built, then it happened. I discovered the decals for Buffalo Airways (the program was called Ice Pilots) were available from Canada. "Buy it now" job done.
Unfortunately, as this was a dis jointed build, 10 minutes here, 15 there type thing, I didn't really get into the flow of the build and made a few mistakes along the way, which has compromised the finish of the model. Viewing from a few feet away, it's fine.
And another thing, I realised the kit came with Ski's. No way could I resist the lure of Ski's they had to be used. Luckily, there is an episode of Ice pilots were they use ski's. Interestingly, they didn't fit the rear ski, so neither did I.

For painting, credit to our own Barry W, he got me onto MRP. Anything metallic on the aircraft was Alcad. The actual painting was a bit of a pain, admittedly caused by me, as I didn't really plan things out. This led to difficult situations like masking over decals and other little problems like that. The green paint is something you have to mix yourself, to match the decals, a good few hours of experimentation went into this.

Get a good look people, because Civil aircraft really aren't my thing and it's most unlikely I'll do another. However, that program Ice Pilots was a brilliant watch, so I couldn't resist this small step out of my comfort zone. I am now turning around and heading straight back to my comfort zone, my next build will be camouflaged !

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Just for the eagle eyed among you all, yes, I did forget to fit the exhausts for the outdoor shots, but here they are. Also, this pic shows the nice level of detail provided by Airfix in their landing gear.
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Thanks for looking.
 
Nice job Colin. Good to see a plane with snow boots on as well. Prop blur in the left front three quarters close up view looks excellent. Really brings it to life.
 
I'm not a fan of civil aircraft either but that is VERY attractive, I have to say.
And what a paint job- magnificent!
 
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Thanks for the comments gentlemen. If you are interested there are 'Ice pilots' episodes on Youtube. A most unusual airline, definitely, one of a kind.


good looking.plane
There's that old saying in Engineering, if it look right, it probably is right. I think the Dakota / DC 3 certainly looks right.
new tool airfix
Yes it is the new tool version. Do you remember we stood at the Airfix stand at the Cosford model show were Airfix were displaying their latest release, the Dakota. I said then, I really fancied one of them.
. Prop blur in the left front three quarters close up view looks excellent
The wind blew just at the right moment. I had to get a picture of that.
 
Extremely well done Colin........you could not ask for a better result than that! :thumb2: Rick H.
 
Not very many commercial planes seen here Colin but there's no need for any comparison as the build is outstanding and interesting.

Cheers,
Richard
 
Thread owner
Thanks for the replies chaps. As I said, no more civil aircraft for me. However, another DC3 / Dakota could easily be on the cards one day, just because, it's just such a good looking aircraft.
 
Thread owner
A wonderful build Colin, it looks very smart in that scheme
Thanks Joe, have you seen the program ? I do fear these old aircraft in a commercial venture might soon be a thing of the past.
 
Thanks Joe, have you seen the program ? I do fear these old aircraft in a commercial venture might soon be a thing of the past.
I've seen the programme, an eclectic collection of aircraft that's for sure. Not sure how they're doing in today's environment.
 
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