Super Stretch DC8

[PR19_Kit]

I've got a Revell -61 with the Flying Tigers decal sheet, but I've just found a new fave.....



Aer Turas only flew one -63, but I have THREE decal sheets, so there's plenty for my -83. 

[PR19_Kit]

I've taken them both apart now, and then filed and sanded the joints before the inevitable PSR.

It's quite difficult filing and sanding around the figure 8 joint, you keep having to go at it from different directions, but it's done now and the first PSR session is done. Almost NO PSR on the wings and engines though. 

If the weather stays good there won't be any progress tomorrow as I'll be off to my original sort of aircraft modelling, flying models, after a gap of 25+ years! But I'm only watching, not actually doing any flying.

[b29r]

That is quite the projects(s) you have going on there.     Very neat indeed.  Did you have to do some internal structure or reinforcing to keep everything in synch?  Cool to hear the parts fit up pretty well, a rare treat!

BR, Kem

[PR19_Kit]

The only re-inforcing I did was to add small, 20 x 5 mm, tabs on each side on each joint, down where the 'double bubble' joint is.

After my abysmal sawing, even though guided by Minicraft's moulded in grooves, I made sure the joint faces were at 90 deg to the fuselage datum with the aid of an engineer's square and large flat file. That meant the joint faces were very true to each other and that here was lots of gluing area. Only one of the joints really needed PSR, but I did it to all of them anyway, just in case.

I'm really impressed with Minicraft's engineering on this kit, makes a nice change from their earlier airliner stuff.

[kitnut617]

This would have fun getting off the ground at YYC, that's because the city has almost surrounded the airport, the airlines have to be at least at 1000 feet before they clear the airport property line when they take off  ----  your project would have to have an almost flat rotation so the tail wouldn't smack the ground Kit

[PR19_Kit]

Not as bad a 777-900 though. 

[PR19_Kit]

The PSR's done on the fuselage joints and wingtips, and I'm waiting for some epoxy to go off to hold in the nose weights now.

In the meanwhile I thought I'd sort out which decals of the Aer Turas Icould use for the 8. The answer was none of them....... 

So I'm back in the old routine, drawing up a decal sheet for the model, using bits of scanned Minicraft and Welsh Models sheets and lots of my own generated artwork. Ho hum...........

[major]

Ooower!!!
Mr. Kit, how did I miss this?
Aer Turas! Might have to have a chat with you.

[strobez]

That is looking fantastic.  I'm intrigued to see where the decal sheet business lands.

[PR19_Kit]

The Welsh Models Aer Turas decal sheet I have is for the CL44D, and the big fuselage stripes are green and white, not green and yellow, which is a bit of a pain. The giant shamrocks will probably work OK, and maybe I can use the green part of the stripes, but of course the shape of the stripes will be wrong at the nose and tail. Having to re-draw the end stripe sections raises the problem of matching the colour, so I might as well print off the whole stripe. It's not looking too bad, but it's time consuming.

The cockpit transparency and nose cap are glued on now, so that's the whole assembly done. Time for primer.

[Scotaidh]

It all looks very well done, and I know that's been a lot of work.  The decals is a whole 'nother level of effort to which I don't rise, so kudos to you for making it seem routine!    "The difficult we do immediately, the impossible will take a bit longer." 
I mourned the passing of the Douglas airliners - throughout my life I've flown on almost all of them, I think, starting with the indomitable DC-3 ... well, not the DC-5, of which they made very few.  But certainly the 2,4,6, and 8. 

I've always had a ... difficulty, I guess, with stretched airliners.  To me they always look out of proportion.  I know airliners are not built to the golden mean, and I know why it's done - added length creates negligible added drag - but these really look as if they need more wing - a lot more wing, broader and longer, with perhaps more engine (larger, and more powerful units) to have an adequately safe power-to-weight ratio.  Silly, I know, as the engineers have done their math, but these stretched things always look in danger of snapping in two should conditions be wrong for even the slightest period of time.

Still - these things exist, and you've done a great job on this one.   

[TheChronicOne]

Don't give him in any ideas!! Surprised the wings aren't longer already. 

Speaking of short wings, imagine a stretched Electra with the stock wings!!!!     

[zenrat]

Has anyone built a stretched DC3?

[PR19_Kit]

Don't give him in any ideas!! Surprised the wings aren't longer already. 

Speaking of short wings, imagine a stretched Electra with the stock wings!!!!     

I actually did think of lengthening the wings a tad, but then Douglas didn't make them longer when they made the original Stretch -61s, and I'm sure they knew more about aerodynamics than me. 

Hmmmm, a Stretch Electra, I rather like that idea. Moving the outer engines outboard, maybe to the tips, would make it even more different. 

[PR19_Kit]

Has anyone built a stretched DC3?

I've never seen one, but now you mention it............. 

A tailwheel DC4 would be the simplest way of doing it, and chopping off two of the engines maybe?