Monogram's 1/48 C-47 Skytrain "Mini Whiskey 7"
Built from the old Monogram 1/48 C-47 Skytrain kit as "Mini Whiskey 7" The real "Whiskey 7" is a D-Day surviving aircraft owned and operated by the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo NY. I was fortunate enough to be able to take a flight on "W7" last summer, and absolutely had a blast. It was one of the best experiences of my life. So much so I'm planning to do it again this summer with my daughter.
Whiskey 7 is a very unique looking aircraft. Her paint is a bit faded in places, so she's a bit of a "calico' of sorts.
There was quite a bit of scratch building involved including the pitot tube cover, gust locks, wheel chocks, stairs, donation bomb, the interior seats, interior section behind the cockpit, spark plug wires on the engines and a few antenna.
Aftermarket goodies included PE flaps, PE interior and exterior, metal landing gear, resin wheels, decals and Eduard remove before flight tags.
Paints used were a mix of Tamiya acrylic, Model Master enamels, and acrylic craft paints. I had to use acrylic craft paints to match Whiskey 7's unique coloring. It was thinned with a 75/25 mix of Future and water. A clear coat was applied over the craft paint. It held up well to masking as long as I de-tacked the tape on the back of my hand first.
A few of the markings were painted on, both W's and the R on the tail. Some decals were home made, and the tail number was pieced together from a sheet.
The base is made from MDF board, and clear acrylic sheet, purchased from Home Depot. Grass was purchased at Hobby Lobby. I mixed two different shades of green grass and applied it with spray adhesive.
I hope you like my replica of Whiskey 7. If you don't know who W7 is, she's in my cover photo!
18 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Craig Abrahamson said on January 24, 2019
Outstanding build, Christina...those "old" Monogram's are good kits anyway (all of 'em). Welcome to the site - nice to have you here.
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you! I agree, I've done several of the old Monogram kits, I'll get to posting them soon as well. They still turn out great kits even if they need a little work.
Tim T said on January 24, 2019
That's a fascinating subject, and an excellent execution! Your attention to detail is amazing, and the subtleties you pick out in the paintwork is incredible for the scale. The faded paint on the wings is highly effective. Nice one!
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you! I'm fortunate enough that I've been able to take hundreds of photos and be up close and personal with the real Whiskey 7. Without that I would of never been able to pick up on all the detail.
August Horvath said on January 24, 2019
Very handsome warbird. I've seen that plane, that your model looks just like her.
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
Robert Royes said on January 24, 2019
Fantastic build!
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
Tom Bebout said on January 24, 2019
Nicely done Christina! One of my favorite A/C, my father made 21 jumps from C-47's two being combat jumps. The first was D-Day and the second was Holland with Operation Market Garden. One of these days I'll make up to Geneseo to their air show. Ive heard it's a rather spectular event. And welcome to iModeler.
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you! Geneseo is the only place in my neck of the woods to see WWII aircraft. They usually have quite the gathering there. I've gone the past couple of years, and will continue to do so every summer.
Thomas Pepe said on January 24, 2019
Beautiful Model! Very nicely detailed! Great Job!
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
Seamus Boughe said on January 24, 2019
As a big fan of working with older kits, especially Revell and Monogram, I say you did a more than spectacular job with this one. Well executed in both build and finish. I look foward to seeing some of your other work.
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you! I'll get to posting a few others soon.
DE4EVER said on January 24, 2019
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
Welcome to this forum Christina. Nice work on that C-47. MONOGRAM models have always been a favorite of mine, true is the fact that details are not on a par with what we see today. But true is also the fact, these are the models that we had and enjoyed so much back then ( not too mention the value ).
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you! I don't mind a little extra work, I find it helps build my skills. Most of the stuff in my stash is Monogram or Revell.
Marc Barris said on January 24, 2019
Great build, fantastic paint job. Love it.
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
Anthony Conway said on January 24, 2019
Nice job.
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thanks!
david leigh-smith said on January 24, 2019
Great work. Of course, real 'Whisky' has no 'e' - but we'll let that one pass. Amazing detail.
'liked'
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thanks! The museum does spell Whiskey with an 'e'.
Jeff Bailey said on January 24, 2019
Hello, Christina. Great job on your Gooney Bird! I wish we could see more of the interior ... what is visible looks great.
Welcome to iModeler!
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you! I do have a few pics of the interior during the build. "Whiskey 7" is set up a bit different on the inside than most restored C-47's. So there is some scratch building behind the cockpit, and the paratrooper seats are scratch built as well. I put an actual pic from the interior of Whiskey 7 for comparison.
5 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Paul Wilsford said on January 24, 2019
Great job on that old bird
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
David Mills said on January 24, 2019
Nicely done Christina, lovely attention to detail!
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
bob mack said on January 24, 2019
simply outstanding
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
Greg Kittinger said on January 24, 2019
That's a real beauty of a model! Love all the detail and weathering you put into it, and the scheme is so unusual. I had one of these on my on-deck bench for a D-Day theme build, but got diverted to a Tempest. I'll get back to this one soon...
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you! I had well over 200 pictures to go by when building and painting. My guess is the previous owners used the wrong type and color of paint, and she faded pretty badly over the years.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Editor said on January 24, 2019
There's a lot of visual interest to the color shades in this scheme, and you managed to capture them beautifully. Welcome onboard at iModeler, we hope you'll like it here!
Christina Swank said on January 24, 2019
Thank you!
Stephen W Towle said on January 24, 2019
Neat approach to modeling...if you pay enough attention to the details then your doing portrait-or. The study of a individual plane in plastic. If you pull it off you can capture the caricature of the plane. Looks like you pulled it off Christina.
There are C-47's that are still earning their keep. Youtube has a program called "Plane Savers" that features Buffalo Airways fleet of C-47's, Dc-3's and C-46's up in Yellow Knife Canada. Several of the aircraft are veterans of WWII. With log books to prove it.
Christina Swank said on January 25, 2019
Thank you! I have seen a few of their videos on Youtube. I'm so glad their are people out there will to put the time, money and effort into keeping these beautiful old birds flying.
Matt Minnichsoffer said on January 25, 2019
I'm coming a little late to party on this comment thread, but just wanted to add my, "awesome build" to the list. Very cool C-47. The interior is thumbs-up for sure.
Christina Swank said on January 25, 2019
Thank you!
Tom Cleaver said on January 26, 2019
Welcome to iModeler Christina (I like your catspaw - catpeople rule). This is really some beautiful work. I am particularly impressed with the accuracy of those seats. The attention to detail everywhere else is also most impressive. Getting a paint job as wack as that took some real effort and talent. I look forward to your next post.
Christina Swank said on January 26, 2019
Thank you! It's actually a paw print for one of my old dogs I lost years ago. But I do have two cats, lol. They'll get prints on me eventually. Thanks!
gary sausmikat said on February 7, 2019
Christina, Not sure how I missed this on the Headline board. Nicely done! The Trumpeter C-47 is on my stash pile and I hope mine comes out as nice as yours. I have not been to Geneseo for a number of years. I do have family near there and I live in central Pa so I have no excuses to return. Keep up the good work!
Christina Swank said on February 14, 2019
Thank you! I make it out to their airshow every summer. Hoping to go out there more and volunteer some of my time as well.
Josh Patterson said on February 18, 2019
Hey, nice job on the dropped flaps and control locks! Looks like you spruced up the interior a bunch too!. (It's a shame the windows are so tiny, the 70's Monogram kits packed a lot of detail that eventually gets hidden!)
Christina Swank said on February 19, 2019
Thanks! I had to do a lot of scratch building, lol. I wanted it to look just like the real Whiskey 7. I agree, I can barely see anything inside. I need to get one of those tiny cameras so I can take pics!