SAS 75th anniversary GB: Douglas DC6B Super Cloudmaster (1/72 Heller)
This DC6B Super Cloudmaster was build as part of the SAS 75th anniversary group created by Erik @airbum. First I would like to thank Erik @airbum to invite me to this group and to make it possible to be able to join it. Erik was too kind to sent me this amazing Heller kit together with a nice set of decals to be able to build it with a Greenlandair livery. I never built a commercial airliner before so it would definitely become a challenge, also because of the size of this aircraft, even in 1/72.
In the box white, silver and transparant sprues were found. Not too much parts so it looked like going to be an easy build. The original decals quality was not that great. Demarcation lines were not smooth. It was good that a sheet of LN Decals for Greenlandair were added by Erik. Also white aluminum engines were added, by Erik, with much more detail than the original ones. They also would add some weight to prevent it from being a tailsitter. I was surprised by the size of this aircraft, I was building a B17 in the same scale at the same time and comparing both made the Fortress look like a dwarf. As usual, started with cockpit, very spartanic but in the end not that much would be visible anyway. For the passenger area nothing was there, just an empty space. Per advise of Spiros @fiveten, that area was painted black so that not too much would be visible. To align the fuselage halves nicely, I created tabs on one fuselage halve which helped in gleuing them together without a big seams. The wings were mounted while using a simple wig to reduce any possible gap. A lot of weight had to be added, besides the white aluminum engines, and this was placed in front of the nose landing gear and just behind the pilot section. Because I followed the instructions and mounted the landing gear already, this brought me into trouble because in the end I was able to knock off all three of the legs. To make it stronger, I mounted them, once everything else was finished, with a metal rod. Another tip I received from Spiros @fiveten was to add a tail light which was not added out of the box. A piece of transparant sprue was glued to the tail and sanded down till it exactly matched the airodynamic shape of this aircraft. Painting these large areas in red/white/silver was also new to me, had to refill my airbrush several times. For the NMF, I used Vallejo Metal silver and polished it afterwards with a cloth, not exactly NMF but acceptable to me. Creating he black area on the nose did deliver some extra work, after the first black layer, it started to crack all over while drying. Had to sand down everything and applied a primer first, this helped in getting a smooth black paint. Decals did lay down quite nice, but the long line, from nose to tail, was just a bit too short, had to search my spare decals and was able to find some in the exact same color.
Although this lady did fought me at several moments, it was still a great kit. It does show its age but can still be build into a nice airliner. I have to admit that this is definitely not my best result, but to tell it more positively, it is my best commercial airliner build ever. Thanks a lot to all who followed the building progress and helped me along the way.
Special thanks to Erik @airbum, for providing me this kit and decals. It was my pleasure to be able to attend in this SAS 75th anniversary group.
Now it is time to create some space to keep this lady in a dust free environment.
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- 1. spartanic
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- 1. interior painted black to hide the emptyness
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- 1. tabs placed to have a better alignment on the fuselage halves
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- 1. Wig to prevent gaps at the wingroots
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- 1. oly a small amount of the total added weight
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- 1. white aluminum engines showing much more details than the original ones
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- 1. scratch build to close the wheel well.
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- 1. tail light added using transparant sprue
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- 1. not good
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- 1. much better
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- 1. reinforcement rods
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- 1. decals too small
Spectacular build!
@lis, thanks, Bernard. At some stages the building process was spectacular as well.
Any problems during build?
@lis, quite a few. Landing gear broke off, my own fault, I should have not mounted them before finishing the entire build. Paint got cracked, the black nose part, not sure why. Decals too small, so need to add a piece from the spare box.
Fantastic work John. Really well done and a test of patience I am sure !
@bernardbedeur, thanks, Bernard. Patience was definitely needed. She did put me to the test.
Very nice results from this trusty old Heller Humbrol kit John. It looks amasing in the arctic colours. And now you have an excuse to add another displaycabinet to the house! Thanks for sharing the build @johnb, it was a real pleasure!
@airbum, thanks a lot, Erik. The age is clearly present, most of it noticeable in brittle plastic. Still this kit can be build into a very nice aircraft, especially in this livery. Thanks again for giving me this opportunity.
An amazing result over a challenging kit, my friend John! Your DC-6 looks spectacular, especially in this scheme.
Your build thread was a joy to follow.
Congratulations!
@fiveten, thanks a lot, Spiros. Challenging but enjoyable indeed. It was a pleasure to have you following the thread. It was very helpful that you are working on one as well, did get some nice tips from that.
A show stopper with several great saves. In construction,painting and decal applications.
The build blog was informative, entertaining and fun to read. John simply put "The Best".
@stephen-w-towle, thank you, Stephen. A fun kit to build, but the dimensions make it difficult to handle. Painting and decalling becomes challenging that way.
That is really, really nice, John. Well done!
@gwskat, thank you, Gary.
Beautiful build, of what I have heard is a challenging kit! Well done!
@robertandy, thanks, Rob. Challenging it is, not that many parts but not so easy to get everything together nicely.
Absolutely outstanding John @johnb. You’re a real veteran now after surviving this difficult build with such a terrific result. Great photos and well done build thread.
@eb801, thanks a lot, Eric. Glad you like it. Sometimes difficult to keep motivated, but in the end an acceptable result.
You've done a fantastic job here. Beautiful results .
@roofrat, thank you, Robert
I really enjoyed following your WIP, John, it was like sharing the ups and downs with you. The end result is a spectacular airliner, maybe your first, but hopefully not your last. Happy modelling indeed.
@chinesegeorge, thanks a lot, George. Quite some downs but in the end a big up. If in smaller dimensions, I will be definitely interested to build others.
@johnb - Great work John, reading about the trials makes the fantastic quality of your finish even more enjoyable.
@brithebuilder, thank you, Brian. Exactly, some errors during the building process but when you get those corrected is a nice moment.
Beautiful result, John! I love seeing a crisp airliner model.
@j-healy, thank you, John. Not much about weathering in this case.
Hi John
I used to live near Gatwick Airport in the '70s which had a variety of interesting aircraft but never that one. That is a superb realisation of one I would have liked to see.
@christopher, thanks, Christopher. I was pleased that Erik could provide me the decals for this livery. The red accent stands out very nice.
This is really nice @johnb - a great result from all the hard work.
@tcinla, thank you, Tom. Quite some hours were spent on this one.
Great build John. Dedication produced the perfect model. Very nice 😊
@thom, thanks a lot, Guy.
Looks fantastic, John. Beautiful paint scheme. A real testament to your patience and skill, especially when you overcame the problem with the cracked paint. Makes me want to do an airliner some day.
@coling, thank you, Colin. Tackling this cracked paint was one of the difficult elements of this build.
Cute as can be John!
@mvtb, thanks, Marcus.
Lovely DC6 John, it does look good, the biggies can be a hard to handle.
@kalamazoo, thank you, Allan. Those dimensions make decalling and painting not that easy indeed..
Despite the difficulties you encountered, John, the final result is excellent. Patience and persistence pay off in the end.
@mfcg, thanks, Giannis. Patience is definitely required on this lady.
Looks great! A standout from the usual military schemes. Well done.
@gkittinger, thanks a lot, Greg. Well appreciated. Had to search my paint stash to find some non-camouflage paints.
She's a veritable stunner.
Fantastic work.
Cheers,
Alistair
@alistairfauld, thank you, Alistair.
Lovely work John!