Santa Fe Airways Sky Chief Acoma
My wife comes from a Santa Fe Railroad family. Many of her family members worked for the railroad or were Harvey Girls in the famous Fred Harvey restaurants that served the lines' passengers.
One day about a year ago, I saw a decal sheet for this DC-3 on one of my online model auctions. Until that time, I had never heard about this airline and Santa Fe's short-lived venture into the new world…back then… of air freight. I knew instantly, I would have do this build as a gift for my wife.
The short history of Santa Fe Skyways is very interesting, but instead of me trying to tell it, please view the YouTube link below. The clip tells the story much better than I could.
The new mold 1/72 Airfix C-47 was the “canvas” for my project. I primed the model with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black thinned 50/50 with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. This produced a very nice finish for spraying Vallejo Metallics Aluminum followed by White Aluminum on the fabric control surfaces.
The decals used were ordered from Vintage Flyer Decals… (VDF072-106). As far as I know, these are the only decals available for this subject. Just a few words, info and not meant to bash the product. The sheet is printed as one large decal so that each element has to be carefully cut out before application. The decals themselves are made of some type of plastic and not “normal” decal film, thus they need a bit of work to get them to adhere right around complex curves like the nose and engine cowling. I used Micro Sol/Set and Solvaset. The good side of this is that the decals are VERY strong and will not tear. Lastly, if you want to see the actual windows and windscreen, you will have to cut out the black portion of the decal that depicts the glass. Like I said, this is the only game in town and I'm happy with how things came out.
The result is a good “three-foot model” that may not make a IPMS “rivet counter” judge happy, but my wife loves it…and that's good enough for me.
That looks super cool Tom, great subject and narrative with family history too. Fantastic 👍
Very interesting history and combined with a beautiful build, Tom @trod348
Congrats., Tom, on your fine build for your best pal in the world.
PS. The video is well-worth a watch.
rab
I really like this build, and the colors really are attractive and eyecatching. Since it is indirectly a railroad subject and it was a whole sheet type decal, it was probably printed by one of the online train decal guys. I had my decals for "The Blue Streak" printed by Circus City and also CMR Products. Both were full sheets that you have to cut the decal free of. The CMR decals behaved very much like what you described and while the image of the decal is very good, it is so unreactive to any setting solutions, they are not practical for models.
Again beautiful work!
Walt... I think T Cleaver taught me to apply a quite-hot cloth (not boiling but close) to fussy decals to get 'em to lay down properly. Has never failed me. As always, test before moving-on to your masterpiece.
Thanks for the info. I thought about trying hot air from a hair dryer…but only after I had finished everything. There is always next time.
If you "know the audience" you will always be successful. 🙂
Nice work (as usual) and a great result.
Thanks Tom. This will go with the P-26 Peashooter I built her.
That a great looking DC-3 Tom, and a really eye catching paint sceem they used. Definitely an interesting history to your beautiful build.
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
A great color scheme for such a classic aircraft.
That coloring gives it a whole new personality.
Fantastic result, the livery really suits the plane.
Wow, what a cool paint scheme, Tom (@trod348). I have never seen decals like this. I also have a model railroad, so I need to see if I can find there somewhere.
I ordered the decals from vintageflyerdecals.com. They have a whole lot of interesting stuff.
great job with a unique subject, thanks for sharing!
That's really sharp! Long live the cheat line.
The Cheat Line makes the design…always did, always will.
Awesome job, Tom and very informative video!
Beautiful looking aircraft (@trod348).
That is so cool! A wonderful model and interesting history for me as well! 😃 I never knew Santa Fe had an airfreight service. Great stuff, Tom @trod348. 👍
That is a great looking Gooney! Cool scheme and bit of history. Well done.
Cool Gooney Bird and interesting history!
Contact Draw Decal. This subject matter is right in their wheelhouse. Maybe they will put out sheets in multiple scales if persuaded.
I got the decals from Vintage Flyer Decals…
vintageflyerdecals.com
They have many, many, MANY other options and in many scales. Give them a look.
Nicely done, Tom
Tom, I’m playing catch-up on some posts and this one slipped by me. Love this build. Very cool all the way around.
Thanks,Matt. Not a subject I would normally do, but it was a true labor of love.