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Douglas C-47 Dakota, Royal Hellenic Air Force Korean Detachment (ΕΚ.Σ.Ε.), Airfix, 1/72

Started by Spiros Pendedekas · 161 ≡ · ↻ 4 years ago · 1/72, Airfix, C-47, Hellenic Air Force, Korea The Forgotten War

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Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Thanks Bernard @bernardbedeur! I really feel so proud when my job is of any use.
I love large planes too: they are so imposing!
Is your motorcycle a twin? Mine is, a KLE500 and I love it
Looking forward to see your Orion coming together.
I still have my one unbuilt, hoping to build it as a Hellenic Navy P-3B!
Bernard Bedeur said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Hello there.
Yes I mentioned in reference to the number of engines a plane has versus the number of cylinders A motorcycle has !
My rider bike is a 1982 Kawasaki CSR 750 twin. It is a last chain driven of that line which was not a commercial success. or like a 4cylinder Z-900 Reduced by half. Great bike best I ever had.
It’s Vintage, light ,nimble,Powerful.
It would in a Fantastical way compare to a Lockheed Ventura or P-38 !
Great bike your KLE !
Kawasaki rules the roads !
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:

The CSR 750 is a great bike, Bernard @bernardbedeur. I personally prefer chain drive than shaft and definitely like the CSR750 looks!

KLE is a great bike for Greek conditions, sort of multicharacter, multicapable, not too big, not too small, reliable etc. I got mine in 1993 and have kept it in very good condition .

Here's a kind of "artistic" pic of her:

Oh, and I love spoke wheels!

Kawasaki rules the roads indeed!
Bernard Bedeur said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Kawasaki ruled the air For a while and still makes planes too.
Nice pic of your bike !
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:
Only front oil cooler faces were provided...
1. Oil cooler outlet "mesh"
...so I fabricated two rears from sheet styrene.
Also, I closed the open hole in the front part of the wheel wells with sheet styrene (QCs' party plates...):
1. Closed those holes
Looking more real now!
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:
The upper engine air intakes looked oversimplified; their front part was supposed to have a clearance from the nacelle:
1. There should be some clearance here
I thinned their height up to mid depth and glued thin shet styrene (my sons' party plate), that will be trimmed once cured:
1. Height reduced Sheet styrene added Awaiting trimming
Drilled a hole where the astrodome will be fitted and puttied my Dakota.
I used Humbrol filler here, "just for a change":
1. Astrodome position

2. Humbrol filler
All the best!
Louis Gardner said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Spiros, @fiveten
You have made a lot more progress since the last time I checked in. It was a great idea to blank off the firewalls. I also like how you have installed a screen mesh as part of the oil coolers. This is looking really good ! The QC team has been doing a great job...

Bernard, @bernardbedeur
I agree with you that "Twins Rule". Here is a picture of the last big twin I owned. It was a Harley Davidson Fatboy and it was a Firefighter Special Edition. I sold it about 5 years ago. Still miss it... I have owned several Kawasaki's, Yamaha's and Honda's over the years. They were all fun to take out for a ride.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Thanks Louis @lgardner!
That Fatboy really rocks!
QC team loved it.
George R Blair Jr said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Spiros, you snuck in a C-47 when I wasn't looking! C-47s are one of the coolest airplanes on earth, and this paint scheme will be really neat. They were mostly gone from the USAF by the time I started flying, but I always thought that if I was born a few decades earlier I would have been flying the C-47 instead of the C-141. Looking forward to the rest of the build.
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Thanks, George @gblair!

It was in a C-47 I had my "maiden" flight: 8 November 1966, just three MONTHS old, had a small flight around the 114CW (Tanagra AFB) and the surrounding areas (including my hometown, Halkida, a bit further away).

8th November is the Hellenic Air Force celebration day and, back at THOSE years, free flights were offered to the public.

My father, an 114CW Officer at that time, persuaded the pilot to take me (a 3 months old baby in a basket...) for a ride...

The rest of my aviation addiction is history...

Those WERE the days!

The Hellenic "Korean" Dakotas sported some beautiful non-standard schemes.

I am going to finish my Dakota as No 5 A/C "ΑΡΗΣ" (Mars).
George R Blair Jr said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Very cool, Spiros (@fiveten). All of this is in your genes. Why were they called "Korean" Dakotas?
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:
Thanks George @gblair!
The term Hellenic "Korean" Dakotas is just used by me (and maybe not succesfully...) to address the Dakotas that HAF sent to the Korean War.
And a small update:
1. Filler
Finished filling and sanding session.

I have to say that Humbrol filler behaved beautifully.
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:
Since the installed backplates of the oil coolers were plain,
1. Micromesh
I decided to add a mesh face, cut out of some "micromesh" stuff, so now they can be called meshes and not "meshes".
They look more interesting now!
Allan J Withers said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Good work Spiros !
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Thanks Allan @kalamazoo!

Viewing 46 - 60 of 161 posts

Korea : The Forgotten War………..

Douglas C-47 Dakota, Royal Hellenic Air Force Korean Detachment (ΕΚ.Σ.Ε.), Airfix, 1/72