Trumpeter Douglas C47 Dakota ‘Night Fright’ Airborne Legend 1:48

Disruptive Pattern…

Contrary to the scheme depicted in the kit and many renditions of the Dakota in this period, the final camouflage is actually classed as disruptive. This is due to the three tone scheme used: consisting of a light grey lower fuselage and wings, Olive Drab upper surfaces and Dark Green camouflage along the edges of the wings and tail sections. Before being able to apply the final colours the whole aircraft was sprayed with MRP-084 fine surface primer (grey), and when cured given a sanding using a 8000 grit pad to remove any imperfections. There were a few areas that needed some attention with small amounts of Vallejo putty, but nothing significant. A couple of seam lines still showed through, so these were dealt with at the time and any loss of rivet detail was re-applied using a riveting tool. Pre-shading was then added using black along the panel lines before MRP-247 Aircraft Exterior Grey was applied in light coats on the lower surfaces until a satisfactory effect had been obtained. Once dry a post shade was given by adding a spot of white to the base colour and was used on individual panels.

The notes from the Night Fright team indicated that the demarcation between the lower and upper fuselage colours were ‘feathered; and not a hard line, so no masking was used when applying the olive drab MRP-234 to the upper surfaces. Again this was post shaded. I was lucky enough to have access to a very rare document from WWII showing the outline of the disruptive pattern, this was used for working out where the second colour was to be applied. Prior to this the de-icing ‘boots’ on the leading edges were masked off and black was sprayed on. White tac was used to outline the pattern, with the rest of the aircraft being masked off. MRP-110 RAF Dark Green with a small amount of white was used for the second colour.

It is well documented that the invasion stripes for D-day were hastily added at the time, at this scale it is very difficult to replicate without it looking out of scale. Initially the striped areas were measured (6cm) and masked off and white was applied over the whole area. The white stripes were then masked off (120mm) leaving the black stripes to be applied. The kits decal sheets have the invasion stripes on them, and these were used as templates to get the correct curvature of the fuselage. To achieve a less uniformed finish to the invasion stripes a very thin brush was then used to ‘disturb’ the black and white lines.

The detailed outer skin of the fuselage and wings cried out for the main identification markings to be replicated in as a mask. Using a silhouette cutter and software the US markings were turned into masks and located on the wings and fuselage. The process is quite simple with the base colour: white being added first, once dry the rest of the mask is applied and MRP-124 marking blue was then lightly sprayed over the top.

Detailing was done on the forward fuselage antennas using black 71.057, grey white 71.119 and aluminium 77.701 respectively. The para packs were also painted, firstly with the aircraft exterior grey and then the packs themselves hand brushed with 71.006 camouflage light green and the straps in 71.074 beige. The whole aircraft was then given a coat of MRP-048 Super Clear Gloss Varnish.

Finishing touches…