Invasion stripes

[compyelc4]

Hello. New here. Just completed Wms. Bros. C-46. I have not built a model since my Air Force days at Myrtle Beach AFB, S.C. with the A-7D's and T-Birds in the early 70's. Dad (he's 89) said he wanted a model of a C-46 with Invasion Stripes for Christmas so I dug in. He says his CG-4 was towed by one on D-Day. Thing is I could find not one photo of a C-46 with invasion stripes but this site helped me more than any other. I used 24" widths on a 1/72nd scale. Those fuselage stripes were indeed a pain; wings were a snap. When I figure out how to post a .jpg I'll send a couple of pics. I've made dad a pictorial album of every step of the build; about 25 photos in all.

Thanks for the help guys.

Ted
Fairborn, Ohio (Home of the Museum of the Air Force)

PS- If you ever need a photo of a US plane for reference I'd be glad to see what I can do. They have just about everything there.

[Lucky13]

Welcome to the family Ted! Looking forward to see you pics! My warmest regards to your dad....

[Airframes]

Welcome Ted, and I echo Lucky's greetings.

[Wurger]

Welcome Ted, greetings from Poland.Post these pics as soon as possible please.

[compyelc4]

I used a C-47 Dakota with stripes as a guide. The wing stripes were not a problem but the fuselage stripes were a b__ch! I think I got them half-way decent though. I have attached a couple of pictures of the striping phase and some final shots. I plan to present the plane to my dad this week (yeah I know...real late). I can't wait to see his expression! Not only will he get the plane but he will also get a CD pictorial of every stage of the build (about 25 pictures). I think he will appreciate the thing more. BTW, this kit was the first one on which I attempted sawing, sanding, filling, masking, air-brushing, and striping. Quite a feat for a relative novice builder. I'm sure I will come to this site often as I plan out my next model, an F-86 E/F. By any chance can someone recommend a really nice quality 1/48th kit for the F-86? I have very much to learn from you guys. Thanks Again.

BTW, if you would like to see other pics of the way a novice builds a difficult kit just let me know.

[compyelc4]

Wow! I just saw my pics on line. Why are some of them so huge. I thought I reduced all of them to 600x800. Doh.

[Wurger]

Very nice model mate.

Some of these pics were so huge because you didn't resize them.Though you was sure.No matter I did it instead of you. Now these are visible fully.The size of them is very nice so try to use the one for the Future, please.

regards,

[Airframes]

Looks good so far. A really nice 1/48th Sabre is the Academy kit, the one labeled 'Mig Killer'. You can see the one I've just about finished in 'What's on the Workbench'.
Terry.
Edit: Just been able to see the rest of your pics Ted. Very nice indeed! One question though; for a 'D-Day' C46, should it really have the early national insignia? I thought 'Stars and Bars', without the central red disc? Sorry, I just thought I'd mention it, in case you need to change it before handing over the model.

[compyelc4]

Airframes,

Not really sure about what was used at that time. Dad thought it had the old insignias so that's what I used. If you all feel this craft needs the stars and bars then that's what it will get because using the wrong insignias would be a real boo boo. Thanks

Oh, and thanks for resizing the pics. I'll use 600x800 from now on.

[compyelc4]

Ok, I just called dad and went over the insignia thing with him. Now he thinks it had the stars and bars. Looks like I remove the old ones and install the stars and bars. Can I use Micro Set to remove those now?

[Wurger]

What do you want to remove with the Micro Set liquid?

[Airframes]

If you can't remove them Ted, try this. First, carefully paint over the red centre spot, using white paint of course. When it's dry, apply the 'Stars and Bars' over the top of the existing decal, using Micro Sol/Set. That should take care of it.
I'm glad you were able to catch it, as the old pre-war marking went out when Japan entered the war, a directive of May 15 1942 changing the marking to Type 2, without the red centre. This was to avoid any possible confusion with the Japanese 'meatball'. The 'Bars' were added after tests in 1943, the order being dated June 28, to be completed by September 1. The idea was to make the marking more recognizable at a distance, in the form of a rectangle, as the blue disc, and the German cross, tended to blur into a hazy circle at a distance. The bars have been there ever since!

[Catch22]

I don't know if Micro Set would remove them to be honest. I would either just take tape and take them off quickly, like waxing, though that may ruin the paint. You may also be able to put the Stars and Bars decal right over top. Or, you could just spray the green over the wing ones, but the fuselage ones would be difficult.

[compyelc4]

OK. Here she is with the correct insignias. Thought I'd also throw in a shot of a display at the Museum of the Airforce. Shows one chap painting Invasion strips, the not so neat way.

[compyelc4]

Those vertical stripes are dead vertical in real life. My photo makes them appear they are not "square" to the centerline of the fuselage.

Oh, and thanks everyone. I am excited about learning from you guys. You are too much.

As for the red dots, you were right on Airframe. The wing decals lifted right off with the Micro Set. The fuselage decals acted like they were Super Glued on! I had to do some scraping but in the final analysis all I really had to do was get rid of that red dots. I had removed everything except the red dots and sure enough they showed through the new decal so I quickly removed them and scraped those little suckers off. That worked. Thanks.