The Alan Rose DC-3 by DanBKing

[DanBKing]

Thank you for the compliments everybody.!!

As Ruben said earlier, yes, it is not a difficult model to build, even at this scale. The model is beautifully engineered and the texturing is spot on. I could not find one fault in the model at all!!!! Well done guys!!!
I pretty much built the plane 'out of the box', but I used edge gluing and back tabbing to join the 'skin' parts instead of the supplied tabs. I found the joins were then much cleaner and smoother by doing it this way.

So, at the moment the finished plane is hanging on the wall, as shown in the earlier photos! The lady of the house, loves it!!!!!!! (I nearly passed out in shock when she said I could hang it on the lounge wall!!!!!!!)
But, anyway, typical me, I cannot leave things alone as they are and I like to add a little personal touch to my models that are not included in the instructions!!! And this model is no different!!!!
Because this baby is BIG, I want it to stand out even more than it already does....... And this is my plan on how to achieve that........

I have a very deep respect for my neighbour (<-- Please excuse the sarcasm ) and I was tempted to ask him if I could hang the back half of the plane on his lounge wall...... But then an idea hit me ......

Member Longbow commented that the plane "looks like it is going to pop out of the wall at any moment....." You have hit the nail squarely on the head, my friend !!!!! This model plane is gonna blow right through the wall in a shower of bricks and plaster!!!!!!

Are we getting the idea yet ???????

What I am trying to achieve, is a moment frozen in time, at the point where the plane would burst through the wall.
The wall itself will be brick with a painted and textured plaster finish.
I used Google to find some reference images....



As noted in the second picture, the wall bulges around the impact point and the bricks blow out of the wall at the contact point. This bulging perimeter I will utilize to blend the edges of the mounting board into the (real) wall.

So, lets get started......

I used 10mm foam board as a backing board. This is lightweight yet strong enough for my needs.

I laid the plane on the board and marked around it.....



I then marked up two boundaries to this. The blue lines show where most of the wall will be 'blown out' and the red line demarcates the boundary of the bulged out perimeter.



I am going to hang the model at a slight angle in relation to plumb level, as if the plane is banking to the right. Once I got the angle to my satisfaction, I marked up some 1:1 scale house brick shapes on the backing board. You can see the skewed angle of the plane in relation to the bricks in this picture...



Once done, I then used the same foam board to make 25 or so slabs in the same dimensions as the bricks. These will be used to build up the blown out bricks. In the second picture, the bricks are roughly cut and the model is placed on the board to check positioning.....



I cut out the shape of the backing board and tapered the edges of it to help with blending it into the real wall. As mentioned earlier, I am going to reproduce a plastered brick wall. So, I will build up the brick layer first, paint and texture it to look like real bricks. I will then add a layer of plaster over this.
If you carefully peel off the backing paper on both sides of the foam board, you are left with a 9mm thick piece of cement coloured foam, that is easy to work and shape. The real wall where the model will be mounted has a rough textured finish. I wanted to try and replicate this finish on the plaster pieces of the model.. So, using various tools I tried to replicate the finish on the foam. Once it is painted to match, I think it will look as good as.....



So, with a hot glue gun, a couple of beers and a couple of well rolled tubes of Amsterdam's finest (), I let my imagination run wild.
I studied the position of each brick on the board, and imagined how it would react to the 'impact' of the plane hitting the wall from behind. I then cut/broke up the foam 'brick' and glued the resulting pieces into position.
Then on to the next brick, then the next...... I used the plane model occasionally to make sure that everything fits and looks right.

A few pictures speak a million words .....





I am pleased with the effect so far. As of last night, I have all the brick pieces in place. I used lots of off cuts of foam to bulk out the bricks to make them thicker. Once all the glue has dried, I will then carve and texture the foam to look like brick. And then it will all be painted. And then on to the plaster layer.



I'll be back over the next day or two with more progress.

Thanks for looking in everybody!

[Longbow]

I don't believe it ! This is great !!!

[eatcrow2]

A "mind boggling" original wonderful idea!! Nice set of photos on the process..

[Rubenandres77]

That looks great already.
I think Alan Rose will be delighted to see this DC-3 coming out of your wall

[YOAVHOZMI]

it's gonna be a terrific exhibit.....very wonderful....good for you

i did it once with f-16 for a gift to my commander.

YOAV

[scon10]

What a creative idea, now at last a half-model as the Alan Rose DC-3 has a meaningfull destination. Can't wait to see what the end result will be. I also like the tight way you built the model, smooth and no seams.
It shows how far you can get with a few Heinekens or Amstels, indeed Amsterdams finest...

[DanBKing]

Thanks for all the great comments everybody. Indeed, I am excited by the way things are turning out already.

I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours on the base this evening.
As things were allowed to dry over night, everything had hardened nicely, so I could continue....

So, with a cautious semi-malicious streak, I attacked the foam bricks with a coarse rasp, the cats wire hair brush, a large scrubbing brush and a tin and a half of Amstel (Heineken is what comes out of the cats end.... ), to steady my nerves. I roughened up the foam to resemble broken brick.



Once I was satisfied with the texture, I brushed it all down and vacuumed up the left over 'rubble'. I then gave the whole thing a good coat of spray primer and while this was still wet, I used black to shadow all the brick edges and the board itself. The smell was a bit over-powering even with the extractor on, so it has gone into the shed for the night to cure.
I placed the plane in place, ( what a mouthful !! LOL) even though the paint was still a bit wet and took these shots. The black on the board is shiny, but will dry matt.













I hope to get some more done tomorrow. I will be starting to colour the bricks with acrylic kids paint then.

Have a good one everybody!

[Longbow]

Epic !! Brings a huge smile
Nice to see you can't wait to put all parts together even when not completely dried. I recognize it..

And I agree about the Heineken part

[RunwayOneSixRight]

Oh.... my.... gosh.... I LOVE THAT DC-3 WALL EFFECT!!!! Definitley lit my day up from the depression I am suffering from this year!

-RunwayOneSixRight (Matthew)

[DanBKing]

I am glad you are all enjoying this, 'cause so am I

Just a quick update.

I got the base colouring onto the brickwork this evening.
Everything was given a slightly wet dry-brush (if that makes sense!) of a light umber colour. This leaves the black shadowing in the cracks, but highlights the raised areas.
While this was still wet, I placed 5 different pools of acrylic kids paint into a tray. The tray I used was a 24 can beer tray, lined with sandwich wrapping! ("Typical", says the missus )
I used yellow, burnt umber, burnt sienna, red and black. I then took a damp household cleaning sponge and randomly dabbed it into the paint pools and then continued randomly dabbing the paint filled sponge all over the surface of the bricks, blending as I went.

I also painted a scored and marked sheet of foam, carved to reflect the texture of the plastering in my lounge. I think I got it close enough. The 'plaster' will be broken up into pieces anyway, so it doesn't have to be perfect. The colour matches well, including the nicotine wash ... LOL

I took some quick pics, but the lighting and/or flash, does not do it any justice, but you get the idea.

I cannot do anymore tonight as I need to let this session dry thoroughly. Next up, I will use washes and more dry-brushing to enhance the mortar lines and other general colouring and highlighting.

Laters!!