Planegeek

I was assigned to the 428th TFS in the 80s after they converted to F-16As. The 4450 was just down the road towards the phase hangars. The rumor was they were trainers because they handled like the stealth. A-10 loader. there was also an A-10 parked in the hangar with fire damage from a flare dispenser fire IIRC. The 80s are a little hazy in spots now.

I built all the 1/48 Monogram WWII models growing up of course. Then I went into the AF in 1983 and didn't do much modelling. I remember the Century Series kits coming out in the 80s and always wanted to do those. I remember the Polly-S paints, I think those were for the railroading world but we liked them, and they had some nice flat colors. But those are long gone apparently, so I've been experimenting with the inexpensive hobby acrylic paints and mixing my own colors. I have the AK colors SEA set for reference and they spray nicely. But it takes multiple thin coats so I can't freehand it.

I used flat black Alclad primer and polished aluminum which was way too bright. So I covered that with white aluminum. I used burnt metal for the exhaust heat shields and dark aluminum for the nacelles. I got lazy and used rattle can white haha. The instructions call for gray (coroguard?) panels in the wings behind the exhaust going all the way to the trailing edge. Those are visible on photos of the later DC-6 livery with the red and blue spear. The art deco blue cheatline photos I can find look like all natural metal on the nacelles and wings behind the exhaust.

The canopy clear piece fits OK. I've seen some build threads use all kinds of splinting and tape. I just used liquid cement and held it in place while watching a movie, it wants to splay out on the sides and I didn't want to fiddle with a lot of putty that close to the clear windows. My wings were a little warped from storage, so I used wood splints and clamps when gluing them together.

The decals are 25 years old but seem OK. I started with some of the smaller ones. Now the cheatline is going to be a little trickier. The decals are solid for the DC-6A cargoliner, and include a gray overlay for pax windows. I'm thinking I could trim the window openings after application with a sharp #11 blade. Trimming the openings before would probably shred them after softening them in water.

Well, summer's over, time to get back at the bench. I dug this out of stash finally. I have a set of United colors from Liveries Unlimited (1998) for it. I just dry fitted the major components to get the minimum amount of weight for the nose. Apparently the kit landing gear is notoriously weak. It looks like a decent kit.

Funny story: The F15s in Alaska used to fly training missions with one inert missile to interface with the radar. But they also carried a live missile on another station just in case they got tasked to do an intercept....

Its been a while, but when I was at Nellis AFB in the early 80s, they had just converted the Thunderbirds to F-16s. They were fully operational we were told, with the exception of the engine oil tank modified to feed in inverted flight. They were carried on the books as war ready and could be converted to a wartime mission just by reinstalling the Vulcan cannon. I haven't touched one in a while though. The F-16s have gotten heavier with the addition of nav and targeting pods, and larger landing gear. The F-16 pictured in the article #86-0310 is listed as an F-16C Block 30D in the

Even when they were off, the sunlight on them gave them a greenish tint you could duplicate with a wash

Now I know why I was so frustrated with the decals at ten years old haha. I tried to be more patient this time.

Finally decided to quit lurking and start working haha. Not perfect but i think it came out OK. The old decals were too brittle and broke apart. But I scanned the original sheet and printed replacements on some inkjet waterslide paper.

I went through two sets of the United decals but they were brittle and disintegrated after 20 years. I did scan a high resolution copy and uploaded it to Scalemates so I could print new decals on water transfer paper. I fabricated a vestigial dorsal fin to make it look like a 720. Pictures online show the United 720s without the HF antenna since they were used for domestic routes only. Oh, and the horrible cockpit windows I filled and printed a windshield decal for too. I was building it for nostalgia and it turned out way better than when I was ten.

Thanks! Great decals. I have a Heller 1/72 DC6 and some aftermarket United decals for it too. Interestingly, the Aurora decals are for N7211U, which was actually a 720 haha.

Hi all, newb here. Been out of the hobby for 30 years, but I grew up in Denver CO and my dad's friends worked for United at Stapleton. I always liked the old United livery and have a set of the old Aurora United 727 decals. I got the Atlantis 727 reissue and think I'll try it using the Museum of Flights N7001U as a reference. I know it's not a 100% accurate kit, but for nostalgia at least it'll be fun to see if my old Binks airbrush still works.