Pinocchio

[ALF18]

Hello, dear reader!

After my 'relaxing' build (the 1/72 CF-100), I've decided to tackle something a little nicer. I have always wanted to make Pinocchio - the Dak that had the CF-104 radar nose, not the little stick-boy!

I've flown on Pinocchio, between Cold Lake and Edmonton. It's a real classic aircraft, and the nose is quite unique. More on the history, and some links to some good walk-arounds soon. But first, the kit.

I'll be using the 1/72 scale Revell kit. It's made of white plastic, and looks pretty nicely detailed for this scale.

And the CF-104 nose section you see in this pic was kindly donated a couple years ago by another ARCer - his daughter was using it to practise her technique, and he sent it to me with this project in mind.

The decals will be Leading Edge.

ALF

[RCAFFAN]

Alf Make sure that you check some pictures and pick one for time period you like as Pinocchio changed in small ways over the years, especially in areas such as the intakes on top of the engine nacelles as the plane had both short and long at various times but long in its later years for sure..The exhaust also changed. I believe that the Revel kit is actually the Italeri so it should have a choice of three different top intakes so make sure you use the right ones...Also study pictures of how the nose went on as there is a small adaptor area needed to go between the C47 body after the nose is off and the 104 radar nose that you may have to shape from a few circles of plastic sheet of different diameters to connect the two. Dave used to include a resin nose with the Leading Edge Sheet with this adaptor included in the casting but I guess you got a sheet without the resin. Good Luck. I believe I have a 1/72 plan that includes a Pinoccchio nose drawing too if you need it..Let me know.....

Cheers

Bruce

[Ken Middleton]

interesting build ALF - looking forward to it

[ALF18]

Alf Make sure that you check some pictures and pick one for time period you like as Pinocchio changed in small ways over the years, especially in areas such as the intakes on top of the engine nacelles as the plane had both short and long at various times but long in its later years for sure..The exhaust also changed. I believe that the Revel kit is actually the Italeri so it should have a choice of three different top intakes so make sure you use the right ones...Also study pictures of how the nose went on as there is a small adaptor area needed to go between the C47 body after the nose is off and the 104 radar nose that you may have to shape from a few circles of plastic sheet of different diameters to connect the two. Dave used to include a resin nose with the Leading Edge Sheet with this adaptor included in the casting but I guess you got a sheet without the resin. Good Luck. I believe I have a 1/72 plan that includes a Pinoccchio nose drawing too if you need it..Let me know.....

Cheers

Bruce

Oh oh...

Looks like more of a challenge than I anticipated. I have found a great walkaround here:

http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/luc_coli...chio_walk_1.htm

That's the configuration of intakes, etc that I will be mostly shooting for (assuming the parts are in the kit).

I definitely didn't get any resin with the decals. The walkaround pics are pretty good, so I may not need the nose drawing (but thanks for the kind offer). I will try some dry-fitting with the 104 kit nose and the Dak nose - it looks from the pics in the walkaround like it might fit OK if I choose carefully where to chop. I don't have a hobby shop nearby with any plastic sheet, and my spare plastic box is pretty bare...

Thanks for the heads-up.

ALF

[EX_Birdgunner]

Look forward to seeing this one. I believe that in the plane's latter days it was kept at mountainview and I remember seeing Pinocchio when I was growing up in Trenton.

I have lots of plastic sheet at home if you need any.

Denis

EDIT: Just read the plaque at the Primeportal site and apparently there were two other Dak with the pointy nose so I guess I saw one of Pinocchio's sisters in Trenton.

Edited March 7, 2011 by EX_Birdgunner

[Spit1A]

Looks like an interesting build! Looking forward to watching this.

[RCAFFAN]

Alf...sorry you didn't get a resin nose as I gave up the nose of a 1/72 Hasegawa (original release not recent kit) for Dave to do his original master and it was certainly in the release I got but I believe he has run that sheet a few times,,,,,,,

Yes that is the exhaust set up Iwas talking about but that is the short upper intakes and many pics I have show the long one that extends well out over the cowling but both should be in the kit...If you are careful cutting the nose beyond the radome you may very well be okay but I suspect you will need a bit of putty too so again good luck...

Denis....If you look at the decal sheet Alf posted, there is the name "Dolly's Folly" as well as Pinocchio and Dolly's was one of the other pointy nosed C47s....

Cheers

Bruce

P.S. Alf if you really want to go all out look in the middle picture of the top row at the site you posted and note the fairing to add for the wiring to connect the radar to the student set ups in the back..It is almost hidden by the bottom point of the Lightning flash cheat line....

Edited March 7, 2011 by RCAFFAN

[ALF18]

Alf...sorry you didn't get a resin nose as I gave up the nose of a 1/72 Hasegawa (original release not recent kit) for Dave to do his original master and it was certainly in the release I got but I believe he has run that sheet a few times,,,,,,,

Yes that is the exhaust set up Iwas talking about but that is the short upper intakes and many pics I have show the long one that extends well out over the cowling but both should be in the kit...If you are careful cutting the nose beyond the radome you may very well be okay but I suspect you will need a bit of putty too so again good luck...

Denis....If you look at the decal sheet Alf posted, there is the name "Dolly's Folly" as well as Pinocchio and Dolly's was one of the other pointy nosed C47s....

Cheers

Bruce

P.S. Alf if you really want to go all out look in the middle picture of the top row at the site you posted and note the fairing to add for the wiring to connect the radar to the student set ups in the back..It is almost hidden by the bottom point of the Lightning flash cheat line....

Loads of information - thanks. Looking at the pictures, I think I might be OK for the radar nose. I have the 1/72 Hase CF-104 forward portion, all the way back to the cockpit. From what I can tell, the narrow portion of the pointy nose ends right after the two little indentations under the 104's nose. I think if I cut behind that I should be able to fit it.

I'll be sure to look for the fairing you've mentioned by the cheat line. I've already noted that the rear left cargo/passenger door has two types in the kit - from the walkaround of Pinocchio I see that it has the two prominent horizontal fairings aft of the pax door.

For a 1/72 kit, this little Revell one is a real jem! Lots of detail and pretty nice fit so far.

ALF

[ALF18]

Slow progress - way too busy these days...

And winter has not loosened its grip on us! Sort of à propos for a Canadian Wings GB.

The fuselage interior contains some detail. There isn`t a lot of guidance given for the angle at which things sit, so I made sure to dry fit into the fuselage a few times as I glued the bulkheads in place.

Here is the interior insert painted up. I really didn't spend much effort on it - it will be very dark inside the fuselage. My main aim was to give some kind of colour and texture to it.

A quick splooging of colour on the inside of the fuselage as well.

ALF

[ALF18]

Now I've started to attack the nose cone question.

Here are the two nose sections I'll be using.

I have printed out an excellent ref pic from the site I mentioned earlier.

From the ref, it's clear that the nose section on the 104 is cut as I have done - one segment behind the light grey portion of the radome (including the little indentations under the nose of the 104).

At this point (not in the pics), I've glued the 104 radome section together, and I'm trying to imagine how to put it on the Dak. My working assumption is that I should chop a bit of the Dak nose off (after the fuselage is together), taking care not to chop too much off at first, and see how the 104 nose fits. I could then trim more and more off the Dak until it sits just right.

Anyone have any ideas?

ALF

[Snowbird3a]

just posted a 1/144 pinocchio in the inspiration thread for amusement.

Tony

[ALF18]

just posted a 1/144 pinocchio in the inspiration thread for amusement.

Tony

Tony

Nice job in 1/144! Inspiration is filling me now... thanks for posting that.

More progress. I got the fuselage together.

The left rear door (optional in this kit) should be this version, with the prominent latches.

Now to get to work on the nose area.

ALF

[ALF18]

I worked slowly to chop small amounts off the nose of the Dak. Here is the beginning.

There's a lot more chopped off here. I see that my 104 nose section is oval - seems to be squashed in on the sides. I've put it into some clamps to try and get it to warp into more of a circle. As I chop more off my Dak nose, the taper of the Dak comes closer to the 104 nose cone size. I have also trimmed a bit off the 104 nose, because the segment with the little vents behind the radome seemed a tad long, and it tapered out to a larger size. By trimming both, I hope to arrive at a shape that meets nicely and doesn't need too much putty.

ALF

[Ken Middleton]

that's great work ALF - looking forward to more

[Snowbird3a]

I worked slowly to chop small amounts off the nose of the Dak. Here is the beginning.

There's a lot more chopped off here. I see that my 104 nose section is oval - seems to be squashed in on the sides. I've put it into some clamps to try and get it to warp into more of a circle. As I chop more off my Dak nose, the taper of the Dak comes closer to the 104 nose cone size. I have also trimmed a bit off the 104 nose, because the segment with the little vents behind the radome seemed a tad long, and it tapered out to a larger size. By trimming both, I hope to arrive at a shape that meets nicely and doesn't need too much putty.

ALF

There is a fairing inbetween the two pieces, a sheeet metal piece to go from the Dak oval to the CF104 round cross section. You can see it in the pic you enlarged.

It is perhaps 12"-18" in length. Putty or plastic sheet ????? Your choice, I guess.

Cheers, Tony

[ALF18]

There is a fairing inbetween the two pieces, a sheeet metal piece to go from the Dak oval to the CF104 round cross section. You can see it in the pic you enlarged.

It is perhaps 12"-18" in length. Putty or plastic sheet ????? Your choice, I guess.

Cheers, Tony

Tony

Good question. I have glued the nose cone in place, and am debating which approach to use. A kind soul (AX 365) sent me some plastic card with another kit this week, so I can try that. Now that you point it out in the pic, I can see how that fairing is not the normal Dak nose. At first I thought it was.

ALF

Edited March 14, 2011 by ALF18

[ALF18]

Here is what the nose cone looks like glued in place. Ironically, the real articles were round (104) and slightly oval (Dak). In this case, the 104 nose cone has been squashed vertically, and is too narrow at the sides. I squeezed it the other way as best I could, but it was still a bit oval when glued in place.

Here is what it looked like before trimming of the Dak nose section.

I chopped little bits and pieces off the Dak to make more of a rounded shape. Not too bad, with some sanding and some putty it might look somewhat like the fairing. I tried with a bunch of paper strips to make a template for plastic card - this got to be too much hassle. So, putty and sanding it is!

From further away, it doesn't look too bad.

Bigger gaps to fill underneath.

ALF

Edited March 15, 2011 by ALF18

[markmarples]

this is looking cool a really interesting subject there

[ALF18]

this is looking cool a really interesting subject there

Thanks Mark

I hope to do it justice!

ALF

[Barneydhc82]

ALF: One way to make the fairing between the Dak and -104 nose is to wrap a piece of 1" masking tape around the joint then run a line around the tape fore and aft, remove the tape and use this pattern to cut a piece of .015" card to match.

Glue the card piece in place then a bit of putty will take care of the edge.

Hope this helps..I've used this method many times and on complex compound curves.

Barney

[EX_Birdgunner]

Got a chance to see this Pinoccio build last night and got a say that it is coming along nicely.

Keep up the great work Dan; and thanks for swaping Tomcat parts with me.

Denis

[ALF18]

Got a chance to see this Pinoccio build last night and got a say that it is coming along nicely.

Keep up the great work Dan; and thanks for swaping Tomcat parts with me.

Denis

No sweat, mon ami - knowing how much you love Tomcats, I was happy to oblige. And for all others, I want to make it perfectly clear there are no euphemisms being used here!!!

Denis simply came over with his parts, we compared parts, swapped some, and he left...

We had both bought 1/32 Tamiya Tomcats partially completed, and he needed to get into the forward fuselage to install his AM cockpit parts. Mine wasn't yet bundled up, so we exchanged bits and pieces so he could do a proper job on his.

I want to make sure that nobody might construe Denis' comments as being anything else...

ALF

[ALF18]

ALF: One way to make the fairing between the Dak and -104 nose is to wrap a piece of 1" masking tape around the joint then run a line around the tape fore and aft, remove the tape and use this pattern to cut a piece of .015" card to match.

Glue the card piece in place then a bit of putty will take care of the edge.

Hope this helps..I've used this method many times and on complex compound curves.

Barney

Barney

Thanks for the great tip! I was doing the trial and error method, cutting paper in various shapes by eyeball... I'll give your method a shot.

ALF

[ALF18]

Slow progress - real life is getting in the way...

I attached the wings. By choosing carefully the order in which the parts were glued together, I've avoided having to fill gaps on the top of the wings.

The nose filling went OK. I got too lazy (sorry to Barney and others who have been very helpful with ideas for making fairings) to make a fairing, so I've settled on some filling and sanding with an expensive tool from Walmart...

The engines went together quickly and easily. I debated leaving the props off until the end, but I prefer having them able to spin. Avoids breakage when people try to force them to spin...

ALF

[ALF18]

Assembly of the main parts is fairly rapid. The parts generally fit very nicely on this kit.

Now it's ready for the main paint. I was starting to stress about masking each of the little windows, until I studied the areas where paint will go. Good news! The white colour is above all the windows, so I can just apply tape over the windows while spraying the white.

The plan is to spray the blue/grey colour on the bottom, then the white on the top. I will do the silver with kitchen foil, avoiding having to mask for that colour. The control surfaces will be Tamiya silver paint.

For the underside, I'm planning to mix some Tamiya XF-19 with a bit of Tamiya Sky. I'll use pure XF-19 for the radome underside. The top white colour will be a Tamiya white primer spray bomb - the gloss will come in with the Future coating.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I will be adding the wave guide conduit to the right fuselage along the cheat line before painting.

ALF