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1/72nd scale DC-10 - tail complete


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Having built Aircraft in Miniature's 1/72nd Boeing 747 a few years back, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience...

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... I thought I'd have a go at the same company's McDonnell-Douglas DC-10.

These kits are fairly basic with no surface detail to speak of, but you do get pre-cut vacformed parts that still require a little sanding, white metal landing gear, wheels and flap tracks, as well as resin engine fronts and exhaust cones.

Here's what you get 'in the box'... actually it came in a big bag...

Fuselage halves, with a central keel - that is a 12" ruler by the way!

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Wings:

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Engines, stabilisers, wing box and trunking for the tail mounted engine intake:

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White metal parts and resin engine detail parts:

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This is an older version of the kit and comes with decals for UTA - they're rather past it though and I'll have to source some alternatives:

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The fun will soon begin - I'll be making a start this week...

Tom

Edited by TommyP
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I will be following this one Tom. I have an AIM 737 that has a similar breakdown. I will be interested to see how you handle the engines.

I'll probably tackle the engines first - from experience with the 747 I know they'll be the most difficult part of the build.

No2 in the tail is going to be the hardest with the intake trunking to sort out. The kit supplied part isn't long enough to extend to where the engine is actually located, so I'm going to the hardware shop after work tomorrow to see if I can find some piping of the correct diameter.

As always with these kits - it's all great fun!

Tom

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I've made a start on this project, and have decided to begin with the tail and engine no. 2. This area was troubling me as the kit intake would need some surgery to get it looking respectable.

The first task was to remove the tail from the fuselage - this will make working on it far easier:

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One the parts had been sanded and the trailing edges thinned down, removed the exhaust area as this will be detailed sparately later in the build. At this point, I also scribed on the basic panel detail:

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On the real aircraft, the centre engine sits deep in the cowling, far deeper than the kit supplied part allows:

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This simply wouldn't look right for the DC-10, so something had to be done!

A trip to the hardware shop later, with the resin engine front in my pocket to check the diameter, and...

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The intake ring was removed from the front of the kit engine front, and the basics of the fan painted:

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This was then attached to the piping, which was cut to the correct length, and placed in the nacelle:

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Now I need to secure everything in place and join the tail halves.

Looking better already!

Tom

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Nice project Tom. I quite liked your build of the 747. You have another follower.

A pitty about the decals. The UTA livery was quite smart if you ask me. Any idea on the livery you will apply?

I presume you thought that the kit didn't have enough parts yet by cutting the no. 2 engine loose ;) I agree that it is a better approach on getting the tail and its engine smooth. Be sure to check the ultimate DC-10 guide on the a.cafe. Apparently these birds have seen many changes, upgrades and adjustments during its life.

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Nice project Tom. I quite liked your build of the 747. You have another follower.

A pitty about the decals. The UTA livery was quite smart if you ask me. Any idea on the livery you will apply?

I presume you thought that the kit didn't have enough parts yet by cutting the no. 2 engine loose ;)/>/> I agree that it is a better approach on getting the tail and its engine smooth. Be sure to check the ultimate DC-10 guide on the a.cafe. Apparently these birds have seen many changes, upgrades and adjustments during its life.

Thanks for the interest.

I'm still undecided on a livery - I'll see how the mood takes me as the build progresses.

I've been on the DC-10 you mention - thank you it is very informative.

The basic tail structure of the DC-10 is now complete... I'll let the pictures do the talking:

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There'll be some more finer detailing to do later in the build, but that'll do for now.

Tom

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Any updates? Love trijets!

Not yet - I'm busy with a 1/32nd Halifax at the moment so haven't got any more done. I'll be getting out again in the summer months I imagine.

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