The DC-3 is referred to as the plane that changed the world. Everyone knows about the plane, so I will not give any background on the airplane itself. In 1995, Minicraft released the first of it's 1/144 scale airliner series. This was specifically the DC-3. Buildup was quick with minimal fiddling and a few spots of liquid putty along the fuse spine. The windows required some additional filling. Only 3 hours were required up to the painting stage.

The Buffalo Airways DC-3's are finished in a mix of old RCAF markings and a new scheme applied over this, as far as the painting methodology goes. I first sprayed Poly-S Flat White, masked and painted the wings gull gray. Let the acrylics dry for some time, then mask and spray Model Master Aluminum, gloss coat, Aluminum Plate, gloss coat. Remove all the masks, then gloss coat the entire model. Spraying the silvers last, and gloss coating will prevent finger prints and mixing with the other colors.

Leading Edge Decals recently put out a collection of DC-3 / C-47 markings. Since I had some reference photos of CF-PNR of Buffalo Airways, I chose to build this scheme. The only hard part about this decal set is matching the turquoise / green color. A formula and test decal sheet are provided. For the 1/144 scale set, enough of this spare decal film is given to cover the tails. Like all of Leading Edges decals, they are excellent and respond well to decal solutions. With practice, they can be made to disappear without gloss coating.. I did however spray one last coat mixed with a bit of satin to dull the shine down. Final touches included the aerial wires and slight weathering around the engines. The results was a DC-3 that fits in the palm of your hand!