I really love the DC-10/MD-11 family, and they’re basically my favorite aircraft (asides from the 747). I also have a weird fascination with firefighting aircraft, so that’s the birth of this project. A few weeks ago, I had a video of one of the old 10 Tanker drops on the Palisades Fire pop into my feed. This one hit a closer to home because I had family members near the very close vicinity of the fire at the time. I want to make this model as kind of a homage/tribute piece for front-line emergency response workers. If you are reading this and are from any emergency response work, thank you so much for all you do in protecting people (as well as my family) in the past. 10 Tanker is a private company that works on a contract basis around the globe responding to wildfires. They operate a group of DC-10-30s (VLAT) to specifically fight fires. I will be building the very first converted tanker, which actually was a DC-10-10! I also wanted to work in a manageable scale, so I looked toward the 1/200 offerings, and there were none. That being said I began a hunt for a DC-10 model, and I saw the exorbitant prices. As a college student, I didn’t want to dole out my life savings (and emergency Taco Bell run money), so I kept looking. I ultimately found the Hasegawa/Minicraft offering in 1/200 for 40 bucks, so I bought that pretty fast. That recently came in the mail, and it looks pretty good at first glance! I started to look at a lot of references for the aircraft and gathered half-decent measurements of the tank at the bottom.
On the building side, I’ve been working on cleaning up the fuselage and engine 2/vert stab. This kit is pretty old. A quick check on scalemates dates the original mold back to 1980 with my version being printed in the same year, so it takes the cake as the oldest kit I’ve ever built. Because of the age, there are a bunch of raised detail as well as windows on the kit that I had to fill in. The little sharpie marks are the areas that I need to putty a little because I ripped off some of the filler after it dried cries. It’s a lot worse on the side that you don’t see lol.
I have their Dash 8 tanker in the stash and have done a couple CalFire birds that were stationed at Ramona fire base about 4 miles from where I spent my last 10 years in the area before moving to AZ.
Did a little more work before going back to college (where I’m writing this). Focused on the tail section! Proportions were off on the kit, so I adjusted the engine 2 nozzle to fit the references better. I cleaned up the fuselage denting with putty, and I painted the interior engine sections. Here’s some photos! You can read more about detail and reference work on my blog! (in my bio)
Ok it’s been a hot minute since I worked on this project, but I’m hoping to get it done before an IPMS competition in July! After staying up 28 hours straight studying for an exam, I kicked back and relaxed for a few to take this bird out.
I was able to pick up some international orange for the fuselage and vert stab, so I’ll begin testing that soon. I’m also trying to build scratch built extended leading edges and flaps, so I started planning that, but for now, I tested if my vertical clearance of the 3D printed reservoir would work… It did thankfully! perfect amount of clearance once the landing gear wheels get put on. I also think I got the dihedral mostly correct for the elevators.
Anyways, unfortunately I’m at school still and finals are around the corner, so I won’t be able to get much substantial painting done. Thankfully, I have all of the metallics I need so I can hit the ground running when school finishes up in a month. Thanks for checking out my work!
Cool project, and I love your attention to detail!
I too have a fresh admiration for these aircraft and crew – chopper pilots, specifically the Chinook “Boomer” – saved my family place in northern Minnesota last year as the Camp House Fire burned over our property. A C-130 doing retardant drops left a bunch of our trees and outbuildings hot pink… but intact.
I also have a very personal connection to firefighting because of this video:
My house was in Stevenson’s Ranch, and my family got evac’ed a few times because of the fires. I remember the big fire that was happening the day this drop happened. I couldn’t go home because they cut off all traffic in/out of that main road! They also helped keep my brother safe at his school during the Palisades Fire! Watching those helicopters definitely sparked a love for aviation as well.
I’m always thankful for firefighters who always put their lives on the line for us.
That being said I began a hunt for a DC-10 model, and I saw the exorbitant prices. As a college student, I didn’t want to dole out my life savings (and emergency Taco Bell run money), so I kept looking. I ultimately found the Hasegawa/Minicraft offering in 1/200 for 40 bucks, so I bought that pretty fast. That recently came in the mail, and it looks pretty good at first glance! I started to look at a lot of references for the aircraft and gathered half-decent measurements of the tank at the bottom.
