Revell 1:72 Twin Otter done in Allegheny Commuter colors of N205CA, one of the birds I once flew. Done in Tamiya Paints. After market decals by Pointer Dog, aircraft N-Number airbrushed on via template and gold striping needed to be hand painted around the maroon of the nacelles. Nacelles and horizontal stabilizers had to be airbrushed with custom mixed paint to match the darker color of decal. Some minor additions such as PE tail skit and a fresh air scoop on left side of nose added for realism.
Windscreen was not a good fit and did the best I could to get it to sit flush. Probably the only “blem” to the build.
Normally, the props on the PT6 are in feather during shutdown. These props were too fragile to consider doing this. Notice the hand painted gold stripe on the nacelle.
Decals were pretty thick and it was recommended by the vendor not to use decal set or softener with them. Here you can see the custom mixed maroon color on the top of the wings and stabilizers. Exhaust stains done in ground up pastels.
Another shot from starboard side. Fuselage striping is decal. the N205CA is airbrushed on via template, probably something I could have done to the tail but it was just too small to work with. Tail skid with kit is too fragile and I broke 2 of them. Fabricated the skid with leftover PE which actually looks better.
Looks good! I always like seeing civilian aircraft, especially the prop planes. Don’t get me wrong, I like airliners, but it’s always a nice breath of fresh air after seeing / working with military aircraft.
Nice job on the Otter. That might have been the same aircraft that was the first I ever took a ride in - when I was roughly 3 years old, my WWII vet grandfather knew some of the guys at the local airport, who agreed to take me and my grandpa up for a ride.
Thanks!! There are only two issues with the kit IMO. The windscreen fit on the Capt’s side is tough requiring some putty. I had this problem on the float version I did. The other being the wing struts. You will need to use a thin piece of styrene stock to add a bit of length to the strut where it mounts to the fuselage. The Twin Otter sports a 3 degree wing dihedral and adding that thin strip will keep the wings from appearing flat and even drooping. I learned that lesson from my float version I did. Otherwise, it’s not bad. A bit small on the parts and getting old as I am, I’d rather see a larger scale.
Beautiful Twotter!
Having built a small squadron of these over the years, the problem with the windscreen has a lot to do with the fact that the kit designer made the “A pillars” (to use the automotive term) too deep, with that little ridge that’s supposed to hold the clear part in place, but just sort of makes everything worse. Gives the whole cockpit area a sort of ‘blocky’ look compared to the real thing. I keep telling myself I’ll correct it “next time”…though I haven’t gotten around to it, yet.
Some aftermarket mfg. actually does a more accurate replacement (which I also have yet to try); if I can find the link somebody sent me to it, I’ll post it as a followup.
Thanks Greg, and that link to the after market parts would be welcomed by me. Like you, I’ve built two of these before and should have remembered that “little ridge”. Old age doesn’t help either. Best to ya brother!
Well done with this one Fuzznoggin! Must’ve been exceptionally satisfying to replicate a real aircraft that’s been an important part of your life. The N-number and other hand-painted details are fantastic!
I’ve also had some recent challenges with excessively thick custom decals, and I guess the same remedies can apply to you should you seek to have a crack at a larger scale. In my case I’d printed them myself and then used a couple of layers of clear coat (one was probably enough, to be honest) over the print prior to application.
The decal is only printed on the bottom, with the balance being made up of the clear-coat. After a bit of research, trial and error, I found I was able to make the edges of the decals conform a little better by wet-sanding with a small piece of #3000 grit sanding sponge (acquired mine from https://www.ickysticky.com.au/product-page/sanding-sponge-sheet-sets-3-pack). I held the sponge with a pair of self-closing tweezers which made this process much easier.
The decal sanding can either be done before or after applying the decal to the model, but until the first one goes down you’re not really going to know if you have a problem with decal thickness (unless there’s a particular formula you use consistently that has a way of validating all suspicion). Once you definitely know the decals are going to give you trouble, you can minimise risk of sanding your model (like I did - oops) by sanding the decal edges while they’re still on the decal paper - This gives you a few options like bending the decal paper so you can sand the edge of the decal to a taper
It’s probably less of an issue for aircraft models, but one of the things that made the decal stand out was the loss texture on the decal surface compared to the rest of the model. The light sanding had helped restore some of that painted-on look due to a more consistent surface texture
That is a fantastic tip. I will definitely try that on a piece of styrene stock with some of the leftover decals that I have. What I have been doing is creating a template via my vinyl cutting machine and using that to airbrush the lettering or numbers. I wish I had the equipment to make dry transfers.
