John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

I have begun the process of working to give my 26 year old Ziroli DC-3 a facelift. This model was built back in 1986 when the plans first came out and is still flying today. I had a ball flying it at the Indiana Warbird and Classics event in September. Being as I am a military lover, it is time to give the old girl a facelift. The current condition of the model is pretty good overall. The paint is still decent as is the structure. She does have some small hangar rash which will get cleaned up through this process. Being a warbird guy I have to make her a gunship. Can't do the target thing anymore.

A few specs on the model so all know what we have to begin with. Scratch built Ziroli DC-3. Span is 140 inches. Power comes from (2) Zenoah G-38's that were brand new to the airframe when built. They still run like they were purchased last year. I have replaced both carb's as there was an extensive carb change done on teh G-38 in the 1990's. Robart DC-3 retracts. Spektrum DX18 radio system with 8231 and 8611A servos throughout on all flight controls with 3517 mini's on the throttles. Equiped with Robart D-18 wheels and brakes as well.

When I acquired the model in 2006 I became the third owner. The second owner never flew the model. I believe the model was built in Florida. The aircraft did not have flaps and honestly was a b!tch in the landing pattern without them. I recently built full flap baoxes and cut/installed them into the wing before Indiana Warbirds and found a new love when flying the model. Takeoff's and landings became a breeze as did touch and goes.

The plan is to clean up the hangar rash and put a Spooky paint job on it. Will also replace the entire control system for the elevators and rudder. Right now the rudder blows back in flight due to the pushrods being very inadequate from the original build. The rudder pushrod that lives in the model is the old wooden dowel system which is a good system; the problem is the wire from the dowel to the rudder is so long it bends during hard flight loads. Elevator servos are going into the stab for a more positive control system as well. A compartment to install/remove batteries as right now the only way to get access is by removing the center wing section. New cowling mounts as the ones currently used seem to fail every 10 flights from vibration. Resin cast dummy motors to clean up the look of the front of the cowlings. Some panels lines an rivet detail will be added. Big door on the back of the fuselage will be removed and the addition of the 3 7.62 6 barrell mini guns installed. And hopefully a sound system for the guns and some LED lights for the gun barrells.

The paint job will be tail number 770 which is the aircraft which John Levitow was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during a mission in the late 1960's over Vietnam.

A few pictures of the current model as flown at Indiana this past month as well as the trim scheme of what it will look like for next season. So stay tuned and we will keep you abreast of the fixes and changes as we breed some new life into an old model.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Here are the pictures of the flaps after being installed. These were built to the dimensions from the plans and then dropped into the wings. I have (2) JR 8231 servos driving the center flap and (1) 8231 driving each outboard flap. These made a huge difference in how the model behaves on final approach to touchdown. Definitely tames the beast.

Ram-bro

My Feedback: (101)

love warbirds, love the Spookies...I will be lurcking on this one

ROGER RUSSELL

My Feedback: (12)

John:

I'll be watching the transformation you will be doing.
Attached is a pic I took with my GoPro wide angle camera @ IWC.

PS:
I think you need to fly it harder and make lower passes next year.

PSS:
I don't think you have very much fun with this plane so I will buy it from you!

PSSS:
Cheap!

Dash7ATP

John,

Do you mean this one?

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Hey Roger, yea didn't have too much fun flying the old girl.

Hmmmmm, buy it from me. Well probably not today.

Dash7ATP, yep that is the one they have reprinted like tail number 770! That is close to the paint scheme. They left out one of the green colors during that restoration. I will be duplicating the colors used in Southeast Asia back in 1967.

Moggy

My Feedback: (9)

DEATH FROM ABOVE! If this plane is rock'in you won't be knock'in

Thunderbolt47

My Feedback: (8)

I was talking with I guy (sorry I can't remember who) at a fly-in that said Spooky saved his life one night in Nam. Seems like his plane was downed and spooky stayed the night giving him/them cover till the rescue. I bet there are a lot of guys that owe their lives to this plane.
Dang I hate I can't remember who it was.
Anyways I am subscribed, so post lots of pictures.

Kelly

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Hey Kelly, I have heard and read the same. So more pictures it is.

#1 shows the interior dummy motor mounts. The dummy motors will be removable to detail and for any maintenance necessary.
#2 shows the dummy motor from the outside. The dummy motors have been positioned so the lower cylinder is at the 6 o'clock position and is partially cut away to clear the mag.
#3 shows the firewall and one of the four original cowling mounts. Although these seemed quite ingenious they were very trouble some. Because of the long mount peg and the vibration of the twin engine, the wooden peg mounts broke out on a regular basis. So they are in the trash.
#4 shows the new sub firewall to cover old holes and clean up the firewall area. You can see the beginning of the new cowl block mounts in place. All of this has been glued in place with Hysol 9462.

warbirdav8r

My Feedback: (11)

I also enjoying watching this bird at IWC. Looking forward to seeing it as a hunter and not the hunted next year. Dave.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Got a bit more work done over the weekend. Both cowlings have the new cowl mounts installed. I still need to go over the cowl mounts with some glass cloth and reinforce the wood blocks on the fireall with some triangle stock, but mor the most part things are coming together.

Next for me will be removal of the engines and fuel system and fixing the old wood covers that cover the fuel tanks. Also the retracts are coming out and heading to Robart for the electric modification.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

I have been busy with a few honey-do's to get ready for winter and have not got very much done. Some things are moving along, slow but sure.

1) picture showing both dummy motors installed and complete. Cowls can now be primed.
2) This shows the gap between the right wing and the center section getting filled. All complette and ready for primer. Evercote 416 is great stuff for this purpose and never lets go.
3) I was trying to determine where the receiver batteries were going to lvie in teh model. Currently they live inside the fuselage, but to get to them is a pain by removing the center wing section. It alone weighs close to 21 pounds! So a buddy of mine said why don't you throw them in the wing root. So out comes the dremel and some balsa and before you know it I have battery boxes installed in the wing root on the left and right side. To get to the batteries all you do is remove the outer wing panels. Happy with this and have 8,000 mah's of battery power on board. Model will have high voltage servos installed in the refresh so no regulators.

All I have to do is complete the repairs on the fuel tank hatches on the bottom of the wing and fill a few dents and we are ready to prime the center section. I did run down to the paint store and order up some paint. Got a quart of each color for the top. I needed the following FS colors: FS#30219 Tan, FS#34102 Medium Green, and FS#34079 Dark Green. I have the gloss black for the belly already. Bought Omni paints as I have started using these (was a PPG guy for many years). Love the quallity for our model applications and the price!

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Well it has been a while since I posted anything but have finally been able to get this moving again. After getting everything cleaned up it was time for primer. I use PPG K-36 as it fills fast, sands easy, and covers anything!

1) Here is the center section on the paint stand getting primer shot on it. I always seem to find one small spot I missed so of course after this it was back into the shop for some touch up with some spot and glaze putty.
2) Bottom of the center section with primer on it.
3) Outboard panels primed teh same way. Here the wings sit on teh couch in the shop ready for sanding and touch up.

After teh first coat of primer I sanded the entire wing with 400 wet to smooth it out. Normally I would block sand the wing but this time did it by hand. Reason is the primer was a light coat and I am trying to keep the weight down. Once all was sanded and some spot and glaze work done one more coat of primer and a light sanding had the wings ready for the next step.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

So the next step was rivets and panel lines. The DC-3/C-47 had lapped panels. This would result in a serious amount of time to pull off of which I don't feel I have with the other projects I want to complete this winter. So I elected to not do any panel lines on the model and just rivet the model. Simple and easy and pretty quick while still delivering a level of extra detail to help the model "pop" on the flightline. So out came the rules and pencil and the syringe and needles and Pacer's 560 canopy glue.

1) This shows an up close picture of some rivets applied to the bottom of the wing. You will note the rivets applied in front of the lengthwise lines which are in place of the panel lines. Being as the panel would be a lapped panel the rivets would not be on the line.
2) Shows the entire wing laid out on the table for rivet work.
3) Shows the zinc chromate in the inner flap wells. This is from Testors Model Master.

Keep in mind that when you rivet the model, it must be READY TO PAINT! There is no prep work required anymore. Once rivets are on the next step is paint.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

As I have been working the project the type model has changed. I have now elected to do a C-47 instead of the AC-47. The reason for this is I only have so much time and I want to get this done. I did not want to get through this and then be stuck on the back of the fuselage with all the mini guns and the large opening and be hitting the flying season. So the new paint job will be a C-47 with invasion stripes.

The next step was to get paint mixed up. The big issue here is there is no real FS number for Olive Drab from WWII. The current numbers are not the correct shade that the military uses today. So a trip to my PPG dealer and a call to the PPG paint help line we found FS number 33070. If you go to a PPG paint store and have them put this number in it will deliver a pretty close color to WWII Olive Drab.
http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=33070

From this I had a quart mixed up and then added 5 ounces of FS #30219. This was the color I was quite happy with and seemed to match my color book from Frank Tiano and Dave Platt for Olive Drad Shade #41.

The Neutral Gray I used a spec color and then added white, blue, and black to get it where I wanted.

Just for information, you can take any FS number to a PPG paint store and if there is a PPG paint code it will be in teh computer. The number is input by the 5 digits.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

So here is the wing during the paint stage.

I ended up painting the wing during some 35 degree days here in Central Illinois. I paint in my driveway, outside in the elements. Cold for me but not a big deal for the paint. Here is how I do it.

I use base coat clear coat for my paint. It is a 2 stage system that must be cleared to be protected. I love this paint as it is very light weight and easy to use. On a warm day I have been able to paint as many as five colors lasking over each one as the paint dries very quickly. I shoot both PPG Concept and Omni. I have used PPG reducer with either paint (Concept or Omni). I have used Omin reducer with only Omni.

For the OD on the top of the wing I mixed up 5 ounces of paint, and 10 ounces of reducer. Yes this is reduced 200%. Very light weight and the coverage is fine. It takes four coats for full coverage. I shoot with a SATA Mini Jet using a 0.8mm tip. The gray was mixed the same way. I would say I used about 75% of the paint I mixed for each color. So in all ther is around 4 ounces of OD and 4 oucnes of gray on the 140" wing.

Spray two light coats and then take inside to dry while you paint the other parts. when done the results are excellent.

Also note I did not paint the invasion stripe area, no sense in dead weight of paint underneath.

Ram-bro

My Feedback: (101)

Hey John, as watching "Band of Brothers" couple weeks ago and I noticed those invasion stripes were about as straight and even as a country road, and the white was more like a wash. Definietly not meant to last very long. I guess hat I am saying,to really get some chatter going at the field and to give some scale nuts a dose of reality, make those ivasion stripes...ugly.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Well then I guess I need to get the pictures of the invasion stripes posted. As our buddy Ram-Bro stated teh invasion stripes were pretty ugly and were there for a purpose. So it came time to begin teh process. Understand I have spent the better part of 30 years perfecting my paint techniques to keep things light weight and nice looking. So now I need to bring my 8 year old paint skills back into play.

So to begin with I have a few pictures of invasion stripes on C-47's from the war. You will note the paint runs on teh insignia, the wonderful straight lines and brushes/brooms to paint them on.

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

Looks great John. This one is on my "want to build" list.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

So how do we do it on a model. We start with a high quality EPOXY brush. I figure this will deliver the same level of quality compared to the brush the guy was using in one of the photos. I marked off the width of the lines to what they should have been close to. Ends up they would be around 3 inches wide on the model. I drew pencil lines for reference. The I started painting. It took a number of coats and I did use a soft camel hair brush at times as well. I finished with a 1/8 inch brush for the lines all done by hand.

notes:

Use the epoxy brush for the major part of the painting.
Ensure you have plenty of brush strokes in the finished product.
If any bristles from the brush gets stuck in the paint - leave them!
Step back and try to accept.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

With the invasion stripes complete it was time for the stars and bars to be painted on. A simple call to my good friend Jerry Caudle at Pro-Mark and the mask were at my door in no time. Simple and effective. I only use Pro-Mark for my markings. His stuff is perfect every time and always works. If you have problems with it then you are probably the problem and need to read the instructions. I foudn this out many years ago when I started using these graphics. Jerry is always there to help and his stuff is perfect. Made by a winning modeler for those of us looking for the very best.

Apply the paint mask and tape off around it.

Spray the blue and let it dry.

Apply the second mask and spray white and remove.

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

All that was left was the forrest mottel camoflage around the leading and trailing egdes. This is done with medium green, sorry don't have the FS number in front of me right now. It was mixed by the PPG guy.

This is done with a small Iwata airbrush. Very simple and easy, just mimic the pattern of the real one. I did not worry much about it as this model will not see any serious contest work as I did not build the model. It will see some fun scale work with either myself or my son flying it in the up coming year.

So the wing is basically painted now and only needs weathering and the final clear caot. For those that are curious, the clear will be PPG Flexed-n-Flat clear 2060. Works great!!!

The model will now sit for about a month or so while I catch up my build on a Comp ARF P-47 for a good friend. Once I have it where I want it, the fuselage restoration will come to life. Have to keep the projects moving!!!

Ram-bro

My Feedback: (101)

looking good man. Be curious to see what comments you get on that scale paint scheme

BullardRM

My Feedback: (39)

Subscribed

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Good point Ram-bro. I have had a few mixed emotions at home. Most think the stripes are excellent. A few think they are too ugly and look like I can't paint and seem out of the norm. To me it is all about replication of the full scale.