The Little World

My determination to build a Douglas Dakota in Canadian markings was aided wonderfully/horribly by the internet. It was able to tell me exactly what I did and didn’t need to know, but unfortunately did not put a divider between the two types of information. It’s sort of like trying to read a modellers Talmud…except you can’t tell the commentary from the text.

Fortunately, there are restored aircraft in the museums and on the airshow circuit. Whether these are all that accurate as historical references is debatable, but at least they are historically accurate in representing themselves. Thus if you set out to emulate one of the museum craft, you can make use of the hundreds of amateur photos taken of the devices wherever they are exhibited.

Oddly enough, in one sense this can be a challenge. Air show aircraft can make their photo passes only at the discretion of the wind and of the safety organisers. You sometimes only get to see an aircraft from one side as it repeatedly buzzes the display strip. I had the devil’s own time getting to see the off-side of the C-47 I was modelling because of this. Eventually you go so far down the Google Images list that you are getting into the denture powder advertisements, but you do it to score that clear view you need.

The colour reference bit is also pretty dodgy. My screen is calibrated regularly with a Spyder unit and is as close as I can get it, but this doesn’t mean the original image that someone loaded onto the net from their Flapoflex camera is anywhere near correct. Unless they have set their camera in accordance with what my screen can define, I might get an optical opinion only. Fortunately I have a can of Wiggle Room to spray on as a last coat.

All this said, isn’t it lovely to have a reference book so close to hand? My Dakota is the display ” X ” unit at rest. I’ve got enough views to make it to my taste. It fits in my scenario. And the Italeri kit is a very nice product – I am encouraged to get more of their planes.