Monday, July 22, 2013

Entex 1/100 Douglas DC-3

Here's yet another model airplane I never had as a kid, but studied the box every time I went in to Gemco or Peterson Hobbies. It was cheap enough then; why didn't I buy it? Who knows, but it was really fun to build it almost forty years later.
Entex used Nitto moulds for their North Central/C-47 version marketed here in the U.S. It's very accurate in shape, but some of the pieces had a surprising amount of flash. From at least a foot away, this little DC-3 looks real nice - better than Monogram's more toy-looking DC-3 from the 1950s.
A good friend of mine pointed out to me the model on the box top is actually an Airfix 1/72 C-47 with painted on stripes and "North Central" applied with what might be dry letter transfers or scrap letter decals. Perhaps Entex marketing people were instructed to come up with box artwork before any parts and decals arrived from Japan. At any rate, I was very attracted to that model on the box top because it reminded me of the North American Aviation company DC-3 my Dad used to fly on during the early Apollo days. In fact as I was building this model, my backup plan was if the decals were unusable from age, I would put simple stripes on it to replicate a privately owned DC-3.

To my delight though, the original decals were as good as new. Micro-Sol saved the day as usual with the fuselage stripes around the nose, and over the door handles. The stuff worries me every time because the decals look so wrinkled after application, but the stuff works as advertised - I love it!
 

4 comments:

  1. Very nice modeling job. It brings back enormous memories. My Dad flew for North Central for decades; close to their whole history. He once invited myself and my boy scouts on the DC-3.
    I could tell you a lot of stories about flying with a father with extremely high expectations. On rare occasion, he brought those planes in, on a wing and a prayer, though they were reliable. When I think about designing a plane, I cringe remembering many things. Donald Douglas and William Boeing are my favorite aircraftsmen. We've got their torch.

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  2. Excellent job on the DC-3. Love the colors.

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