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Douglas DC -3
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Douglas DC -3
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The ‘revolution’ of the DC-3™
An immediate
commercial success
The impact of the new aircraft was
immediate and in no time at all the
new Douglas™ airliners had become
synonymous with fast, comfortable
ying. The rst European airline
to use it was KLM in 1936, soon
followed by other operators.
ASSEMBLY GUIDE
The Kitchen
Assembly and cladding of the part of
the fuselage containing the kitchen.
103
111
™
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modelling tools
A comprehensive selection of modelling tools
and paints (in all the colours you will need to
complete your Douglas DC-3) is available from
the Model Space website.
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Pan American World Airways, Inc.
Produced under license. Boeing, Douglas, Boeing Airplane Company, DC-3,
247, Douglas World Cruiser, and the distinctive Boeing logos, product markings
and trade dress are trademarks of The Boeing Company.
Published in the UK by De Agostini UK Ltd,
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London SW8 3HE
Published in the USA by De Agostini Publishing USA, Inc.,
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Packaged by Continuo Creative, 39-41 North Road,
London N7 9DP
p103-110, images from the Giorgio Apostolo Collection
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Items may vary from those shown.
Not suitable for children under the age of 14.
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The ‘revolution’ of the DC-3
The ‘revolution’ of the DC-3
An immediate commercial success
For the Douglas Aircraft Company,
the DC-3 was a great success from
a commercial point of view, even more
so than the DC-2. After it entered service
with American Airlines, all the major
American carriers placed orders for it.
In 1936, KLM was the first European
company to acquire the aircraft, which it
used on its Amsterdam-Batavia-Sydney
intercontinental route. In subsequent
years, the Dutch company was followed
by other operators, including Swissair
(which received its first delivery in 1937),
the Swedish ABA (which in 1937 became
the second European company to use the
Not only was KLM the rst airline in Europe to
include DC-3s in its eet, it also acquired the largest
number of them. After the German occupation of the
Netherlands in 1940, part of its eet was transferred
to Germany and used by Lufthansa to replace the
Junkers Ju-52s requisitioned for war purposes.
103
shorter. Because competition between
companies also included aspects such
as the choice of flight times and quality
of service, in addition to the standard
version of the DC-3 with 21 seats, all
the main competitors also used aircraft
with special facilities (the so-called
‘club’ class). A typical example was the
Skylounge Mainliner, used by United
DC-3), Sabena (which received its first
two DC-3s in 1939), Aer Lingus and the
Romanian LARES. Outside Europe, the
DC-3 was acquired, among others, by
Airlines of Australia, Australian National
Airways, Air India, Línea Aeropostal
Venezolana (LAV) and Cubana Aviación,
a subsidiary of Pan Am.
The DC-3 revolutionises
air transport
The impact of the new aircraft on the
air transport market was immediate.
The DC-3 was the first aircraft to fly the
Chicago Midway-New York Newark route
without a stopover, and its introduction
on a large scale substantially increased
competition on a route that had long
been recognised as one of the most
profitable in the United States.
A similar situation would occur on
the New York-Los Angeles route, when
flying times became progressively
KLM’s ight timetable for the
Amsterdam-Batavia route in
September-October 1934.
The introduction of the DC-3
contributed signicantly
to the reduction of ying
times, while also increasing
travellers’ comfort, even on
long intercontinental routes.
It is interesting that the
flight schedule includes
connections operated by
other carriers, and dierent
routes in summer and winter.
An ABA/Swedish Airlines DC-3. The boarding door on the right side was originally specically requested by
American Airlines to bring the embarkation procedure into line with that of their old Curtiss Condors. Embarkation
on the right enabled passengers to avoid the inconvenience associated with starting the engines, which usually
took place while the passengers were still embarking and started with the engine on the left.
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The ‘revolution’ of the DC-3
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Airlines on its Chicago route, which had a
luxurious interior with only 14 seats, fitted
with special padding and semi-reclining
backs that could recline at 225°.
To the general public, the Douglas Aircraft
Company soon became synonymous
with comfortable, fast aircraft; a positive
image which was also noticed by other
companies who, while awaiting the
delivery of the new plane, continued to
operate with the ‘old’ DC-2. So, besides
the initial purchasers (American Airlines,
United, TWA and Eastern Airlines), the
DC-3 was also used by Braniff Airways,
Inside the DC-3: A layout with 21 seats shown on a Swissair advertising poster. Although the proportions
have been altered slightly to emphasise the impression of space, the illustration clearly shows not only the
passenger cabin but also the luggage space at both the front and the rear, the radio compartment behind the
pilot’s cabin and the kitchen at the back of the plane. In this case, too, the boarding door is on the right.
An Australian Airways/Airlines of Australia
luggage label showing a DC-3. The commercial
success of the aircraft was not restricted to the
United States and Europe. Here, too, the artistic
representation conveys the public’s perception.
It is obvious that to the world at large, the
Douglas name stood for reliability, speed
and comfort.
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Capital Airlines, Chicago & Southern Air
Lines, Colonial, Northwest Airline, Pan
Am/Panagra, Pennsylvania Central Airlines
and Western Air Express. Although flying
remained expensive (in 1937, a New York-
Los Angeles return ticket with the ‘Mercury
Service’ of American Airlines cost as much
as $269.90, equivalent to over $4,000
today), the increase in supply led to a
gradual reduction of prices, a phenomenon
in which the greater operational efficiency
of the DC-3 also played its part.
For American society, it was the eve of
a travelling revolution, with a new class
of leisure users who gradually became
regular customers alongside the traditional
businessmen, thanks also to the opening of
new routes to the main tourist destinations.
‘From frost to flowers, in just eight hours’
was the slogan with which Eastern Airlines
launched its popular route between New
York and Florida. With quick connections
to attractive destinations, there was now
An advertising poster of
American Airlines showing
lunch on board a DC-3.
The nish of the cabin, the
reclining seats and the size
of the table are noteworthy.
The layout, with two pairs
of seats facing each other,
inherited from the earlier
sleeper aircraft, was soon
abandoned in order to
increase the cargo capacity.
The message conveyed in
the photograph was
that ying was now a
‘family’ experience.
The interior of a DC-3 with a 28-seat layout. The
removal of the ‘little drawing rooms’ (or ‘Skyrooms’)
and the use of more powerful engines enabled the
Douglas Aircraft Company gradually to increase the
load-carrying capacity of the DC-3. In this way, it
was possible to meet the requirements of the airline
companies, who were aware of the fact that in future
the competition would focus on the quality/price ratio
more than on the ‘simple’ concept of service.
106
The ‘revolution’ of the DC-3
Towards the end of the
1930s, ying became a
common experience for
many American women. It
was no coincidence that
several airlines paid particular
attention to the female public:
women and families would
appear increasingly often in
their advertising campaigns,
such as this publicity shot.
a recreational aspect to air travel which
encouraged new travellers to choose the
aeroplane. TWA’s decision to modify the
interior of its Skyliners, boasting ‘fittings
specially designed to satisfy feminine
taste, as far as the harmony of colours is
concerned’, reflected one of the effects
which the deployment of the DC-3 had
on the market. The importance of women
and casual travellers was increasing,
slowly but surely.
DC-3 in the USSR and Japan
The proliferation of variations was another
indicator of the DC-3’s success. Before
the Second World War, the Douglas
Aircraft Company produced two variations
of the DST (the DST ‘standard’, powered
by the Wright Cyclone G102 and P&W)
and two versions of the DC-3 (the DC-
3A, powered by P&W, and the DC-3B,
of which only 10 were built, powered by
Wright R-1820 Cyclone, with the passenger
cabin equipped with couchettes at the front
Build Douglas DC
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the production or assembly of DC-3s
abroad. One of the companies which
benefited from these agreements, as it
had done in the past, was Fokker, which,
between 1936 and 1940, distributed 63
planes on the European market, before
the outbreak of the Second World War
and reclining seats at the rear). These in
turn were produced with different fittings
which met the various requirements of
the interested airline companies; an
important development was the gradual
removal of the small drawing-room or
‘Skyroom’, which had featured in the
first DC-3As, in favour of greater cargo
capacity, and a denser configuration
with 28 seats, which ultimately became
the norm.
In addition, as was the case with the
DC-2, the Douglas company signed
agreements with foreign companies for
A Lisunov Li-2 of Soviet airline
Aeroot. Produced under
licence from Douglas, the
Li-2 was produced in various
civilian and military versions
between 1940 and 1954, rst
in the Mosca-Khimki GAZ 84
plant, then in the Tashkent
TAPO plant in present-day
Uzbekistan. Small numbers
were also produced in the
Kazan GAZ 124 plant and the
Komsomolsk-na-Amure GAZ
126 plant. Used in the USSR
and its allied and satellite
countries until the 1960s,
it underwent some 1,200
modications compared to
the original DC-3 design,
the most obvious being the
adoption of Shvetsov M-62 or
ASH-62 engines.
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The ‘revolution’ of the DC-3
forced them to cease their activities.
Variations of the DC-3 were also produced
in the Soviet Union (the Lisunov Li-2,
initially the PS-84, powered by Shvetsov
M-62 and then by ASH-62 engines) and in
Japan (the Showa/Nakajima L2D). In the
case of the Li-2, estimates of the number
of aircraft produced range between 3,500
and 7,500; of the L2D, the number was
around 487. From 1937-1939, the USSR
and Japan bought further DC-3s directly
from Douglas. Moscow bought at least 21
completed aircraft and two unassembled
fuselages, while Japan bought another 21
completed aircraft.
Both the Soviet and Japanese versions
of the DC-3 underwent some significant
modifications from the point of view of
design and construction. In both cases,
the use of different engines from the Wright
and the P&W, combined with the increase
in cargo capacity, required modifications
to the nacelles and propellers. In the case
of the versions intended for military use,
changes were made to the fuselage profile,
for instance by the addition of machine-
gun turrets as appeared in the L2D4
Over the years, anything from 10,632 to 13,000 DC-3s
(depending on estimates) were produced in various
versions, with just over 600 used as civilian aircraft and the
rest for military purposes. Taking the lower number as the
reference, out of that total about 966 aircraft were produced
in the Santa Monica plant (Clover Field), about 4,285 in
the Long Beach plant and about 5,381 in the factory in
Oklahoma City. All the civilian aircraft were built in the Santa
Monica plant, except for 28 DC-3s assembled in Oklahoma
City at the end of the Second World War with parts originally
intended for the production of C-117s, for which the order
had been cancelled. Apart from this exception, production
of the civilian version of the DC-3 ended in 1942, while
the production of the military version continued until 1945.
However, the large number of ex-military DC-3s in circulation
after the war led to a flourishing reconversion industry in the
late 1940s and early 1950s.
DC-3: By the numbers Douglas fuselages (in this case, of two C-47s) arriving in a European
port. Between 1936 and 1940, the Fokker company played a leading
part in establishing the DC-3 in the European market. As in the case of
the DC-2, however, the Dutch company did not build any aircraft in its
own plants: it simply assembled components made in factories in the
United States and transported across the Atlantic by ship.
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In the course of its long operational life, the
DC-3 underwent a series of modifications
and adaptations that enabled it to operate in
very different contexts, and to fulfil the most
varied missions. For instance, for the US Navy
the Douglas Aircraft Company developed
and built (for experimentation purposes) an
amphibious version of the plane, intended to
provide transport and logistical support for the
forces involved in the Pacific War. The aircraft,
designated the C-47C and tested during 1943,
was to have been built at the Long Beach plant.
Before it actually went into production, however,
developments in the conflict and the ability of
the US Naval Construction Force (‘Seabees’) to
equip the islands conquered by the US with the
necessary ground infrastructure had already made
such a plane obsolete, so large-scale production
never started.
The most striking feature of the C-47C was the
pair of EDO Model 78 floats. These were 42
feet long and five feet eight inches wide at the
nominal flotation line, with a draught of five
feet and a displacement of 29,000 pounds.
Equipped with two retractable wheels, plus a set
of non-retractable wheels for use on land, the
floats consisted of 14 watertight compartments.
Inside, they contained two auxiliary fuel tanks with
a capacity of 325 gallons each. The prototype
of the C-47C (XC-47C, SN 42-5671) crashed in
Jamaica Bay, New York, on 13 November 1943
because of excessive weight. However, because
of the availability of the floats (according to the
various sources, EDO produced between 30 and
150 pairs, most of which were sold as surplus),
a number of C-47s and DC-3s were converted
‘in the field’ for amphibious use, both during and
after the war.
model. Finally, in the Japanese aircraft
intended for military use, the scarcity of
metal resulted in a greater use of wood
for components such as the tail assembly,
rudder, stabilisers, tabs, flaps, hatches
and parts of the fuselage which were less
stressed, such as the tail cone. The Showa
company even designed a version of the
aircraft to be constructed entirely in wood,
the L2D5, but no examples were ever built.
The C-47C was another attempt to adapt the DC-3 to meet the particular
requirements of the war in the Pacic. Fitted with a pair of EDO Model 78 oats and
auxiliary fuel tanks carrying an additional 750 gallons, it was intended to provide
logistical support for the troops involved in the campaign against Japan. The changing
situation of the war in the Pacic made it obsolete even before it went into production,
but the plentiful availability of surplus materials – particularly in the post-war years –
made it possible to develop and build various DC-3s in amphibious versions.
The C-47C:
The amphibious DC-3
The Showa L2D3: powered by Mitsubishi Kinsei engines in its 51, 52 and 53 versions, this was one of the
variations of the Showa/Nakajima L2D used by the Japanese Armed Forces during the Second World
War. Although Nakajima Hikoki had acquired the licence to produce the DC-3 for civilian purposes, the
Imperial Armed Forces were always in de facto control of the project, because they needed the planes to
y to war zones across Asia and the Pacic.
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N.B. Some elements supplied with each pack, in particular the sheets of laser-cut plywood
parts, may not look exactly identical to those in the step-by-step photographs. But, of course,
the individual assembly pieces included within the laser-cut plywood parts will have exactly the
same shapes, sizes and descriptions as those shown here.
The Kitchen
Assembly Guide
Take the laser-cut plywood parts supplied with this issue.
Remove the separate pieces one at a time with a craft knife
and smooth them with ne abrasive paper to achieve a
uniform nish.
In the same way, continue the assembly with pieces 5CL
and 5DL.
Start by assembling the left side of the part of the fuselage
that contains the kitchen. Fit and glue pieces 5K and 5L
to piece 5AL, always checking that the pieces are at right
angles to each other.
Also t and glue in position pieces 5EL, 5FL, 5GL, 5HL and
5IL. Make sure that they are parallel with each other and at
right angles to piece 5K.
Fit and glue piece 5BL into the seating provided in pieces
5K and 5L.
Position the assembly as shown, then t and glue piece 5M.
21 3
654
5AL
5BL
5L 5L
5K
5K
5K
5CL 5EL
5IL 5M
5HL
5GL
5FL
5DL
90°
See the back cover for a checklist of your parts for this pack.
Build Douglas DC
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3111
Assembly Guide
Fit and glue piece 5J to the upper part of the assembly.
Continue the assembly of the kitchen with piece 5R,
then add piece 5S, engaging it and tting it to piece 5T,
tted in the previous step.
Turn the assembly round and t piece 5P as shown.
Now add piece 5U.
Fit and glue pieces 5Q and 5T.
Fit and glue the two pieces 5V and then add pieces 5X and
5W, tting and gluing them to the side panels.
87 9
121110
5J
5P
5R
5S
5U
5V
5X
5W
5Q
5T
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Assembly Guide
The Kitchen
Now move on to assembling the right side of the model. Fit
and glue pieces 5L and 5K into the slots in piece 5AR. Always
carefully check that the joints are at right angles.
Position the framework as shown, then t and glue piece
5M in position.
Fit and glue pieces 5BR, 5CR and 5DR in the slots in pieces
5L and 5K.
On the upper part of the assembly, t and glue piece 5J.
Continue by tting pieces 5ER, 5FR, 5GR, 5HR and 5IR.
Inside the assembly, t and glue pieces 5O and 5N.
1413 15
181716
5AR
5K
5L
90°
5BR
5CR
5DR
5ER
5FR
5GR
5HR 5IR
5M
5J
5N5O
Build Douglas DC
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Assembly Guide
Fill and sand the internal contact surfaces, where the two
sides of the body will join each other, to achieve a smooth,
uniform nish.
Cut four sections, each 3mm long, from the 2mm-diameter
bamboo rod, supplied with Pack 2. Fit and glue them in
the positions shown by the red circles, above. They will be
used to x the rear part of the fuselage.
Position and glue the stringers all round the right part of the
body, adjusting the notches in which they t with a le, if
necessary. The stringers must be ush with the ribs.
Apply modelling ller to the two assemblies and paint them
green. Let the paint dry, then use a brush to paint the interior
parts grey, as shown in the photograph.
Repeat the process, tting the stringers on the left side.
Also apply glue to the framework on the inside of both
halves, because the stringers will be used to support
the internal walls.
Stick the ‘Module 5 interior covering templates’ adhesive sheet
onto the plastic sheet supplied with this pack and cut out
the pieces shown (G3 and G4). Having done so, remove the
adhesive sheet.
2019 21
242322
TEMPLATE
PLASTIC
SHEET
G3 G4
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114
Assembly Guide
The Kitchen
Position the adhesive pieces that you prepared in the
previous step in the positions shown, then stick them in
place, as indicated by the red dotted lines.
With a brush, paint the parts above the pencil line beige and
the parts below it Mediterranean blue. Leave to dry.
Without gluing it, place the left side of the kitchen against
the left side of the passenger cabin assembled earlier. Use
a pencil to mark the position of the lower aluminium-painted
stringer (as shown in the photograph).
Having masked o the edges as shown, paint the side parts of
the kitchen aluminium.
Extend the pencil mark made in the previous step on both
halves of the module, as shown by the red dotted lines.
Take the ‘Kitchen covering templates’ adhesive sheet and
stick it onto the half-sheet of aluminium supplied with this
pack. Then cut out the pieces indicated.
2625 27
302928
G3 G3 G4
G4
K16
Build Douglas DC
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3115
Assembly Guide
Use a craft knife to score (without cutting) the lines on pieces K5 and K6, as shown.
Also t and glue pieces K7, K12 and K13 successively.
Remove the adhesive sheets and lightly sand the sides of each
piece to be glued when lining the kitchen. If necessary, trim
them before gluing them. First t and glue pieces K10 and K11.
33
31
32
K6 K5
K13
K7
K12
K11
K10
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Assembly Guide
The Kitchen
Repeat the previous operations with pieces K3 and K4.
For the oxygen canisters, take the bamboo rod (4mm in diameter)
supplied with this pack, and check that it passes through the
holes in the photo-etched sheet G1. If it does not, sand it along
the whole of its length with ne abrasive paper until it does.
Then add the front panels K5, K6 and K16.
Round the end of the rod with abrasive paper, then cut o one
piece 10mm long.
Complete the lining of the kitchen by attaching the handles
K14 and K15 to piece K5.
Make a mark with a sharp point in the centre of the
non-rounded end of the cut rod.
3534 36
393837
K3 K4 K6
K16
G1
K5
K14 K15
K5
10mm
Build Douglas DC
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3117
Assembly Guide
Cut the end o a nail to leave it 4mm long, slide a bead onto
it, and nish o the oxygen canister as shown.
Fit the bottles as shown in the photo-etched rack made in
Step 42. Fix them with a drop of adhesive on the underside.
Touch up the aluminium paint if necessary, and paint the
details black to look like the caps.
Apply wood ller and paint the oxygen
canister aluminium. Repeat the
operation to make six canisters in all.
Glue the bottle rack in the position shown, and then add the
four pieces SD, which are the handles of the cabinets.
Remove piece G1 from the photo-etched sheet, le o any imperfections and bend
the piece with a pair of pliers, as shown, using laser-cut plywood piece 5TEMP as a
template so that it is the correct shape.
Paint one stringer aluminium. Without gluing it, hold it up
to the left side of the passenger cabin, as you did in Step
26. Cut the stringer to length and glue it where indicated to
continue the line of stringers on the neighbouring piece.
4140
454443
42
5TEMP
G1
SD
x 6
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118
Assembly Guide
The Kitchen
In the same way, cut and glue another piece of aluminium-
painted stringer in the position shown.
Complete the inside of the fuselage as shown, with two
aluminium-painted stringers.
Glue a further piece of aluminium-painted stringer vertically in
the position indicated by the arrow.
Repeat the procedure with ocking powder used in Pack 2
(Steps 35 to 38) to decorate the oor on both sides of the
kitchen. Leave it to dry, then remove any excess powder; keep
what is left over, as it can be used later.
Take the door frame C11, and the lock C13, and paint them
beige and black respectively. Fit the lock in position on the
right side of the assembly without gluing it and glue the door
frame in position.
Take the doors K1 and K2, remove the adhesive sheet and
sand both sides lightly. Apply primer and then paint one side
of both doors beige. Leave to dry, then mask as shown and
paint aluminium.
4746 48
515049
C11
C13
K2K1
Build Douglas DC
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3119
Assembly Guide
Glue the doors that you completed in the previous step into
the positions shown in the two halves of the kitchen.
Glue the other handle to the door on the right side of the
model, in the position shown by the red arrow.
Take the two door handles SJ. Touch up any imperfections,
apply primer and paint aluminium.
Paint a leftover piece of stringer black and cut o three pieces
each 3mm long. With a very ne brush dipped in aluminium
paint, draw a line on the pieces of stringer and glue them in
the positions shown.
Glue one handle to the door of the left part, in the position
indicated by the red arrow.
Take the piece 5STRAP. Smooth it gently with abrasive paper,
apply primer and paint it Mediterranean blue. Paint the re
extinguisher C62 as you did in Pack 2, then glue both pieces
in the positions indicated in the photograph.
5352 54
575655
K1 K2
C62
5STRAP
SJ
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