Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Brand: Deagostini

Model: Douglas DC3

Type: User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 provides an immersive build experience of the iconic aircraft, allowing model enthusiasts to recreate the aircraft in intricate detail. With a comprehensive assembly guide, the model offers a realistic representation of the DC3, capturing its historical significance in aviation.

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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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Paints and

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.

www.model-space.com

Produced under license. PAN AM logos are trademarks of

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,

Battersea Studios 2, 82 Silverthorne Road,

London SW8 3HE

Published in the USA by De Agostini Publishing USA, Inc.,

915 Broadway, Suite 609,

New York, NY 10010.

Packaged by Continuo Creative, 39-41 North Road,

London N7 9DP

p103-110, images from the Giorgio Apostolo Collection

Items may vary from those shown.

Not suitable for children under the age of 14.

This product is not a toy and is not designed or intended for use in play.

Boeing licensing identity mark — dimensional

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PRODUCT

Minimum size 13 mm (0.5 in, 3 picas)

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Visual Identity System | Officially licensed product identity mark

Boeing Corporate Identity Program Revision: July 26, 2004

Ideally, the OLP mark should appear in ratio of 1:2

of the licensee’s logo or lettermark and no smaller

than the minimum sizes shown below for print and

web applications.

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 signicantly

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 dierent

routes in summer and winter.

An ABA/Swedish Airlines DC-3. The boarding door on the right side was originally specically 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.

Build Douglas DC

104

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.

Build Douglas DC

3105

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

3107

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

Aeroot. 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

modications compared to

the original DC-3 design,

the most obvious being the

adoption of Shvetsov M-62 or

ASH-62 engines.

Build Douglas DC

108

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.

Build Douglas DC

3109

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 Pacic. 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 Pacic 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 Pacic.

Build Douglas DC

110

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

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

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

Build Douglas DC

112

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

90°

5BR

5CR

5DR

5ER

5FR

5GR

5HR 5IR

5N5O

Build Douglas DC

3113

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

K16

Build Douglas DC

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.

K6 K5

K13

K12

K11

K10

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116

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

K14 K15

10mm

Build Douglas DC

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

5TEMP

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

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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

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120

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Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

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