Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Brand: Deagostini

Model: Douglas DC3

Type: User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 is a scale 1:32 model aircraft kit that allows you to build an accurate replica of the iconic Douglas DC-3 aircraft. With highly detailed parts and comprehensive assembly instructions, this kit is perfect for hobbyists and aviation enthusiasts of all skill levels. Once assembled, your Douglas DC-3 model will make an impressive display piece or a great conversation starter in your home or office.

™

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SCALE 1:32

Build

Douglas DC -3

Build

The ﬂying market changes

As the requirements of the

post-World War II air travel market

changed, the response from

Douglas™ was the faster and

more powerful Super DC-3™. The

DC-3 also played a major role in air

transport in developing countries.

ASSEMBLY GUIDE

Right wing, fuselage and engine

Assembly of the ﬁrst part of the right

wing; assembly of the fuselage and

starting to ﬁt the engines.

207

199

Pack

Douglas DC -3

Build

™

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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.

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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

p199-206 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.

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The ﬂying market changes

As the 1940s came to an end, the

process of expansion triggered

by the appearance of the DC-3 ended

with the final modifications of the twin-

engined Douglas. In that period, the quest

for greater occupancy, speed and cargo

capacity, which was also stimulated by

military requirements, resulted in the arrival

in the commercial sector of new models

with four or six engines. Douglas had

already entered this area of development

during the war with the DC-4 (first flight

of the production model, 14 February

1942), followed by the DC-6 (inaugural

flight, 15 February 1946). The two models

The Boeing-377™ Stratocruiser, which entered into

service with Pan Am early in 1949, was one of the

new aircraft which, between the end of the 1940s

and the start of the 1950s, would oust the DC-3 from

its predominant position in the air transport market.

Faster, more powerful and with greater capacity, the

four-engine aircraft represented a challenge which the

twin-engine Douglas would not be able to overcome.

Build Douglas DC

3199

introduced significant innovations (most

importantly, the pressurised cabin of the

DC-6), but, unlike the DC-3, they were in

a market that was already crowded with

competitors, such as the Being 307™ and

377, the Lockheed L-049 Constellation

and L-1049 Super Constellation, and

the Handley-Page Hermes, all of which

appeared in the last years of the 1940s and

in the early years of the following decade.

Larger, faster, more

powerful… the Super DC-3

Although faced with the challenge of the

competition, for Douglas the success

and long life of the DC-3 put a brake on

renewal. In seeking to respond to the new

requirements of the market, technical

obsolescence, increasing operating

costs and new safety standards set by

the authorities, the initial reaction was to

reproduce the DC-3 on a larger scale.

This was the same strategy of ‘change

with continuity’ which had marked the

transition from the DC-1 to the DC-2,

and subsequently to the DC-3. It was in

this context that the team of technical

engineers led by Malcolm K. Oleson

set about designing the Super DC-3.

The aircraft was thought of as a ‘major

A TWA Lockheed L-1049

Super Constellation.

As with other four-engine

aircraft of the time,

civilian and military uses

were closely interwoven.

R-3350 engines of

3,250bhp, the L-1049

had a range of 5,150

miles at a cruising

speed of 304mph, with

a ceiling of 25,700 feet,

carrying – depending on

the version – from 47 to

106 passengers in its

pressurised cabin.

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200

The ﬂying market changes

modification’ of the previous model,

rather than as something completely

new; surviving from the DC-3 were the

twin engines and the basic structure, but

numerous modifications were carried

out (as had happened with the DC-3

compared to the DC-2), making an aircraft

that was 75% new.

In terms of size, the Super DC-3

was 79 inches longer than the standard

DC-3, 39 inches being added to the

front section and 40 inches to the main

compartment, so that the usable space

was increased by six feet seven inches.

The engines were two P&W 2000s, the

same as those fitted to the four-engine

DC-4, enclosed within larger gondolas.

The front wheels were now completely

retractable and the rear one partially so.

The whole aircraft had, in fact, undergone

a profound process of aerodynamic

refinement: the outer part of the wings

was much shorter and wider, swept

back 4° to compensate for the centre

of gravity which had moved towards the

Like its predecessor the DC-4,

the DC-6 represented Douglas’s

attempt to adapt to the

changed competitive situation,

in particular to the challenge

of the Lockheed Constellation.

More than 700 examples were

produced. It came into service

in 1947 and was acquired by

United, American, Capital,

Delta, National, Braniff, Pan Am

and Panagra, among others.

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3201

In this side view of the

DC-3S/C-117, the differences

between it and the original

model can be seen. These

include a longer fuselage,

the larger ﬁn with its new

shape and a long connecting

dorsal surface between it

and the upper part of the

fuselage. Under the motor

gondolas are the hatches for

the undercarriage, which was

now completely retractable.

These modiﬁcations, together

with the detailed work of

reﬁning the aerodynamics and

the adoption of more powerful

engines, helped to raise the

aircraft’s maximum speed to

almost 240mph.

tail, while the tail surfaces, the rudder and

the hinge between it and the fuselage

were widened and lengthened. Thanks

to these modifications, the capacity

of the DC-3S was increased to 34

passengers and three crew members,

the cruising speed to 238mph, the

ceiling to 24,000 feet and the range to

1,600 miles.

Overall, however, the Super DC-3

was not a great success. The price/

performance ratio was particularly poor

and the offer to convert the DC-3s

still operating into the new aircraft, in

exchange for a payment contribution of

$150,000, did not result in the success

expected. The tooling, design and

development of the Super DC-3 cost

the company about $3,000,000 and,

according to Donald Douglas himself,

the production capacity installed

would have been able to produce 10

Another view of the DC-3S.

This plane was built in 1952

as a US Navy R4D-8, with

the serial number 43312. The

aircraft is still in use today,

registered to TMF Aircraft of

Opa Locka (Miami, Florida),

a company which carries out

cargo transport to and from

the Bahamas and Central

America. Its registration

number, N587MB, can

be seen on the side. The

company also has another

DC-3S R4D-8 (registration

N32TN), previously exhibited

in the US Navy Museum in

Pensacola, Florida.

Formed in 1946 as a solely international airline,

SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) started

operating with DC-3s used by the partner

companies on local and regional routes in 1948.

Among the partners, only the Swedish airline ABA

had possessed DC-3s before the Second World

War, while the companies with the Danish ﬂag

(Det Danske Luftfartskelskab) and Norwegian (Det

Norske Luftfartskelskab) had formed their own

ﬂeet in the succeeding years with government

surplus materials. The DC-3s of SAS (20 from

ABA, 13 from DNL and 15 from DDL) continued

to operate until the end of the 1950s, before

ﬁnding their way to Africa in many cases.

As well as Pan Am and Panagra, Braniff

International made a great contribution to the

popularity of the DC-3 in Latin America. Founded

in 1928 and active on the routes of the Midwest

and south-eastern United States, from 1945 the

company extended its activities to routes between

Mexico and Central and South America.

Build Douglas DC

202

The ﬂying market changes

aircraft a month in three different cabin

configurations. But the number of the

DC-3S aircraft sold to airlines was only

three; these were sold to Capital Airlines

as conversions of the standard DC-3,

at a unit cost of $250,000. In spite of

its declarations of approval, Capital used

the new DC-3S for less than two years

and never finalised an order for 20 more

aircraft, with which it had intended to

modernise its fleet.

The DC-3 and air transport in

the developed world

There were two factors that pushed the

DC-3 out of the mainstream air transport

market: increasing operating costs, and

the constraints put on its operation by the

federal air transport authorities. In spite of

increased availability, the strong demand of

the immediate post-war period had raised

the prices of spare parts. In 1947, a piston

rod which in 1937 cost $75 had increased

to $225, and a cylinder which cost $17.50

was $60. High fuel consumption was

another element which contributed to

raising the operating costs. Over the legal

amortisation period, the DC-3 had no tax

advantages. Although its more recent

competitors cost more to buy, they paid

for themselves earlier, and could cover

their costs with a usage rate lower than

the 75 to 80% required by the DC-3.

Build Douglas DC

3203

Swissair was one of the European companies which continued using the DC-3 in its own ﬂeet for the longest time. Four of the ﬁve aircraft acquired

in 1937 (HB-IRA, HB-IRE, HB-IRI and HB_IRO; the ﬁfth, HB-IRU, sold to the Swedish airlline ABA in 1940, had crashed in 1943) were only

decommissioned in 1955. A DC-3D acquired in 1946 (HB-IRB) continued to be used by Swissair until 1962 and the twin of the latter (HB-IRC) until

1969. The four DC-3 aircraft had been acquired from the US airline Ozark Air, while the two DC-3Ds were sold in Norway and South Africa.

Conﬁrming the versatility and operating capacity

of the DC-3 20 years after its appearance on the

market, an R4D-5 of the US Navy was the ﬁrst

aircraft to land and take off from the North Pole,

on 30 September 1956. On this occasion, the

C-47 carried seven technicians and the necessary

equipment to install a series of navigation aids for

a scientiﬁc observation station.

A DC-3 coming to ground

on a very rough landing strip.

The ability of the twin-engine

Douglas to utilise even

makeshift airstrips was a

large part of the reason for

its success both in military

engagements and with small

outﬁts in countries of the

developing world. In these

contexts, toughness, and

simplicity of operation and

maintenance were invaluable,

compensating for the gradual

increase in operating costs

and the growing technology

gap between the aircraft and

its more recent competitors.

As well as this there was the cost of

complying with the orders imposed by

the FAR 4B relating to transport aircraft.

In spite of the progressive withdrawal

from US passenger routes (American

Airlines, which was the first of the major

companies to do so, took the last of its

DC-3s out of service in 1949), the DC-3

nonetheless continued in operation.

In June 1949, TWA still had 65 in

operation, Delta 43 and Northeast 21.

On 31 December 1971, there were still

1,470 DC-3s operating around the world,

and in 1975, 400. Various European

carriers continued to use the DC-3 until

the end of the 1960s. KLM, Alitalia and

Aer Lingus took the last of their DC-3s

out of service in 1964; Swissair and

Air France in 1969. In many cases, the

decommissioned aircraft found their way

to the former colonies, as happened to

those of BOAC, which went to form the

East African Company in 1958 and, from

1958, the national airlines (Nigeria, Ghana

and Sierra Leone Airways and Gambia Air

Shuttle) born from the dissolution of the

West African Airways Company.

The DC-3 also successfully caught

on in Latin America, after being

decommissioned by United States

airlines. Pan Am’s part-ownership of

Panagra and the various South American

Build Douglas DC

204

The ﬂying market changes

Donald W. Douglas Sr.

The start of the commercial decline of the DC-3 corresponded to

the progressive detachment of Donald W. Douglas from direct

activities in the company that he had founded. Born in New York on

6 April 1892, Douglas had been admitted to the Naval Academy of

Annapolis in 1909, and this delayed the start of the aircraft designer’s

career for three more years. Having received a degree in aircraft

engineering at MIT in 1914, he worked for a year as assistant to

Jerome Hunsaker. He then found a job at the Connecticut Aircraft

Company and in 1915 became chief engineer at the Glenn Martin

Company in Santa Ana, California. After holding the post of Chief

Civilian Aeronautical Engineer in the Aviation Section of the US Army

Signal Corps for a time, in 1918 Douglas went to work for Martin (with

its headquarters now in Cleveland, Ohio), for whom he designed the

Martin MB-1 bomber.

His move into the world of the aircraft entrepreneurs took place in

1920 with the brief experience of the Davis-Douglas Company and the

coast-to-coast Douglas Cloudster. When David-Douglas closed down,

still in 1920, Douglas formed the Douglas Aircraft Company, where he

was able to use some of the experience gained with the Cloudster by

making the new Douglas DT torpedo bomber for the Navy in 1921.

From then on, the position of Douglas was gradually consolidated,

in the fields of both military and civilian aircraft, culminating in the

boom in military aircraft in the Second World War. Throughout this

period, Douglas kept the management of the company concentrated

in his own hands as president and as chairman of the company’s

board of directors. He handed over the first role to his son, Donald

W. Douglas Jr., in 1957, but he kept his position as chairman of the

board until the merger of Douglas with McDonnell (1967). Thereafter,

he was made honorary president of the new McDonnell-Douglas

company, a position he held until his death at the age of 88 in Palm

Springs on 1 February 1981.

Donald W. Douglas Sr. presided over the management of the Douglas Aircraft

Company from its foundation until its merger with the McDonnell Aircraft

Corporation in 1967. From the end of the 1920s, the name of Douglas acquired

the best minds in the United States aeronautical industry for the factories in

California; these included Arthur Raymond, John Northrop, Jerry Vultee, Lee

Atwood, Ed Heinemann and James Kindelberger. Northrop and Vultee later

formed their own companies, while Atwood and Kindelberger went on to North

American Aviation.

Build Douglas DC

3205

companies favoured this process, as well

as encouraging the competition, in the

regional market, between Pan Am and

Braniff International (which would itself

be merged with Panagra in 1967), both

great users of the twin-engine Douglas.

In this way, new users were allied with

The military versions

of the DC-3S

If the Super DC-3 got only a cool reception from

the commercial sector, it was given a warmer

welcome by the US armed forces, in particular

the US Navy. The version originally produced for

the USAF (the YC-47F; a DC-3S modified with the

installation of more powerful engines and a flat

metal floor in the style of the C-47) was actually

rejected after the testing stage in favour of the

Convair C-131, but the Navy and the Marine Corps

(USMC) commissioned Douglas to carry out the

conversion of 100 R4D-5, 6 and 7 aircraft into the

standard DC-3S; the new aircraft were given the

denomination R4D-8 and, later, C-117D (1962).

As well as the Navy, Douglas also developed

three special versions of the C-117: the R4D-8T

(TC-177D) for training, the R4D-8Z (VC-117D) for

personnel transport and the R4D-8L (LC-117D) for

operation in Arctic regions.

An R4D-8 of the US Navy in

the version for operating in

Arctic conditions (R4D-8L).

The US Marine Corps was

the principal customer for

the DC-3S. The aircraft in

the photograph (BNC17219),

made its ﬁrst ﬂight in 1944

as R4D-5, after having been

ordered by the USAAF as

the C-47A, registration

42-93374. It was irreparably

damaged on 12 November

1961 at Sentinel Range on

the Ellsworth Mountains in

Antarctica, when it lost its left

undercarriage after landing.

‘historic’ operators such as Cubana de

Aviación and the Venezuelan LAV. Also

in Latin America, the spread of the C-47

in the military sphere had an effect on

the civilian market. Many of the aircraft

received by the South American armed

forces between the end of the 1940s

and the early 1950s in the context of the

various United States aid programmes

were handed over to private operators

after decommissioning (usually small or

medium-small operators), thus continuing

to provide services. In some cases, they

are still doing so today. ■

Build Douglas DC

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Take the pieces of the front landing gear supplied with

Pack 7. Take both parts of piece SD52 and glue them

together, making sure that they are exactly aligned.

Smooth the joint with a ﬁle and abrasive paper.

Take the laser-cut framework from this pack, which contains

pieces for the central part of the right wing. Remember to

remove the pieces with a craft knife one at a time, and use a ﬁle

and abrasive paper to make the outline smooth and even.

Now take the wheel pivot SD52 and wheel SD53. Smooth

off any imperfections. Apply primer to both pieces and paint

them aluminium.

The central section of the right wing is assembled in the same

way as shown in Pack 8, but symmetrically opposite. Position

and glue pieces A9, A10, A11 and A12 into piece A3. Make

sure that the joints are exactly at right angles.

Fit the tyre SD54 to the wheel SD53. Complete the

assembly of the rear landing wheel with two of the screws

TR supplied with Pack 7, as shown. Put the whole

assembly safely aside to be used later.

Complete the assembly by ﬁtting and gluing pieces A4, A5,

A6, A7 and A8. Keep piece A13, included in the laser-cut

sheet, to be ﬁtted later.

21 3

654

Assembly Guide

Right wing, fuselage and engine

SD52 SD52 SD54SD53

SD53 TR

A10

A11

A12

90°

WIDE

NARROW

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.

See the back cover for a checklist of your parts for this pack.

Build Douglas DC

3207

Assembly Guide

Fit and glue the stringers into all the notches of the module.

File the notches if necessary so that the outer surfaces of

the stringers are ﬂush with the ribs. Apply wood ﬁller where

necessary and paint the whole assembly green.

From the lower part of the assembly, remove the piece of the

stringer indicated, so as to leave an opening in the structure.

Prepare covering piece A7bR. Mark and cut out the rectangle

shown to provide access to the opening you have just made.

Take pieces C69D and C70D and use a ﬁle and abrasive

paper to remove any imperfections. Prepare cladding piece

A7aR and mark the lines of rivets. Apply primer and paint

green as shown. Leave it to dry.

Fit and glue cladding pieces A7aR and A7bR in place. Align

the rectangle in piece A7bR exactly with the space made in

the previous step.

Insert and glue pieces C69D and C70D in position, as shown

in the photograph.

Complete the cladding of the assembly with covering pieces

A7cR and A7dR.

87 9

121110

C70D

A7aR

C70D

C69D

A7bR A7aR A7bR A7dR

A7dR

A7cR

19mm 15mm

44mm

11mm

Build Douglas DC

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Assembly Guide

Right wing, fuselage and engine

Complete the central section of the right wing, following the

procedure used in the central section of the left wing in Pack

8, adding the landing gear and the engine cowling for the

right side of the aircraft.

Accurately mask both the sections of the wings as illustrated,

leaving only the engine cowling exposed.

Take both pieces SD68. Use a ﬁle and abrasive paper to

remove any moulding marks. Fit and glue each piece into the

lower part of the cowling of both engines (of the right wing and

the left wing), as shown in the photograph.

In the lower part, be careful to cover the landing gear and to

mask the hollow areas completely.

Take pieces SD69. Use a ﬁle and abrasive paper to remove

imperfections. Fit and glue the pieces onto the upper part

of the cowling of both engines, as illustrated.

Apply primer to the engine cowling and leave it to dry.

1413 15

181716

SD68

SD69 SD69

SD68

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3209

Assembly Guide

2119

Now apply the base coat of black gloss paint. Leave it to dry.

Paint the engine cowling chrome, applying two or three light

coats with the airbrush at low pressure.

Gently and carefully remove all the masking from both the central wing sections.

Build Douglas DC

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Assembly Guide

Right wing, fuselage and engine

2422

Take the photo-etched grilles S42. Carefully smooth them

and attach them as shown to both the central sections of

the wings. Keep the remaining parts of the photo-etched

sheet to be ﬁtted later.

Keeping the various parts of the aircraft in front of you, apply

primer to the rear side of the crew cabin with a brush.

Without gluing it, put the crew cabin and the passenger cabin together. On the rear side of the crew cabin, mark the position of the

aluminium stringer which separates the beige and sky blue colours of the walls of the passenger cabin.

S42

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3211

Assembly Guide

Paint the part above the line beige and the lower part sky

blue. Leave to dry.

Mask the opening of the module, leaving a border 1mm wide round the doorway. Paint the door frame aluminium, as shown.

2725

Separate the crew cabin from the passenger cabin. Using the

mark made in the previous step as a guide, make a broken

pencil line, parallel with the ﬂoor, on the rear side of the crew

cabin, as indicated by the arrows.

Build Douglas DC

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Assembly Guide

Right wing, fuselage and engine

Cut two pieces of a stringer painted aluminium and glue these

onto each side of the door as illustrated.

From a left-over piece of aluminium for the cladding, cut

two pieces 6 x 3mm. Without cutting right through, mark

the centre line of both pieces with a knife. Then take a punch

and carefully mark four rivets on each piece, as shown.

Take piece 2DOOR from the laser-cut framework supplied with Pack 2. Apply wood ﬁller where necessary and paint both sides

beige, then leave to dry. Mask the central part of both sides (see the second-from-left photograph above) and paint the edges

aluminium. Leave the paint to dry, then carefully remove the masking.

In the positions indicated, glue the hinges made in the

previous step to the door and let the adhesive dry. With ﬂat-

nose pliers, carefully bend the hinges so that they are at an

angle of about 90°.

With a ﬁle and abrasive paper, smooth the door handles SJ

supplied with Pack 2. Apply primer and paint them aluminium.

Once dry, ﬁt them to both sides of the door, as shown.

2928

30 3231

6mm

3mm

12mm

24mm

6mm

2DOOR

Build Douglas DC

3213

Assembly Guide

Using a craft knife, remove the paint in the contact area of the joint between the crew cabin and the passenger cabin. If you do not

want to install lighting in your DC-3, ignore the instructions relating to the installation of the electrical system.

Fix the door to the rear side of the crew cabin section, as illustrated.

Fit and glue the crew cabin to the passenger cabin using the

bamboo pins as a guide when joining them together. Then

stand the fuselage up vertically, as illustrated, to keep the

two parts together while the glue dries.

33 35

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Assembly Guide

Right wing, fuselage and engine

The crew cabin is now attached to the passenger cabin. Prepare the ﬁnal section of the fuselage (from Pack 5) to be joined to the rear part of the

passenger cabin. Carefully thread a piece of soft wire through the assembly to make it easier

to ﬁt the cables for the LED lighting into the tail section.

With a craft knife, carefully remove the paint from the contact area between the kitchen and the

passenger cabin, indicated by broken lines in the photograph.

Twist together the wires which emerge from the rear part of the passenger cabin and the wire

which you positioned in Step 37.

36 37

3938

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3215

Assembly Guide

The parts of the fuselage shown above are now permanently joined together.

Pull the cables through to the rear of the plane by using the guide wire, as shown above, then remove the guide wire.

Join and glue the tail section (kitchen) to the passenger

cabin using the dowel pegs as a guide. Position the fuselage

vertically, as shown in the photograph, to keep the join

together while the adhesive dries.

40 41

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Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

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