Kit: No. MT4
Scale: 1/144
Manufacturer: Welsh Models, 93 Fonmon Park Rd., Rhoose, Barry, South Glamorgan CF62 3BG, United Kingdom, phone 44-1446-710113. Available from Precision Enterprises Unlimited, P.O. Box 97, Springfield, VT 05156, phone 802-885-3094.
Price: $41.75 plus $4 shipping
Comments: Mixed media, 46 parts (12 vacuum-formed plastic, 30 white metal, 4 cast resin), decals.
Embodying lessons learned in World War II, the Douglas C-124 Globemaster ushered in the modern era of tactical and strategic airlift. In addition to clamshell doors in the nose, the C-124 was equipped with an elevator in the floor of the rear fuselage large enough to handle a jeep. A foldable second deck carried 200 fully equipped troops. "Old Shakey" served in the USAF, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserves from 1950 until the early 1970s.
The main parts of Welsh Models' newest addition to its "Military Transport" series are crisply vacuum formed in .060" white sheet styrene. There are no clear parts. Cowls are cast in resin, and details are molded in white metal. The builder must fabricate only the gear doors (from thin sheet styrene) and antenna wires.
A beautifully printed Microscale decal sheet provides three colorful markings options. The wing-tip-mounted heater pods (no, they are not tip tanks) and nose radome are separate pieces, allowing the option of building a Korean War-era Globemaster.
Vacuum-formed kits are more difficult to build than injection-molded ones, but this model goes together easier than most. The main hurdle is parts preparation. I outlined the vacuum-formed parts with a paint pen, scored around them with a sharp blade, broke them from the sheet, and began to sand. The painted edges allowed me to see when the excess plastic was removed.
Panel lines on the left and right fuselage halves lined up perfectly, a hallmark of Welsh Models' kits. Pay attention when creating thin wing trailing edges. The wing is divided into upper halves, lower center section, and lower outer wing panels. The outer wing panels were too short, but I mounted them so the tips lined up and filled the mid-span gaps with sheet styrene. The manufacturer did a good job molding the wing fillet into the upper wing halves, but you'll need to test fit them often to see where trimming is necessary. The lower wing fillet meets at an angle, and it requires a lot of trimming and test fitting.
I determined the position of the gear struts by comparing the parts to the scale side views on the instructions. I curled the gear doors around a knife handle to produce the proper curvature.
You need a lot of weight in the nose to keep the model sitting right; the C-124 had a short wheelbase for such a large transport. The white-metal nose radome fit like a glove. Most of the metal parts were nicely cast and fit well, but the shape and size of the propeller blades varied, and the castings were poor.
The resin cowls include molded-in engine fronts, adequate detail for this scale. After trimming, they mated well with the wing nacelles. I added a brass-rod spar for the horizontal stabilizers to reinforce their butt joints.
After filling and sanding all seams, I painted the model with Testor enamels, including the black windows. The decals were printed in register and settled well with a little persuasion from Micro Set. The white and yellow areas are slightly translucent, and the blue in the insignias is too bright.
After 40 hours of pleasing work, I'm happy with my Globemaster. It scales almost perfectly with the dimensions in Staszak and Staehr's Military Transports in Detail. I recommend it to experienced builders who have been searching for transports to add to their collections.
- Chuck Davis