1/144 DC-J early jetliner

Gallery Article by Bri2k on Jan 4 2010

Silly Week 2010

 

A little known slice of commercial aviation history is that one of the first jet airliners was built by Douglas Aircraft. The project was headed by Donald Douglas' half-brother Dilbert who many thought was socially inept and kept on out of charity. When shown the blueprints, Donald laughed Dilbert out of his office suggesting he "go get some help". Eventually Donald saw the wisdom in using his ubiquitous DC-3 as a test bed for the new jet technology and the DC-J was born. 

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Only ten were ever made and they were used exclusively by the ambitiously named World airline based in New Jersey. After over-extending itself by adding a Secaucus to Cleveland run, World airline folded like an old roadmap in 1955. Dilbert Douglas retired due to nervous exhaustion not long after, but many thought the true cause of his breakdown was when he had to give up his office for a cubicle in a cost-cutting move.

The base kit for this project is the 1/144 Minicraft DC-3, which I converted to a jet by cutting the wings and adding left-over engines from a B-47. The model is brush-painted by hand with acrylics and the World airline livery is from spare decals.

Bri2k

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Photos and text © by Bri2k