My nearly finished 1/72 Heller C-118A Liftmaster model. This was my first Heller brand model I've built with the help of my Dad, and I have to say the quality was pretty good. I also have a Heller L-1049G Super Constellation, C-160 Transall, and DC-6B in the queue for construction.

The Douglas C-118 was the military version of the DC-6A Liftmaster cargo plane. Taking the original DC-6, Douglas stretched the fuselage 5 feet forward of the wing, and added a cargo door fore and aft of the wing on the left side of the fuselage. The design of the Liftmaster, which later became the passenger DC-6B was for the lucrative military market, the Liftmaster first flying in 1949. The USAF ordered 101 DC-6A's as the C-118A, and the US Navy ordered 65 as the R6D-1 (later C-118B after 1962). The Liftmaster became the backbone of MATS operations through the 1950's and later was used for shorter routes and medevac when larger planes such as the C-133A, C-141A and C-5A entered service in the 1960's. USAF Liftmasters stayed in service until the mid 1970's when they were gradually retired by 1975. Navy Liftmaster operations continued until the early 1980's when they were mothballed and sold to the civil market as surplus.