P-2 Neptun Conversion

[idf77]

I was wondering if anyone knows the name of the company that produced a conversion to make a Vietnam Neptune that was used as an attack aircraft. I think the name was missinglink models but not sure. Any help will be greatful.

Thanks,

David

[LanceB]

Falcon has the conversion as a 3-fer vac set. You get the AP-2H, F9F-8P and E-1 in the set.

[idf77]

Do you know of a place that would have it in stock? Thanks for the info.

David

[Wayne]

I've had one of those sitting around for more years than I can remember. If it complete, or not, you can have it if you want it. I'll never use it.

Wayne

[kitnut617]

Do you know of a place that would have it in stock? Thanks for the info.

David

Are you located in the States, because you can get the Falcon conversion at Roll Models:

http://www.rollmodels.net/search/resrchnu.php

Do a search for Falcon and in 1/72 then scroll down to the bottom

Edited June 5, 2007 by kitnut617

[idf77]

How much do you want to sell it for Wayne?

David

[J.C. Bahr]

You may be thinking of a conversion that was supposed to have been released by a company called "In-Country Hobbies" that I think hailed from somewhere in Arizona. My understanding is that the conversion was one step short of complete garbage though.

The Falcon conversion might be the way to go, but there's a back-issue of Finescale Modeler where a guy outlined all the mods that need to be done and how to do most of them yourself. Main problem would be finding all the exact types of parts you need... which you'd probably need to do with the Falcon kit anyway as it's not complete... it only provides some of the most basic shapes, but there's many other airframe details that will need to be added for it to be accurate... stuff like the exhaust flame dampeners on the recips and the extended cans on the jet engine exhaust for one.

[Hajo L.]

Out of curiosity I think I will watch this thread...

I made an AP-2H out of scratch once myself: http://www.modellversium.de/galerie/artikel.php?id=1909

HAJO

[Wayne]

E-mail me your address and it's yours.Only reason I still have it is because it was stuck away in a corner out of the way. As far as I can tell it is complete.

Wayne

Edited June 5, 2007 by Wayne

[kitnut617]

Out of curiosity I think I will watch this thread... ;)

I made an AP-2H out of scratch once myself: http://www.modellversium.de/galerie/artikel.php?id=1909

HAJO

That's a nice looking model you have there Hajo, I didn't know that they were used in this guise.

Robert

[Hajo L.]

That strange camo was the main reason I built the model. I fell in love with the AP-2H years ago when I saw a picture of the original aircraft in a magazine. Years later, when RoG issued the 1/72 Neptune, I immediatley bought the kit and started my first scratch-build. I´d love to see other finished AP-2Hs soon... ;)

HAJO

[Andre]

While on the subject of modified Neptunes - I recently picked up a special Dutch limited edition of the Hasegawa kit (details here, sold out there but it has a pic and description for those interested) with Dutch decals and a resin gun nose as used in Indonesia. A few of these birds even had air-to-air kills..!

Cheers,

Andre

[J.C. Bahr]

While on the subject of modified Neptunes - I recently picked up a special Dutch limited edition of the Hasegawa kit (details here, sold out there but it has a pic and description for those interested) with Dutch decals and a resin gun nose as used in Indonesia. A few of these birds even had air-to-air kills..!

Kills?... against WHAT? and WHOM? ;)

Kind of interesting seeing that early gun-nose on those later style birds. I only thought it was the very early U.S. Navy birds that ever carried that gun-nose... but I guess I just learned something! B)

[Hajo L.]

Damn, all this talking about P-2s makes me wanna rob my stash and take out the last P-2 I have to scratch it into one of these:

HAJO

[Andre]

Kills?... against WHAT? and WHOM?

This took place during the struggle for independance of the Dutch colony Indië (what is now Indonesia) in the early sixties. Indonesia had already gained independance, but the Dutch still held a colony at New Guinea which the Indonesians wanted as well. To prevent Indonesian infiltration by sea and paratroopers, after a stopgap flight of Dakotas the Dutch Koninklijke Marine (Royal Navy) bought the Neptune. As more firepower was needed, the P2V-7B mod was commisioned to Lockheed.

These modified Neptunes were called Nepfighters by the Dutch - in addition to the obvious Nep-tune reference, "nep" having an meaning in Dutch as "bogus, fake".

On 17 may 1962, #207/B (B-tailcode for Biak, the base of operations in New Guinea) shot down an Indonesian C-47 which ditched on the water with no casualties.

Another Nepfighter exchanged gunfire with an Indonesian B-25, scoring some hits before the Mitchel disappeared in clouds.

Further radar contacts were made during the conflct with Indonesian patratroopers-dropping C-130s, but these proved too fast for the Dutch aircraft.

Other operations including strafing boats.

(Incidentally, the Indonesian C-130 crews picked up and trained for their mounts at the Lockheed facilities at the same time the Dutch took delivery of and trained with the Neptunes. Seperation between these two groups was strictly enforced.)

Kind of interesting seeing that early gun-nose on those later style birds. I only thought it was the very early U.S. Navy birds that ever carried that gun-nose... but I guess I just learned something!

This may have been an exclusively Dutch modification. The gun noses did indeed come from surplus USN P2V-3s, but I know of no other users of the P2V-7B variant. The Dutch Neptunes were fitted with the gun nose on Lockheeds assembly line. Incidentally, only four guns were fitted instead of the six usualy carried by the P2V-3.

Later on, after withdrawing to the Netherlands, all these birds were converted back to standard SP-2H configuration with the standard glass nose by Lockheed for use as ASW planes in European NATO ops.

Source: "Op de grens van zee en lucht - dertig jaar Neptune bij de Koninklijke Marine (1982, red. F.C. van Oosten, ISBN 90 228 1868 3)

HTH,

Andre

[Nergol]

I bought two In Country Hobbies conversions back in the 80s. One was the aforementioned AP-2H, the other was the A-26K. When I did the typical thing and got out of the hobby for ten years or so in my 20s, the AP-2H disappeared somewhere, but I found the A-26 in my Mom's attic a while back. There it was, still half-completed, exactly as I'd left it when Guns N Roses were still together.

How disappointing - the one subject I find is the one that there's been a new, top of the line kit made for in the meanwhile.

I wouldn't say that the In Country conversions are garbage. They were quite nice for the mid-80s. Decent shape, not too many holes in the resin, and the guy would usually send you your conversion within a couple of months of ordering it, give or take. If you're expecting something on the level of Cobra Company, True Details, or Fireball Modelworks you'll be disappointed. A dry fit of the A-26 resin indicates you'll be using up a lot of putty, sandpaper, #11 blades, and patience on it. I ended up consigning the half-built A-26 to the "test" area of my workbench, where it will be used to test out airbrushing techniques, glues, and so on. But that's only because there is a new injection molded kit of the subject, and in fact, I snicked the In Country rudder and wheels, as they're actually more accurate for the "K" than the Italeri kit parts.

Use some skill and patience, and you should be able to tuen out a fine Neptune gunship with it.

[J.C. Bahr]

(Incidentally, the Indonesian C-130 crews picked up and trained for their mounts at the Lockheed facilities at the same time the Dutch took delivery of and trained with the Neptunes. Seperation between these two groups was strictly enforced.)

How ironic!

Thanks for the history lesson Andre... very interesting.

[Andre]

How ironic!

Thanks for the history lesson Andre... very interesting.

Glad to have been of help.

That whole post-colonial period was not exactly the proudest moment in Dutch history... not that I was even born at the time, mind you, but a few uncles of mine fought in the conflict.

Cheers,

Andre

[Nergol]

Glad to have been of help.

That whole post-colonial period was not exactly the proudest moment in Dutch history... not that I was even born at the time, mind you, but a few uncles of mine fought in the conflict.

Cheers,

Andre

Oh, I dunno. Better than today; being famous for their capital being a boutique version of Tijuana. Their colonial adventures actually showed some spirit. Just like the French - what they did in Algeria is almost enough to make me like them. Maybe someday the Dutch will show some real spirit again - but I doubt it'll be anytime soon.

[iaf-man]

Well,accidentally stumbled on this conv. a few years ago at ebay.

Here are the scans,judge by yourself:

If you need a walkaround,there are 2 of the same airframe at Pima museum(one

before and one after repaint).Stored at the exellent PrimePortal site:

http://www.primeportal.net/the_airstrip.htm

Edited June 9, 2007 by iaf-man

[J.C. Bahr]

Well,accidentally stumbled on this conv. a few years ago at ebay. Here are the scans,judge by yourself:

Eeeee-yikes! That is a little rough! I still think if ones got the talent, the better way to go would be to scratch most of the conversion yourself like in the FSM article from so many years back. The guy used part of the plastic body of a cigarette lighter and a macrame bead to make the underfuselage pod. The rear turret I believe he took from an old box-scale Revell A-3 Skywarrior. The pylons and the exhaust shrouds he scratch-built, along with the nose LLLTV pod that he used a Light-Brite peg to make the camera lens.

Incidentally, the SLAR fairings along the rear fuselage (as seen in the photo of the conversion kit... and included in the Falcon vac-conversion) were not used in Vietnam. Those were apparently only a state-side thing for some reason and were removed when they went over. Found this out from a guy that worked on them and flew on them for missions up and down "the trail." He also said that they re-installed the old 20 mm tail turret as after hitting a target at night, the tail-gunner could suppress any anti-aircraft fire that started coming up at them while egressing the target.

One other thing that I don't think the FSM article addressed is that there should be four oval shapped holes in each door of the former bomb-bay and through these holes protruded the barrels of 8 40mm grenade launchers. Said they could cover an area the size of a football field!

Here's some interesting sites on the subject:

http://www.verslo.is/baldur/p2/vah21.htm

http://www.vah21.org/

[Hajo L.]

Here is a picture of the 40mm:

Courtesy of www.vah21.org

I also have a better picture of the belly but don´t know where, if someone is interested, I´ll start searching...

HAJO

[iaf-man]

Someone is interested,and please start searching

[Hajo L.]

Fortunately I needed only 1 minute to find it. I don´t remember where I got it from....

HAJO

[iaf-man]

That was fast!

Thanks