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I am jumping in with the Hasegawa P-3C kit, Lonestar retardant tank set and decals by Draw Decal and some custom numbers and details from one of our members (Hoops).

P-3A_FB5.jpg

I started this one a couple of weeks ago and it has progress quite quickly. I got to work on the wings and engines first, I had to fill the locating points for the pylons and underwing pods.

P-3A_FB4.jpg

Then I turned to the cockpit, just doing it OOB since all you will see is the seats when it is buttoned up. I did not realise I had screwed the fire panel decal above the instrument panel. I think I need new glasses. Anyway the cockpit is fitted now. Hope it is not noticeable!

P-3A_FB1.jpg

P-3A_FB2.jpg

I got some more work done today, fuselage together, wings attached, and the tanks attached. There is a lot of sanding to get everything into shape. I will then be rescribing some of the lost detail.

P-3A_FB6.jpg

P-3A_FB7.jpg

More progress to follow after I get rid of that excess putty.

:cheers:

Edited by Trojan Thunder
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  • 3 weeks later...

Progressing slowly on the P-3, I have been filling and sanding the tank attachment and sonobuoy tubes. I will be replacing the indicator lights on the sides of the tank as well as the large tubes that stick out of the bottom. The resin nose has been faired in as well.

P-3A_FB8.jpg

:wave:

Edited by Trojan Thunder
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I missed this earlier great to see a P-3. I love the Neptunes, but the P-3 is by far the best aircraft to be converted into a tanker so far.

Just in case you need a little inspiration. :thumbsup:

P3.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

had the (dubious) pleasure of seeing these in action layear in the South of France... small forest fire had about 4 of them working - we were near the coast (unfortunately couldnt see them loading up with water) but watched them fly out and back for quite a while.....

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Thanks Aaron.

Still a little more filling togo.

Tanker 20 is probably the one I will be doing :blink: I was not sure if it had the Aero Union titles on it but you have provided suitable reference!

;)

It depends on what time frame you want to do, the large Aero Union titles were only added to the aircraft recently. If you want to represent an aircraft from today, put them on. If you want to do an aircraft from a few years ago, leave them off.

Its a little late now, sorry to say, but the Aero Union P-3s don't have the center seat in the flight station, most of the stuff has been automated, and they got rid of the flight engineer position.

Another thing, the Lone star conversion has the NACA vent only one side of the RADS II tank, but there should be one on the other side as well. I would be a pain in the butt to get it right, but something to watch out for.

Also, 20 doesn't have the doppler dome on the underside of the fuselage, so the small dome behind the sono-tubes needs to sanded off. The Aero Union birds are also all P-3As, so that means you need to fill in the three small round windows on the starboard side. Leave the larger bulged observation windows, and the square one on the overwing escape hatch, but the three small ones need to be filled in.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

-Hoops

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Thanks Hoops,

It is not too late to incorporate those changes. I will see if I want to go to the trouble of adding the other NACA vent. The one that is on the kit looks a little too bulky around the edges and I have sanded it back a little. As for the Engineers seat you can't see much inside the cockpit once the clear part is fitted so it should be fine. It is not as if we get the 1:1 versions over here to compare the model to :D

I just happen to have hit the model with a white primer coat last night, still need to attend to some filling where the wing mounted weapons racks are. I always seem to have trouble getting them sanded flush. Otherwise progress is slow.

Thanks again for the input.

:thumbsup:

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That's starting to look alright Ray! Look forward to seeing more.

Regards

Andrew :crying2:

Thanks Andrew, now you can see why I never get anything finished, I'm getting distracted with other subjects.

Glad to help. Out of curiosity, how do the Draw decals compare to the ones that I had printed up?

Cheers,

-Hoops

I haven't really compared them. Your's look like the whites and more opaque, so I will use you numbers and the detail markings you suppiled. Then get what is left over from the Draw Decal sheet.

Do you have a good colour for the red?

Edited by Trojan Thunder
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I haven't really compared them. Your's look like the whites and more opaque, so I will use you numbers and the detail markings you suppiled. Then get what is left over from the Draw Decal sheet.

Do you have a good colour for the red?

I'm guessing that they printed the white only twice then, where as I had it done three times.

On the red color, I actually haven't thought about it before. Some of them look to have a little bit of an Orange tinge to it, but I think that it is just fading from sitting out in the sun a whole lot. The ones that are fresh out of the paint barn, where the paint is still glossy, seem to be straight red.

-Hoops

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Thanks Hoops and Deacon.

Well the bench has been cleaned up for a impending visit and I am enthused to get back to work on it (amazing what a clean bench does for productivity). So I will potter away at it again. I need to replace the pipes on the bottom of the tank and the fill lights with something more sturdy. I little more filling required as well.

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Well thanks for keeping this thread alive. I managed to get the P-3 back on the bench last night and did some minor work on it.

I started with some filling which I hope I can hit with a sanding stick tonight. I also removed the doppler dome that left a nice hole in the bottom of the fuselage. I have started the remedial filling work on it. Those small tabs will be sanded back. I just needed to make sure the plug did not fall in while I was glueing it.

P3A_FB11.jpg

I also added the dump mast? that was removed when I added the tank. I used a disk of styrene and piece of bass tube. You may be able to see the one that is still intact has a nice bubble in the tube and that is why I decided to replace them.

P3A_FB10.jpg

I also added the crew door and a few of the windows that will be filled and painted over.

P3A_FB12.jpg

I have also started the work to move that pesky centre window up. It is a well know issue with the Hasegawa kit. I have filed out the area above the window and just have to add the filler piece at the bottom. You may also notice that I have added the other NACA vent on the retardant tank. Still needs a little refining after reference to some pictures (when I can find them :D).

That's all for today :woot.gif:

Edited by Trojan Thunder
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  • 2 years later...

Wonder if this build was ever finished?

I have the kit and decals in the stash and just need to get the tank or make my own.

Was bummed that Aero Union lost their contract and are getting rid of (or may have already) their fleet as I still think their P-2s and P-3s were the best looking tankers out there.

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