1:72 Hasegawa P-3C (A) Aero Union "Firebomber" Tanker 17

[airattackimages]

Just wanted to say first that I have been lurking on this board for the past 3 months, since stumbling across it searching for model info. I am BLOWN AWAY at the quality of work you all are putting out, and I will be pleased if my model even turns out looking half as good as the models I've seen here.

This is my first time attempting a model aircraft (or any model for that matter) in over 15 years. Aircraft were always my thing but I had built a couple cars. Some of my stuff was OK, but none of it was anything of the caliber I've seen here on ARC. My problem in my younger years was that I would generally finish a model in 2 days, tops. Obviously you can imagine what kind of product resulted. I didn't know or use any advanced techniques, no filler, no sanding, etc. Didn't even have a sprue cutter. I'd either snap the part I needed off the tree or I'd use nail clippers. :o

Anyway, enough of the long buildup. This time, as a 32 year old I decided I would try it again. And this time, I have much more patience to wait and build over time rather than in 12 hours. Also, I have an 18 month old, so I spend lots of my nights off at home staring at the four walls when my wife is at work, figured this would be the perfect time in my life for me to try my hand at a model. And hopefully do it right, and do it well.

As a life long air tanker (aka firebomber to some) nut, I immediately knew I wanted to build an Aero Union P-3 (always been my absolute favorite). I'm a fire photographer (one of my other hobbies) as well, so I've spent lots of time getting up close and having the occasional load of Phoschek land on or very close to me. Here is the particular aircraft I've decided to build, Tanker 17, shot during a visit to the Ramona Air Attack Base in San Diego County:

The reasons I chose Tanker 17 over the other seven P-3s they operate are, not only because it was the last to join their fleet, but the vendor that painted it made several "screw ups" and departures in it's paint scheme over the other seven. I thought it would be fun to recreate them.

Even though I have an awesome camera rig worth several thousand dollars, I have to apologize up front because most of my shots during the build are taken with my cell phone. I just never could bring myself to bring my nice equipment out around all the sanding dust, gooey glue and paint that usually happened to be on my fingers. When it's all done, the nice camera will come out. Also, I'm at the 90% mark with the model, but I still wanted to post my progress here. So this is all going to be catch up. First step was the cockpit.

Pretty standard. In my first ever scratch built part, I cut a piece of sprue off and made a fire extinguisher. You can see that I was still getting into the swing of things here, trying to emulate the kind of stuff I've seen here but not coming close. ;) Also, I was using some water color paints I had lying around the house. That stopped right after this step and I went and got some real paint.

Here was my attempt to keep sanding dust from entering the cockpit from the rear cabin. Still had a couple pieces end up getting in there later.

Several portholes (all on the starboard side) do not exist on the Aero Union P-3As. So it was time to have my first go at using putty.

Another modification from military vs civilian air tanker... the mad boom is removed, leaving a slick cap on the tail. The CP-140 Aurora wing tips provided in the Hasegawa kit seemed like the perfect foundation for the cap, which I would smooth and shape further with putty.

Here's the overall shape. Squadron Green sure was a pain in the rear for this newbie to work with. I even thinned it with Acetone, and still got this pitting when I would sand. It took a long, long time to eventually get it smooth. I worked with it a couple different times over a few days.

Given this tip from another long time modeler... instead of masking the glass with tape, I 'masked' them with several layers of tacky glue that *should* later peel off.

A must have for this project, the resin retardant tank from Lone Star Models:

Initial fit with super glue. Part of the flat forward tank fairing broke during fitting (the resin snapped). Had to repair it.

[airattackimages]

And now for another newbie moment. Decided to use some loose change to weight my nose, along with a copious amount of cement to hold them in place. This was a big time screw up for several reasons...

Reason number one:

Lovely. Time for even more putty.

Then, even more putty to smooth out the tank/fuselage where they join. This was a real pain as well and took me a few days of leaving and coming back to it.

One morning I was getting sick of seeing no color on it other than green, so I shot the front of the engine nacelles in Testors German Silver Metallic.

Seeing that color, made me decide to quit stalling and start putting color on there. This will probably be a good time to admit that I'm rattle canning this aircraft. I know, I know, but my budget just doesn't allow an airbrush and compressor.

Came home on my lunch break one night and decided to get the wing walk strips out of the way. Matched the color by mixing flat white and flat black until the proper shade of gray was achieved. Brushed it on.

Then the black fuselage stripes, taking care to hit all the right "landmarks" on the fuselage, straddle the porthole and reach the vert stab leading edge in the right spot. Also, I'm sure a lot of you are thinking to yourself... this is a backwards way of painting this thing. I know, it even seemed wrong to me too, but for whatever reason my brain processed it better working 'backward' like this.

[airattackimages]

The next weekend I applied the Testors Gloss Competition Orange. To my eye, this seemed to be the best match I could find in rattle can. Now a week in, and after having seen it in natural light, I am very pleased with the color match. (the props are only on there mocked up so I could see them)

Anti glare strip painted (flat black of course) on nose. Not seen, black exhaust ports finished.

Emulating the white painted edge of the forward tank fairing. Still needs to be touched up a bit.

*AND THAT BRINGS US TO TODAY* 5 weeks after starting.

For the APU exhaust door, I brushed on Testors Metallic Silver (bottle). But I really didn't want the door closed as portrayed in the Hasegawa casting. So I decided to try something. Cut the wax coated cardboard off my Hasegawa box top, pulled out the Xacto knife and started cutting out pieces to fabricate my own open APU exhaust door. I trimmed the layers of paper away so they weren't as thick. Then I coated them heavily in super glue to stiffen them, and then glued them together to form the door structure. Then I painted the inside of the door flat black, and the outside Metallic Silver.

While I was at it I finished up the landing gear and got her sitting on wheels for once! This is how she stands as of tonight. Thanks for enduring the marathon post. :)

[Litvyak]

Hey, welcome - that's looking great! Always nice to see a P-3/CP-140 in any form, and firebombers are pretty nifty, too. What are you using for the decals?

[airattackimages]

Thank you sir! For the decals, I ordered the Aero Union set from DRAW Decals.

http://www.drawdecal.com/store/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30660

Hoping to put them on next weekend. I have Microsol and Microset on the way. :)

[phantom]

I like the way this is turning out so far.

[airattackimages]

Thanks Phantom!

Thought I'd check back in with an actual picture this time. This morning did some work real quick to last me through the week. (My Microsol and Microset should be coming between now and my next day off, then it's decal time.) Made a soot stain from my APU exhaust, by sanding down a 4B art pencil to a fine powder and brushing it on. Then I got the landing gear doors on, all 10 of em

Took it outside again for an actual non cell phone shot. I keep putting the props on for these pics but I'm not going to actually attach them until after the decals and satin clear coat. Waiting until immediately after getting the decals on to place the antennas as well.

Edited July 1, 2012 by airattackimages

[Trojan Thunder]

Nice work AAI! And it is great to see another Aerostar built.

The Aerostar is the best looking firebombing aircraft IMO! :D

I built one last year but was not happy with few aspects of the build. I might have another go at it one day. Those Draw Decals are very nice. I had a thread on the build over on Scale FireBombers but can't seem to get into it at the moment. You may have also sent me some reference pictures for my build if I am correct?

Here is a link to me finished build Linky

Looking forward to seeing hows yours finishes up. You are doing a great job with resin and filling etc for someone who has not built an aircraft model in such a long time

[airattackimages]

Nice work AAI! And it is great to see another Aerostar built.

The Aerostar is the best looking firebombing aircraft IMO! :D

I built one last year but was not happy with few aspects of the build. I might have another go at it one day. Those Draw Decals are very nice. I had a thread on the build over on Scale FireBombers but can't seem to get into it at the moment. You may have also sent me some reference pictures for my build if I am correct?

Here is a link to me finished build Linky

Looking forward to seeing hows yours finishes up. You are doing a great job with resin and filling etc for someone who has not built an aircraft model in such a long time

Thanks Ray! I don't remember if I sent you any reference pics, but I sure hope I did! Nice to run into you here on ARC, I remember your build, it was the one that made me want to do mine. Yours is beautiful. And yes, the Aerostar is the sweetest machine that ever fought fires. It really sucks that we have to speak about it in past tense now. I still can't believe it.

On that note, I have a gallery specifically for my AUC P-3 action shots if you want to take a look. http://www.flickr.com/photos/airattackimages/sets/72157626336823720/with/6918178233/

The Firestar was my favorite before the Aerostar came around. RIP Aero Union. By the way the Scale Fire Bombers forum had to go away for a while, but the group has been revived on Facebook if you're on there and looking to reconnect. Same name on there, Scale Fire Bombers.

Edited July 3, 2012 by airattackimages

[Trojan Thunder]

Thanks for the link, I will take a look at the FB group as well. Looking forward to seeing yours finished.

Just signed up :D

[BlackCat]

That looks fantastic. Keep up the good work!

[southwestforests]

Nice looking model and definitely current events relevant as well!

[Youngtiger1]

Hey, welcome aboard. Nice to have you and be part of this website. I like you choice of subject. The AeroUnion outfit that converts the P-3 is about 30 miles north of where I am. A good buddy of mine is a firefighter at the Chico airport and through him I was able to see the AeroUnion hanger and take bunch of pic of the guys all opened up during conversion. Last time I was there they were working on some Spanish P-3. Over all it was totally cool bunch of guys.

I've been thinking og doing this but wasn't sure of the tank in the bottom, but know Mike W. Is out with this I'll be jumping the band wagon soon. Thanks for sharing your stuff.

Mike

Edited July 8, 2012 by Youngtiger1

[airattackimages]

Thanks guys!

Ok, finally have an update. The Microsol and Microset only now got to me last night. I thought when I paid $6 extra on top of the $4 UPS shipping I was going to get it sooner than 2 weeks (especially considering the fact it shipped the day I purchased it). :blink: lol, I guess not, but oh well. I took a break from building while I waited. But, knowing I was going to finally get the solvents last night, I figured I'd better start working to finish some detail before I finally get to decal and clear on thursday night.

Anyway, it's a short update, and it's cell phone pics again, but it's all I've got:

Painted the nav light housings in Testors Gold Metallic.

Here's the port side lens placed on there. Testors Gloss Red. Obviously the other side in green. :)

And, my newbie first time "dirtying" anything up. It was mostly darkening panel lines, but I did a couple small streaks here and there to represent dirt or grease tracking back with airflow. My method here was the finely ground 4B art pencil again, applied with a toothpick on the raised panel lines and in the control surface gaps. The places I made dirt stains I brushed it on with a Q-tip. As I worked I cleaned off the excess with shots of compressed air. This is a shot of that while in the process:

I also employed the same method to dirty up the landing gear and wheels to show detail. Hopefully the next update will find this thing looking almost done!

Edited July 10, 2012 by airattackimages

[airattackimages]

Forgot to mention a step I had to go through. Remember my whole pennies in the nose thing? Well they weren't heavy enough and the plane was a very gentle tail sitter. I ended up drilling a 3/16" hole in the front of the nose gear well, and pouring in some Daisy steel BBs. Then followed with tacky glue in the hole and stood the plane on it's nose to allow all of that to marinate. It worked. She sits flat on the deck now.

Chalk up another newbie screw up

[airattackimages]

All decaled' up! Clear coated, and glass unmasked!

Edited July 15, 2012 by airattackimages

[bdt13]

Welcome to ARC! This is nice work on an ambitious project; congratulations! Can't wait to see what you build next.

[airattackimages]

Welcome to ARC! This is nice work on an ambitious project; congratulations! Can't wait to see what you build next.

Thanks Ben! If I do another tanker, it'll likely be an SP-2H. If I do a combat aircraft, more than likely E/A-18G!

Many months ago, when I was envisioning this project, long before I even had fully decided I was going to do it -- I was putting thought into how I wanted to do the Phoschek stain. Then, as I finished the model, I second guessed if I was going to do it or not, but finally decided to stick to the original idea of portraying it on a day of working fires. A lot of guys airbrush them (I don't even have one) and they look nice, but I really wanted to get the feathered, running liquid look that I have seen on all the tankers when I'm out there in the field. To illustrate what I mean, here is one of my shots of an S-2T on the Cottonwood Fire near Idyllwild:

This one isn't close enough to neccessarily see the runs (and it's also VERY well coated from an entire day of drops) but you can see the pattern up the rear of the fuselage:

I definitely knew I wanted to brush it on, to help give it the streaming, feathered look. I ended up using watercolor because it's so runny, I figured I could get the look I want. I blended red and orange, and added a bit of white. Made sure the stain began right where the clamshell doors open on the tank, and made the stain heavier where it builds against the extended flaps during the drop. Of course the flaps, had to get the inboard few feet stained.

Once again, they are cell phone pics, but you get the idea for now. Better shots to come later.

Edited July 16, 2012 by airattackimages

[Lenny]

Nice looking Orion. Well done!

[airattackimages]

Thanks Lenny!

Well, since I last checked in, I started the diorama last week and finished it today. Everything detail wise was scratch built, which was pretty fun! The fire suppression cart, the water hose reel and hose, the retardant main valve, pipe, and retardant hose complete with nozzle, micro motion box, charging handle and hose clamps... riding on it's "skates". The power box and breaker box, etc. I bought model railroading "concrete" paint, and grass mat. The asphalt was flat black and I textured it a bit with crumpled aluminum foil to give it a "used" asphalt look, didn't want it to just be a clean black slate. Weathered some tire streaks and grease stains on the asphalt and concrete pad. I "preshaded" the concrete pad's individual slabs heavily with 4B art pencil, and also ran over it with the back of my Xacto knife handle to create indents in the "cracks" between the individual concrete slabs. The base of the entire thing was foam core poster board from Michaels. Cut the edge off and crushed them in a big book to make the two sections of curb next to the pit equipment. The drain grates were simulated by mixing gray, white, orange and brown paint and brushing it in strokes, in the direction of the grates' openings. The color gave it a bit of the rusted look.

Cell phone pic for now. The size of the diorama was constrained by the size of the acrylic display case I ordered for it. 20x20.

Anyhow, depicted in this diorama is Pit 2, at the USDA (Forest Service) San Bernardino Airtanker Base at KSBD.

This newbie is done! Taking my time building this was very fun, challenging and satisfying!

Edited July 23, 2012 by airattackimages

[dekon70]

Looks good! I like firebombers, I did a TBM with a LSM tank and am also in the process for working on a F7F with a LSM tank.

Edited July 23, 2012 by dekon70

[phasephantomphixer]

Great and I think ambitious choice. You are doing a Super job especially considering the obstacles you have to overcome (Difficult paint scheme as well as modifications). But you have enough passion for the subject to push through, that sure shows. I am an ex-Aero Union employee & worked structures on the DC-4, P-2, but by far the P-3's. I will be building tail 26 when I do one in honor of the crew and A/C we lost during a test flight. I did retain a paint chip to match the Red-Orange color, but it looks like you have a good match. As far as budget, if you live anywhere near a Harbor Freight tools store, make the purchase of one of their double action airbrushes and small compressors. They even have a nice hose set. I think the airbrush set (comes with bottles, etc. costs @ $25.00? I use it all the time, have a couple in fact (one for Acrylics, etc.) and have had no issues. Be sure to have the moisture trap as far from the compressor as you can as the moisture build up within the hose as the air cools. Anyway, if you have any specific questions, let me know. Looks Great!

[airattackimages]

Thanks Dekon! Thanks phase! That's awesome. Did you end up leaving as a part of the current nonsense? If so, sorry to hear it. I've talked quite a bit to Dan Mathern, Brent Conner and Don Mckee. I really hate what happened to AUC.

I still haven't had an opportunity to take any real shots... here's another cell phone shot: