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7 hours ago, Vidar 710 said:

FYI. Shadows had no offensive weapons capability. I suggest a buddy store on the port side and a drop tank on the starboard.

 

Tracy

I believe Steve is planning on a drop tank/ARS combo for the Shadow....and a ARS/Harpoon (with 82's in the BB) combo for his VS-29 S-3B, based on earlier discussions we had.

 

He is aware that the Shadow isn't a weapon carrier....but could never shake away the buddy store 😮

 

It's funny to see the round holes in the rear of the pilot/COTAC panels where the thermos holders are.  They were the perfect size for large water bottles....but the original thermos bottles that were supplied with the aircraft disappeared quicker than they came into service.

 

Cheers

Collin

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7 hours ago, Vidar 710 said:

FYI. Shadows had no offensive weapons capability. I suggest a buddy store on the port side and a drop tank on the starboard.

 

Tracy

What Collin said.

 

Steve

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Greeting's all,

I've decided to concentrate on just the S-3B at this point, until I can get the fuselage halves closed up. Then I will go back to the Shadow and get her to the same point. I'm having too much trouble keeping things straight ( I thought this would be an issue before I started).

Work continues on the Viking with getting the Royale Resin wheels, ( beautiful stuff ! ) fitted to the nose landing gear. Since I'm adding a lot of resin to this build, I have ordered two sets of SAC white metal gear for both jets. The main gear is what bothers me with the added weight, the way it spans out instead of being straight up and down like the nose gear.

I also worked on another piece critical to getting the fuselage halves close up, the tailhook well. Mine has a horrible seam thru it so I added some .010" plastic to the front and back walls to hide it once this is all glued up. When the hook is installed it covers the seam down the middle.

All the tedious stuff ( landing gear doors, nose landing gear, etc. ) is being prepped for primer as well.

Thanks to all who are following along with my project, much appreciated.

Steve

 

(edited)%20IMG_6676.JPG

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Small update for tonight,

I installed the aft compartment observation windows on both the S-3B and the ES-3A. All four windows had a sink mark right in the center of the glass . I sanded out the sink mark but now the windows did not sit flush with the fuselage sides. I had to fashion some "covers" out of .010" plastic to bring them back to flush. With a little sanding these will be fine. These will be painted gloss black when all is said and done so not a big deal. Not much of an update but, progress non the less. Til the next update ...

Steve

 

 (edited)%20IMG_6684.JPG

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Steve,

 

Your builds inspired me to finally start my Viking build. I’m doing mine as a What-If JMSDF S-3. WRT the windows, I had the same issue with my build. I like your idea of painting them gloss black. May have to follow your solution with the plastic covers. 
 

Did you ever get the Wolfpack wing folds?

 

Mike 

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This will be fun to watch.

 

A little tid bit on the Shadow image shared earlier... That was the plane in very early release after being transformed from an S-3A to an ES-3A. Those blade antenna, particularly the ones on the bottom of the wings, were shorted significantly shortly after being introduced to the fleet. The long ones were snapping off during cat shots.

 

If I may share something that modelers don’t notice about the back seat canopies... they are clear canopies, but the inside surfaces had a light gull gray paper backing. This backing was to block out sunlight so the displays could be seen. Any kind of light washed out the display graphics.

When the S-3 fleet transitioned to low vis, the gull gray paper backing was never replaced. They remained light gull gray.

I found to replicate this characteristic of the rear canopies, I painted an ever so slightly darker light gull gray to prepare for a depth look (dark gull gray is too dark) then I applied several layers of clear gloss to give the appearance of depth, then finished with a semi-gloss. Maintenance never treated them with canopy polish in the hanger, so they kind of dulled down a bit with time and the elements.

I have over 2000hrs sitting in the Viking’s SENSO seat. 😉

 

Tracy

Edited by Vidar 710
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19 hours ago, Ichitoe said:

Steve,

 

Your builds inspired me to finally start my Viking build. I’m doing mine as a What-If JMSDF S-3. WRT the windows, I had the same issue with my build. I like your idea of painting them gloss black. May have to follow your solution with the plastic covers. 
 

Did you ever get the Wolfpack wing folds?

 

Mike 

Thanks Mike, glad I could inspire you. Good luck with the build.

I received my two sets of wingfolds last week. They are beautiful, just hope I can pull it off.

12 hours ago, Vidar 710 said:

This will be fun to watch.

 

A little tid bit on the Shadow image shared earlier... That was the plane in very early release after being transformed from an S-3A to an ES-3A. Those blade antenna, particularly the ones on the bottom of the wings, were shorted significantly shortly after being introduced to the fleet. The long ones were snapping off during cat shots.

 

If I may share something that modelers don’t notice about the back seat canopies... they are clear canopies, but the inside surfaces had a light gull gray paper backing. This backing was to block out sunlight so the displays could be seen. Any kind of light washed out the display graphics.

When the S-3 fleet transitioned to low vis, the gull gray paper backing was never replaced. They remained light gull gray.

I found to replicate this characteristic of the rear canopies, I painted an ever so slightly darker light gull gray to prepare for a depth look (dark gull gray is too dark) then I applied several layers of clear gloss to give the appearance of depth, then finished with a semi-gloss. Maintenance never treated them with canopy polish in the hanger, so they kind of dulled down a bit with time and the elements.

I have over 2000hrs sitting in the Viking’s SENSO seat. 😉

 

Tracy

Thanks Tracy, I have this tidbit, about the SENSO's glass, saved in my notes. Thanks as well about the Shadow's antennas, would you happen to know roughly how long the antennas were ?

 

Steve

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Made some progress today, I managed to get some Insignia White on the Viking's gear doors, bomb bay doors and, the tailhook. To me finally getting colors on things really makes it feel like progress.

 

(edited)%20IMG_6685.JPG
 
I also tackled the sonobuoy panel. My particular jet ( 2001-2002 timeframe ) is a ASW deconfigured aircraft so only 16 of the original 60 tubes remain open. I tossed around lots of ideas on how to attack this and chose to go this route.
I started by finding a drill bit that was the closest to the holes already there. A #41 bit was a good match. I ran the drill thru all the holes just to clean them up. The front 16 I drilled at an angle and used a round file to clean them up. Next I got out my punch set and made 44 disks out of .040" plastic. I very gently tapped the disks into the openings, from the outside,  using a slightly larger punch making sure they were almost flush. I glued the disks from the backside and, with a 400 grit sanding stick, gently sanded everything flush. This preserved all the surface detail, no rescribing. The remaining 16 holes will receive some 3/32" round plastic tubing, to represent the sonobuoy tubes.
 
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Thanks for following along.
Steve
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4 hours ago, A-10 LOADER said:

I received my two sets of wingfolds last week. They are beautiful, just hope I can pull it off.

I’m looking forward to seeing you incorporate the wing folds into your build. I have another Viking to build, and I’d like to do it with the wings up depending on how it goes for you. 
 

Mike 

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I can’t give you an exact length, but they are longer than the SRS blades from the Viking. I did a Google search on the Shadow and a bunch of examples are out their to see the long and the shortened antennas. I think trimming them to half their original length will represent the fleet veteran Shadow.

 

Tracy

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16 hours ago, Vidar 710 said:

I can’t give you an exact length, but they are longer than the SRS blades from the Viking. I did a Google search on the Shadow and a bunch of examples are out their to see the long and the shortened antennas. I think trimming them to half their original length will represent the fleet veteran Shadow.

 

Tracy

Thanks for the advice Tracy, much appreciated.

 

Steve

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7 hours ago, wardog said:

Hello Steve,

Looks like you've embarked on another ambitious project; good for you! I'm really diggin on what I've seen so far, keep up the good work.

 

-Elmo

Thanks for the vote of confidence Elmo, I'll try not to disappoint.

 

Steve

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Small update for today since I spent yesterday doing yard work.

Managed to get the Dark Gull Gray on some cockpit parts. The seats still require some work before paint can begin and the parts that attach to the inside of the canopy are for another day. This will be my first cockpit in @ 20 years so, hopefully I can still do this, time will tell. I love how all the details pop out once paint is applied.

Steve

 

(edited)%20IMG_6691.JPG
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Greetings all,

I hope you all are well and safe.

I've made pretty good progress on the Viking's cockpit so far. I still need to paint a few things but, for the most part, the tub, center console, sticks and, the IP are finished. I need to add a few things to the seats so I can work on those next. Then the entire cockpit can be weathered, especially the floors.

 

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I also finished up the tailhook well and decalled the hook. Once I flat coat the tailhook, I'll paint the hookpoint and this can be assembled.
 
(edited)%20IMG_6702.JPG
 
Thanks for taking the time and having a look, until the next update ...
Steve
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Just found this thread, will be following along.  I've got several of the War Hoovers in the stash.  I never knew about the enlarged electronic bay doors on the ES-3.  Learn something new...

Its been about 9 years since I put any work into my Hoovers.  Glad to see that there is more aftermarket resin available for it.  Some of the resin stuff I have for it needs to be boiled so I can straighten it to make it usable.  Was just looking at the Black Dog sets for it.

 

 

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7 hours ago, Ishthe47guy said:

Just found this thread, will be following along.  I've got several of the War Hoovers in the stash.  I never knew about the enlarged electronic bay doors on the ES-3.  Learn something new...

Its been about 9 years since I put any work into my Hoovers.  Glad to see that there is more aftermarket resin available for it.  Some of the resin stuff I have for it needs to be boiled so I can straighten it to make it usable.  Was just looking at the Black Dog sets for it.

 

 

Yes, Black Dog seems to be the only game in town these days for major resin pieces, other than the cockpit, for the Viking.

Thanks for following along.

 

Steve

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Greetings all,

Today's updates,

Some final pics of the finished cockpit, minus the seats, before it gets glued together.

(edited)%20IMG_6704.JPG
 
(edited)%20IMG_6705.JPG
 
I added some Testors clear parts cement to the dial faces to represent the glass.
(edited)%20IMG_6706.JPG
 
I also added some small wires to the bottoms of the flight sticks to attached them to the cockpit floor. This is a lot easier and a more solid connection.
(edited)%20IMG_6703.JPG
 
This is about as good as I could get the cockpit to fit, it's not glued just yet, there's probably @ 3 hours of test fitting here. Sadly as nice as the Black Box cockpit is, the front IP is twice as tall as the kit one. So a lot of the test fitting was for finding the correct angle for the IP so it wouldn't interfere with the glass. Once the tub is glued into the fuselage I'll have to make a IP coaming cover and again, making sure it doesn't come in contact with the glass.
 
(edited)%20IMG_6708.JPG
 
I also got the tailhook well finished up and test fit to the fuselage.
 
(edited)%20IMG_6709.JPG
 
At this point I think I will turn my attention to the Wolfpack wings and get the inner wings attached to the fuselage before I glue everything together. Since the wings are resin, I want to epoxy them from the inside for a more solid connection.
That's all for today, thanks for following along.
 
Steve
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Great job on the cockpit! I like your idea of using the clear parts cement for the dial faces. I'll give that a try.

 

Smart to get the wings solidly attached to the fuselage halves prior to joining them. I saw a S-3 WIP using these wing folds, and the builder had issues with one of the wings not securely fastening to the fuselage. 

 

With the weight of the resin wings, will you be upgrading the main landing gear?

 

Looking forward to this portion of your build.

 

Mike

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12 hours ago, Ichitoe said:

Great job on the cockpit! I like your idea of using the clear parts cement for the dial faces. I'll give that a try.

 

Smart to get the wings solidly attached to the fuselage halves prior to joining them. I saw a S-3 WIP using these wing folds, and the builder had issues with one of the wings not securely fastening to the fuselage. 

 

With the weight of the resin wings, will you be upgrading the main landing gear?

 

Looking forward to this portion of your build.

 

Mike

Thanks Mike for checking out my build.

These resin wings are quite the chunk of resin so, I want a solid connection and no troubles down the road. This was my reason for wanting to epoxy them from the inside, this way I can get a lot of epoxy around the tab and, no mess on the outside.

Sadly I ordered the SAC metal gears for both the Viking and the Shadow and, I'm not happy with them. Since the main gears are spread out, instead of straight up and down, and I'll be adding a resin cockpit, wings and, nose weight, stronger gear would be nice. I really prefer to use the kit gears because the glue will melt the plastics together to become one. I'm not really a fan of using dissimilar materials for a key support area. Does anyone else make metal gear for the S-3 ?

 

Steve

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Spent most of the morning cutting, grinding, filing and, sanding the casting blocks off the Wolfpack resin wings for the S-3B. This set is BEAUTIFUL !! The casting is amazing and very well done. They fit really well considering they are just being held in place with some tape. Lots of delicate parts with the wing fold mechanisms however. Hopefully I can get them off the casting blocks without damaging them. Getting closer to closing up the fuselage halves.

Thanks to all who are following along.

Steve

 

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(edited)%20IMG_6711.JPG
 
(edited)%20IMG_6712.JPG
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