Lockheed P-3 Orion

Tim Vereecke N42RF!... The most interesting scheme

Luc B N42RF +1

Dutch I was leaning toward USN VW-4 WP-3A to use the lower radome mod with the added benefit of easier decals & lettering. The NASA YP-3A only requires a modified tail cone, plugged sonobuoy chutes and the decals are in hand. Still not decided. We'll see. R/ Dutch

Dutch I loaded up four photos of model as purchased. As you can see the fuselage and wings have been assembled. Also note that the decals are moldy and unusable. Lastly, one prop is missing two blades, opposite each other. Depsite a diligent search, they are not in the box. It will still require seam repair and puttying. I still have not decided which version to make. I see from the new YP-3A NASA photo that the nose radome will require modification to a more bulbuos shape, plus adding the bottom radome. And the cockpit window framing is for a L-188 Electra, but that should be an easy fix. I have located a suitable L-188 Electra tail mod available from Contrail Models in Miami, Florida.

Dutch Now I just saw P-3C N44RF which would not require huge modifications at all, but still retains the "cool" NOAA markings.

Glenn . Dutch those props look funny in the box? They look wider and the tips look rounder than normal P-3 ones are they modified for an Electra? Also do you have NOAA markings to do that bird? I'd like to do N42RF with all the weather sensors under the wings. If i get around to it!

Dutch Glenn, AFAIK, the Hasegawa props are accurate. See the new P-3 prop photos.

Glenn . O.K. must just be the photo! looking forward to see it!

Dutch I abandoned the WP-3A/WP-3D after my Falcon Conversion plastic proved too brittle to work with. After cutting out the radome, sanding the edges, and gluing it together, I tried to smooth the edges once more with sand paper only to have the dome crack and then explode when I tried to repair it. In the meantime, I found a set of VP-92 decals from just down the road at NAS South Weymouth, so a P-3B it will be!

Ray Seppala Thanks all, @Dutch, the decal I used was for a 1/48 Hornet and the spacing of the VX-30 titling under the logo was too wide for the P-3 so I had to cut it down.

Doug Really like this one!

Robert W Martel Very cool....you cant really tell on those props anyway!

Dutch She's a beauty, Ray! Congrats, brother!

Oleg Smilyk Nice one!

Stephan Ryll Good lookin Orion

Ray Seppala Thanks guys

Alistair Graham Great model

Glenn . Watching.... them watch us!

Dutch Hey, I just found the DrawDecal Aero Union P-3A Orion water bomber decals! Maybe?

Dutch I loaded up four photos of model as purchased. As you can see the fuselage and wings have been assembled. Also note that the decals are moldy and unusable. Lastly, one prop is missing two blades, opposite each other. Depsite a diligent search, they are not in the box. It will still require seam repair and puttying. I still have not decided which version to make. I see from the new YP-3A NASA photo that the nose radome will require modification to a more bulbuos shape, plus adding the bottom radome. And the cockpit window framing is for a L-188 Electra, but that should be an easy fix. I have located a suitable L-188 Electra tail mod available from Contrail Models in Miami, Florida.

Dutch My personal thanks to Ray Seppala (OZ) for providing two new props. I may indeed make this a NOAA bird, but WP-3B N44RF. See the new pics in the album. It will retain the NOAA c/s without the radical fuselage mods.

Dutch I'm leaning more and more toward USN WP-3A 150496 of VW-4.

Dutch I assembled the Falcon radome for under the fuselage. The plastic is so brittle, that when I was sanding the edges it shattered. So I will make this a standard P-3B now. I also received my order for Canuck Models P-3B/C decals for VP-92 & VP-94. I like the Miuntemen markings for VP-92 and will use those now.

Dutch I will make the WP-3A and WP-3A in 1/144 scale.

playtime 222 If you still have the shattered bits and some milliput, could you salvage it by putting a lump of milliput in what you have left of the radome and press on the parts you still have, then sand and refill etc?

Dutch When I say shattered, I mean shattered. The old plastic was extremely brittle. It would be quicker to shape on efrom soft wood, to be honest. I will try the WP-3A/D in 1/144 scale if/when I obtain either a 12 Squared or Fox One Studios EP-3E set.

Łukasz Gliński What an interesting camo, didn't see it before

Clifford Keesler Cool man.

Dutch Thanks guys. Still waiting for it to come in the mail. Already have the decals.

Clifford Keesler I did not Revell had a 1/72 P-3, thought Hasegawa was the only game in town. Much $$$$$$$. LOL.

Dutch Yes, the box, instructions, and decals are Rexell, but the plastic is Hasegawa.

Clifford Keesler OK, got it.

Ray Seppala Great minds Dutch! I have a part re-scribed kit in a box somewhere with similar decals to finish one day. Got my Argie decals from Dekls though

Dutch Ray! Yes indeedie! I found Southern Eagles on the net while researching something else and ended up cooresponding with the owner who is a Captain for Aerolineas Argentinas. I placed my order and was able to meet him while he was on a layover and picked up a 1/144 & 1/72 set from him. I highly recommend them! This it just arrived yesterday. Still working on the WP-3A which I have decided to make into a standard P-3B of VP-92 using the excellent Canuck decals.

Robert W Martel And just finished this one

wilky Won this on eBay and was pleased it didn't get as expensive as the one before it that I was out bid on. Another on eBay at the moment

Thomas Bischoff like it!

Ekki Excellent.

Benoit Mathier Oh, very nice! Great to see one Orion in this scheme. Has been a while on my to do list.

Mike Grant Very nice Barry Whose decals?

Ray Seppala Looks great Barry I'd like to add this one to my line up as well. Did you use an Electra conversion rear end or scratch build the new tail cone?

Barry Lloyd Thanks for comments. Decals were Microscale (72-240). I'm not sure how easy they are to find now. The rear end was built up using plastic and filler, unfortunately I don't have photos of doing this.

Glenn . Always nice to see unusual variants of common air frames. I have a few special ones planned as well.

Bryn Crandell Very nice. I have that kit also. How was the build overall? NASA markings came out quite nice.

Barry Lloyd It was a few years ago but fairly straightforward once I'd sorted out the back end. The decals definitely made this one!

James C Nice job Barry

Barry Lloyd Thanks James!

Bart Goesaert nice build so far of a rather ugly plane. What program do you use for drawing the 3D parts? will all sensors be 3D printed, or are some scratchbuilt?

Ekki Watching ...

Gary Very nice!! Gary

Nate D. I use Autodesk Inventor. The upper and lower canoes I purchased separately. I plan on making as many antennas as I can using my M3D printer. I am even going to attempt the 3 HF antennas as well.

....And come on... War Pig isn't THAT ugly...

Gary This A/C is far from ugly. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Gary

Marcel Klemmer Nice P-3

James C Nice work Nate. Despite its age, both the RNZAF & RAAF use them quite extensively to patrol our coasts still in the maritime patrol/rescue and ASW roles down here. I believe both air forces have upgraded the airframes and tracking equipment as they are so good at what they do. Come to think of it... is there anything that could/does replace it that's proven itself?

Youtube Video

Nate D. Well they SAY the P-8A replaces the P-3, but the truth is that they fly too high and too fast to perform as well as the P-3C's. It was a poor decision to move to the 737. In my opinion, they should have just re-opened the Lockheed plant and made new P-3's.

Ekki More pics please!

Nate D. I will once I get home. All my pics are on my laptop

Ray Seppala Hey Dutch, make sure you don't use the E-2 radome support for the build. You need to build a new one for the P-3AEW. They aren't the same mount.

Dutch Thanks Ray. I was looking at that this very weekend! Are you sure we weren't twins separated at birth?

I figured I had to build a new one. At one time I had both the old 12 Squared 1/144 EP-3E and P-3 AEWC conversions, but they went when I sold my collection several years ago. They were not very good anyway. So I will scratch one and see if I can cast a few resin copies. Still waiting for the rumored DEKLs P-3 AEW&C US Customs decals so I will really get motivated. BTW, I recently saw a USC Slick on eBay, but it was based on the revel 1/115 scale kit. The guy did a really decent job, adding a cockpit and opened crew hatch with small interior, but it is still the Revell kit. He told me he used 1/43 scale US Customs Police Car decals for logo and wording and painted the blue/gold stripe.

Ray Seppala I saw pictures of that build on BM or ARC not long ago. It looked good though he scratchbuilt new gear legs for it in 1/144 (as he was not sure of the scale of the kit at the time) so it looks a little squat to me. Overall a nicely finished model.

My attempt at the mount
[img1]

[img2]

Glenn . I'll keep an eye out for the DEKL's This is on my bucket list too.... My BIG bucket list!!!!! I'll try not to kick it! Have a spare Hasegawa E-2 that will donate the dome then it will become a C-2 Greyhound with the RVHP conversion! Oh yea then there's the Coast Guard C-130 with E-2 radome to do as well... More stuff from the bucket list....

Ray Seppala Big tick and big tick on both of those Too many P-3s and C-130s and not enough modelling hours when you build other stuff like airliners and RAAF heavies...

Erik Leijdens Is that one of the famous "throw people into the sea" planes?

ForestFan Nice subject

Richard Chamberlain I believe i have the book for reference, I will double check tonight. if you need some more photo's. let me know and I can scan them to you.

Jose Miguel Rodriguez Excelent!!!!

Dutch Thank you Richard, Yes I could use some photo reference help. I have been unable to locate a copy of the book. Jose & ForestFan, Thank you for the moral support. I will be using the ATP Electra fuselage with the LS P-3C wings / stabs. The Southern Eagles decals are excellent! I think I will build this one before the P-3B.

Glenn . Hi Dutch, I will add a new "album" in my profile with a photos showing the decal guides and the decals! The decals are the ones in reverse! Have a look! in a few minutes...

Michael Green Surface tension? Like yelling at my model telling it that iit is not as good as the decals on it. This must be the surface tension he speaks of.

Glenn . That's cute! BUT I'm more worried about the TENSION they will cause me when i use them.

Michael Green Seen your builds you have more than enough talent to handle them.!!

Dutch Glenn, I purchased the 1/144 C-2A conversion direct from Greg @ OzMods. Hope to have it before Christmas.

Glenn . Hi Dutch, That's great that should look great. does it come with decals, He also does the 8 blade props too i think if you want to update it to current type. I'll keep you informed if i hear anything about the P-3 decals too! I've ordered 3D printed parts from a company called Shapeways for a Hasbro 29inch Millennium Falcon model i want to detail up and fit out with LED's and sound effects. I want to install a mp3 player and powered speakers too boost the engine sounds!

Dutch Now that sound ambitious!

Glenn . I've just found a great little mp3 player that has a powered amp and inbuilt speaker in the shape of a pink ball (about the size of a cricket ball) has usb and a SD card slot as well as bluetooth input! I've brought a couple of these very cheap on a discount table pulled one apart so i can get the circuit board, speaker and Li-Po battery out of it so i can place it into the Falcon. I've also tried a larger 5 inch speaker thanks to a neighbors curbside collection! And it sounds great with some fantastic sound bytes i found of the engine sound from the Falcon real good sound byte not from a movie dub that plays for nearly 2 minutes starts with engine start up then lots of flyby passes that ends with the Falcon punching through Hyperspace! (Only 2 more sleeps!) to go till The Force Awakens!

babak chalangi very nice work dutch

Dutch Built SOOTB. This was done ~ 1985. My photography skills were not so good then, and they still are not! I built over 150 kits since then. I only recorded the early ones and now the most recent ones. Thank you for the comments.

Es-haq Khosravi Great Job!

Vorya hidaryan It's beautifully

Jan Voorbij Wonderful! He looks like a predator. GGRRROOOWWLLLL!

Dutch Thank you for the comments Jan, Vorya, & Es-haq. In retrospect, I should have used lighter shades of blue for the upper camouflage and set my airbrush to fine spray. The box lid had a better approximation of the correct colours. I have since recently purchased another rLS 1:144 P-3F kit, however, it is missing the decals. I still have the spare serial numbers, but need the Iranian roundels & tail flag, plus all the data decals. I may have to make my own.

Edgars Bizūns Awesome!

Christian Meyerhoff Golden Oldie! Very well done!

Clifford Keesler Looking good.

ahmad hekmati Good jobs

Ray Seppala Finally got some motivation to complete this one. Painting and masking commenced. Quite happy with this round with very minimal touch ups to do do.

Burkhard D Ooh, coool!

I am tuned in!

Ray Seppala Some repainting completed and doors and antennas added. Now I just need to finish painting the wheels and props and after a gloss coat the decalling can begin

Dutch Looking very nice! Can't wait to see the finished project! Carry on, Ray.

Ray Seppala Project Magnet - VXN-8 Bu 158227

Ray Seppala Slow progress, fuselage assembled and wing added. Time for some more filler on the poor wing fuselage joint.

Ray Seppala Sanding complete, some rescribing attempted and now ready for masking and paint.

Glenn . So this one is orange and white with Looney Toons? I'm thinking of doing one with a E-2 radome on top. Not sure if it will be orange and white or a US Customs grey one yet.

Ray Seppala Yes Glenn, the Road Runner in fact. I saw this aircraft in the late 80s when I was on a duty crew at RAAF Fairbairn on a nice sunny Autumn Sunday afternoon. It arrived on 3 engines, so the airport fire crews were on standby. They followed the aircraft to the parking spot on our tarmac without further incident. I hung out with the techs who checked out the dud engine. Turned out the the engine gearbox decided to tear itself apart. The tech was pulling hand fulls of gear pieces out of the sump. Needless to say the engine had to be changed and the crew spent a week in Canberra waiting for a replacement engine. Another one of the those projects that has a personal connection.
I also have plans on doing an AEW version. I have a good set of detail pictures of the sole USN aircraft.

Jamie Anderson thanks ray hope you will be pleased with the results can you believe I picked this kit up for a tenner

Glenn . Hi Guys, Ray I think i'm up to about 9 or 10 P-3's now I have to check my stash again! Dutch i'm interested in anyone one doing the RC-135U resin as long as it's good I used to get a mate of mine to do very good castings (but he's no longer well, from all the casting he's done) dangerous stuff resin fumes!!! but I could see if Ron that did the C-130 upgrade stuff could help? no idea yet? But it would be good to get that stuff done too, Ron even said to me make copies if needed! Dutch try and follow up on the items you mention but I know that could be ages away like most backyard conversions! Maybe we should open a new topic on the resin stuff so we don't highjack Jamie's P-3 thread! Keep in touch guys with any updates and remember if we pool together we could keep costs down on any parts made cheers Glenn, guys email me anytime check my profile!

Dutch @ Jamie, Thanks for sharing the P-3 build with us. As with Glenn & Ray, I am interesting in watching the progression. Good Luck!
@ Ray & Glenn, Resin castings taken off thread. See personal email thread now. R/ Dutch

Dutch O lookie what I just found! contrailsmodels.com/Conversion_s.html
I may be able to build the NASA YP-3A prototype after all.

Clifford Keesler I like P-3s will watch with intrest.

Ray Seppala Jamie, will you be showing progress pictures? There are a few places the P-3 kit can use some reinforcing and packing to save on seam lines and filling. I have started 5 of these but only finished 2 due to these issues. My next 3 will get finished as I am now aware of the gotchas

Jamie Anderson to be honest ray I don't really do progress pics I am in the final paint stages just got to do the white on the body

Ray Seppala No worries, looking forward of pictures of the finished model

Jamie Anderson looks great dutch just started my own orion 1:72 P-3C from the RAAF

Dutch Jamie, Thanks for saying so, but I originally built it when I was 8 and redid the decals when I was ~12-13. This Revell kit is poor compared to LS/ARII 1:144 and Hasegawa 1:72 kits now available. I was young and learning.

Xenia V. Very nice, and 407 Sqn, too! I did this same scheme in 1/72.

Burkhard D Yes, Contrail made one
contrailsmodels.com/5122.html

Another one by J&W Models
worthpoint.com/worthopedia/w..l188-electra-resin-279074911

bobolink Thanks for the info, i will check those out for sure.