ewahl Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hi, Gil, I know I offered before, but I have some good color photos of the interior stations of the P-3C that I shot in Hawaii in February 2010 ...and the cockpit, too. Those two small round flat windows on the right rear of the fuselage are for the crew rest area, and I have photos of that space. In my walkaround outside, I took shots of the bomb racks and surface features. I have some good shots of the engines and props that show the various stenciling messages. In all there are around 50 pictures. Perhaps I should send them to Mark Aldrich to post in the walkaround gallery. Then anyone can see and use them. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewWhite Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Thanks for the info Andrew! Basically, I'm copying external features as seen in the P-3 Walkaround Gallery here on IPMS. I was aware of the flare units on the nacelles (which I still need to add), but wasn't aware of the front ones. I have no illusions about my model being accurate for any one particular version or "update" P-3C (especially when it comes to the antennas!); but the real exercise here is to succeed in building it! Thanks! GIL I hear you there! Half the planes I crewed were different from one day to the next. As a flight engineer...all I needed to know was that we still had four Hamilton Standard props attached to four T56 engines and how much gas ya want and I was good. Man, watching this come together is really making me think about getting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted July 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Interior work done..... This shows the seats and consoles in the first compartment, as well as the fishing sinker weights in the nose. Seats in P-3s are orange, so...... Here are the rear compartments. Again I made NO attempt to be accurate (and I've obviously succeeded :D ) with what I put in the crew spaces. It's just one notch up from bulkheads to prevent the see-through; with "stuff" to see IF you shine a light in a window. Speaking of which, you can see the 3 small round windows added to the fuselage. I made these 1/4" in diameter, just so I could use a common hole punch to punch clear sheet to fit the windows! Exterior view of same said windows, sanded and polished to blend with the fuselage. They'll get a final coat of Future before being masked off (which will be easy to do by punching tape with the hole punch! :P ) Scribing has started on the wings. I use Dymo label tape as a guide. It's sticky enough to stay in place and surprisingly flexible when cut in thin strips. These lines are the important ones, as all other lines seem to be in relation to them. As tedious as this work is, I doubt I'll make fast progress here! Finally! The fuselage is together! It took 2 tubes of both regular and gel superglue to do it (including the amount used to secure the nose weights). I've also slathered on the first coat of Squadron white putty, right out of the tube. That tube is also almost gone..... Anyway, I feel like I've turned a corner, though there's still much to do! The next BIG step is to scratchbuild the cockpit and close it up with the new clear canopy part (which is yet to be made....) Cheers! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildBill50 Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Great work, Gil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewWhite Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Nice! THat is looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewahl Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Yes, the seat cushions are orange. Here is a cockpit photo that may be helpful. It dates to February 3, 2010, in a P-3C Orion from VP-9. This is the only photo that Photobucket would download without an error message, and this was the 4th try. I hope this helps. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted July 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Oooooo....I can certainly use that pic! Thanks Ed! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShutterAce Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Go Gil GO! Looking good! :gold-plane: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted August 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2012 Been sanding and priming and sanding and priming and sanding.. ..well you get the idea! Also, the MAD boom has been added to the tail. The mad boom is simply a length of plastic tubing, capped off with the nose of a cluster bomb of the same diameter, sanded to shape. There's still quite a few little flaws in the seams, though the primer is starting to do its job hiding them! That's where this one will rest until I'm back from Orlando, inspired to finish it up! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcorley Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Gil, bring the "kit" with you, I'd love to see it as is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmorrissette Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Agree- would lvoe to see the work too Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burner12 Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 looking great Gil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burner12 Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 looking great Gil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) Having a broken camera SUCKS! I've had to resort to the older camera, which is a pain to use and upload, BUT it does work! Got the cockpit built..... It has its coat of interior gray now, and the cushions (which are separate from their seats) have also been painted orange. I still have a lot of details to add, as well as detail painting the consoles, etc. So, I'll post another cockpit pic when it's completely done, before I button it up. I also smash molded a couple of canopy copies.... I used a two-slice toaster as the heat source! Simply set it on high and be sure to wear some oven mitts while melting the plastic! You can see the wooden form with the cut-out, which is slightly bigger then the plaster master. Clear sheet is attached with the push pins (note how melted THEY are!), held over the heat source until pliable, and then it is rammed down over the plaster master (which has been raised up on the bottle). Simple, but effective! The canopies will be dipped a couple of times in Future while I finish up the cockpit. The best copy will then be cemented in place to finish up the fuselage assembly! As always, question, comments, and critiques are welcome! Cheers! GIL Edited August 29, 2012 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 You are a better man than I Gunga Din! I bow in the presence of greatness!! This is some of the most incredible work I've seen yet. I am so looking forward to seeing this in Colorado! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmorrissette Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Yup... Gil's nuts. Great work and a cool subject Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) The cockpit is as finished as it's gonna be.... This shows the seats and engineer's panel... This shows the main panel, center consoles, and side panels with nose steering wheels This shows the overhead console, which is no where near "accurate", but at least throws something up there! Finally buttoned up, for better or worse! Now I can shift into a higher gear, and hope that I don't "strip 'em" in the process! :P By the way, I got my camera repaired and back! I highly recommend United Camera if you have a problem. Cost me $50 to have the rear display screen repaired/replaced! Cheers! GIL Edited September 3, 2012 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spruemeister Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Gil, you win the award for the most inovative use of Waldron P-51 armament placards! Looking great! Keep it coming. Rick L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShutterAce Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Looking good Gil! Master of gizmology. :m1helmet: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted September 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 "Gizmology" is GREAT! But it's the great Shep Paine who first put the spotlight on it. I'm merely a copycat! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 I have been making some progress...the tail planes are on and the fuselage is scribed. I'll try to get some pics posted tomorrow! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guaguachong Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 amazing。。。。。 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted September 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 OK, here's some pics.... The tail planes are on, and that is the 2nd round of putty to blend them in. You can also see a bulged fairing (antenna of some sort?) as well as the strike camera fairing that has been added to the underside. The bulged fairing was made from part of a drop tank half, and the strike camera is a spare vac clear part. Most of the scribing on the fuselage is done. The last round (hopefully!) of putty to finish blending in the canopy. I'm using a blend of Squadron White and Green putties, thinned with Testors liquid cement. The reason I'm using both colors is I'm running low on putty at this point! 90% of the scribing on this wing is done. I still have some fittings, rivets, and grills to add, as well as the ENTIRE other wing to do. I'd guess that there's well over 6hrs JUST in scribing so far, and it will be close to 10hrs by the time the model is done! Anyway, making some progress despite the tediousness of the work. Cheers! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted September 20, 2012 Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 I'm speechless! What an outstanding piece of masterful work! :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted September 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) Masterful? If anything, I fell like I'M a slave to IT at the moment..... "Thou shalt scribe and sand til the day you die"! Actually, both wings are now scribed and only need some "grills" on the bottoms of the outboard nacelles. Next up is to build (or pirate, hopefully) the 6 wing pylons (turns out the outermost one on each wing wasn't used much!), finish detailing the gear bays, and build up the gear doors. I hope to have the wings attached by Sunday (God willing, the creek don't rise, etc., etc.)! Thanks to everyone for the encouragement! GIL Edited September 20, 2012 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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