Hasegawa 1/72 P-3C Orion - RAAF A9-757

[AussieReg]

I’m on a mission this year to clear the decks of a bunch of shelved projects (they will either be completed or binned).

This build was started on the old forums back in September 2019 and I got as far as completing the main assembly, so I will post a link to the original thread here and also copy the main posts across to make this thread as comprehensive as I can.

Link to old Aeroscale Forums thread

AeroScale :: Hasegawa 1/72 P-3C Orion - RAAF A9-757

Opening post - September 13, 2019

Hi all.

One of my best friends is an RAAF Squadron Leader, and in his early years in the service was an electronics engineer on the P-3C. He has asked me to build one of the aircraft that he worked on, Serial A9-757 from 10 Squadron RAAF.

He picked up the kit and gave it to me, and I have ordered the decal set from a local supplier.

I will post up progress as I make my way through this build, which is a bit outside my comfort zone of single engine WWII fighters and old Chevy cars !

He also worked on F/A-18A Hornets, and is moving to the USA on a 3 year contract to look after the EA-18G Growlers, and has asked me to build one of each of those as well !

Progress Update - September 14, 2019

I started off today by trimming off the major parts and cleaning them up to do some test fitting. There is a mix of very fine raised panel lines over most of the parts, and heavier recessed panel lines around the moving parts (flaps, ailerons, vertical stabiliser, gear doors). The fuselage halve join lines up very nicely, but there are only a couple of tiny locating pins for the whole fuselage, so I will be cementing in some support strips to keep things solid as I go.

The wing halves fit together very well and the training edge is nice and thin, so not much cleaning up to be done there. The top wing root areas on each side don’t look like they will give me any troubles, and the front and rear joins of the lower wing on the underside fit very well also.

I also started on cleaning up parts and putting together a few of the smaller sub assemblies. Apart from the lack of locating pins or tabs, no issues so far.

Progress Update - September 15, 2019

Final update for the moment, engine and spinner assemblies completed and 95% finished, just a little sprue goo to sand off once it has cured, and horizontal stabilizers built and cleaned up.

Upper and lower wings cleaned up and assembled as well.

No major issues to report so far, only a little flash here and there, but the lack of locating pins means a little more time and care needs to be taken when cementing “clamshell” assemblies. I haven’t found any ejector pin marks or sink marks in any visible locations so far.

Progress Update - September 19, 2019

I spent some time on tidying up the leading edge joins on the wings, which were in general very good, just needed some “sprue-goo” on the compound curves of the shrouds between the engine covers and the wing itself.

I also filled the locating points for the underwing stores using automotive spot putty thinned with MLT and applied with an old fine paintbrush to get it in place without spreading around all over the shop! This was applied in several thin layers as the recesses for the pylons were quite deep. This has all cured nicely now and been fine sanded.

Instructions called for 30 grams of ballast in the nose, so out came the fishing tackle box and some lead weight was CA’d into place.

Next up is painting the cockpit and getting it installed.

Prime time for the P-3C office.

I also found another use for my Chevy engine orange!

Cheers, D

[AussieReg]

Reference Material - September 19, 2019

There is a great history of 10 Squadron RAAF action in WWII here:
SAAM-Profiles-NO.-10-SQUADRON-RAAF-IN-WWII.pdf (aeroscale.net)

10 Squadron Crest

The picture shows a Chimaera, or Ghost Shark, being impaled by an Australian Aboriginal spear. This was first put forward in 1943 and finally given Royal approval for use in Feb 1945.

Some stock images of A9-757, 10 Squadron RAAF

1979 (White Chimaera Fin Flash)

1980 (Blue Chimaera Fin Flash)

1981 (White Chimaera Fin Flash)

1981 (Engine #1 feathered prop)

In flight image from my friends personal collection, not sure of year but blue fin flash.

Cheers, D

[AussieReg]

Progress Update - September 21, 2019

The clear parts aren’t actually too bad, probably 4 scale inches thick, but quite clear with very little distortion, but the size and the angle of the windscreen into the cockpit means that virtually nothing will be visible anyway.

The decals performed beautifully, I used a drop of Mr Mark Setter before I put them in place, then a drop of Mr Mark Softer to get them to conform to the part profile.

I didn’t bother with the ejector pin marks and I won’t be doing any further work (pin washes) etc because of the above reason.

Fuselage assembly next.

Progress Update - September 22, 2019

Back to the build, time for that “Going . . .going . . . gone!” moment.

Hopefully the fuselage will be buttoned up tonight and then the wings can go on.

A couple of pics inside the fuselage to show the support strips I glued in along the joins, there are only 4 tiny locating pins for the entire assembly and the plastic is quite thin, so this was required as far as I was concerned.

And the fuselage is all buttoned up ready for clean-up of the join once it has fully cured.

This is definitely the biggest kit I have ever built! The two halves mated up very nicely and no clamping was required to hold the joins while the cement set.

Cheers, D

[AussieReg]

Progress Update - September 26, 2019

We have an aircraft!

I ran a thin bead of sprue goo along the joins as they were still slightly uneven with the support underneath. Once this was cured and cleaned up I fitted the main wings and horizontal stabilizers, and then the weighted nose cone. All of these major parts fit together beautifully, I see very little need for filling and only a small degree of sanding to finish this off ready for primer.

The wing roots are usually my trouble spot on aircraft builds, no problems here.

I will run a bead of thin sprue goo into the tiny gap on the port side of the rear lower wing joint, then sand off all of the joins. The worst fitting part so far was the plate with the sonobuoy deployment chutes, and even that only needed a little touch-up.

Next steps will see the MAD boom and engine assemblies attached to this main assembly, then the windscreen fitted and masked up, then time for an overall MS1500 black primer.

Progress Update - September 30, 2019

The engine assemblies and MAD (Magnetic Anomaly Detector) Boom fitted into place beautifully. Once again very little (if any) clean-up required.

And that’s where the build was shelved a bit over 2 years ago with all sorts of real life issues and focus on other builds keeping my attention elsewhere.

It’s back on the bench now, I will cast my eyes over the seams and see if anything further is needed, then fit the clear parts and give it a shot of primer.

As always, all comments and constructive critique is very welcome.

For further reading, check out the ADF Serials page on the Orion variants which have been in service since 1968!
ADF Serials - Orion (adf-serials.com.au)

Cheers, D

[Stooge]

Living Adelaide we often used to see these birds stooging about. Mostly when doing practice landings in at ADL airport. Flights out of the Edinburgh airbase usually disappeared over the horizon out of sight.

Real nice to see this build happening.

[md72]

Love to see how this one builds out. Bit $pendy, but is it worth it?

[AussieReg]

I’m enjoying the build Mark, the only slight difficulty so far was getting the fuselage halves joined up neatly as there are not many locating pins or tabs. I glued some thin styrene strip along the mating lines.

I found a cool image during one of my regular Google surfing expeditions. This is the actual airframe I’m building for my mate. I wonder I he would be happy if I did this scheme?

Photo caption A9-757 stripped and awaiting a new coat of paint at the Air New Zealand paintshop in Christchurch on 6 July 2013.

Cheers, D

[AussieReg]

A little progress has been made. I set the airframe up on one of the Masterpiece Models “Bench-Mate” jigs so that I didn’t break off any of the little antennae (again ) and started on getting the clear parts installed.

The main front glass fitted into place perfectly. I used AK Ultra white glue here because the surround was already painted.

I didn’t paint the inside of the fuselage, and images show the windows to be darkened, so I painted the inside surface of the side windows lightly with gloss black before installing them.

I finally got to use one of those cool little tools that you buy because they just look good, with no particular task in mind at the time. Clear parts are all in place now. I will mask them up and ready then for primer to begin.

Cheers, D

[AussieReg]

In my mission to reduce the WIP mountain it was inevitable that I get back to this build, so here we are 8 months later

The front glass has very subtle framing molded into it, so I decided to use BMF to mask it off. Once it was burnished down nice and tight I got myself a fresh blade for the scalpel and got cutting. It took some steady hands, and a couple of “ok, let’s try that again” moments, but in the end came up nicely. I used the Microscale Micro Mask liquid film for the side windows.

A couple of days to cure then primer time!

Cheers, D