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A 1/48th Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune resin kit is in project by Jetmads - ref. 400205 Sources: https://www.facebook.com/JETMADS2016/posts/760241394898148 https://www.jetmads.com/product-page/1-48-p2v-5-neptune V.P.

This is the Hasegawa/Minicraft 1/72 P2V-7 Neptune boxing from 1972 or 1973. I bought this second hand along with the Eduard PE and Mask set for it. Other than adding the PE, this will be an OOB build of the generic post WWII U. S. version in Navy Blue. I am hoping this to be an easy build as I need one after a couple of trying ones. Here is the box art and collection of sprues loose in the box It appears the fuselage halves have been taken off of the sprues and for some reason the locating pins have been sanded flush. I wonder if original owner didn’t realize what they were and thought they were sanding off sprue attachments? So, the prior owner has turned this into a short run kit without locating tabs, wonderful. So work begins with the cockpit. The kit is very basic with 2 seats, a floor and 2 bulkheads. There are also the pilot figures to help jazz it up, but I am totally rubbish at figure painting. So, I am hoping the Eduard PE set will help jazz this area up. I am not sure how much can be seen once the canopies are on, but looks to be very barren inside. First step is to locate the minimal floor console instrument panel and sand the detail down so the Eduard PE part can be attached. Next looking at the seats, there are some quite lovely and large injection marks that need to be dealt with. Next up the base coat of grey for the interior parts including the nose gear bay housing. I tried to come close to the colour on the PE and think it will blend in nice once a weather finish has been applied. A little bit of dirtying up and scuffing . . . Now to work on the PE stuff. There is a little box that sets at the rear of the seats on the rear bulkhead that has to be painted and bent into place. That fuzzy thing above it is the tip of a microbrush to give a sense of scale of this huge item. Why at my advanced age am I doing PE work on a 1/72 plane? I need magnifiers for my magnifier. Onto constructing the two control columns out of the PE. It consists of two pieces, the control column that has to be folded and the circular yoke. I have completed one and you can tell the size by the tweezer tip in the picture. Next up are the rudder pedals. Here is the PE part after painting, but prior to being folded. And here it is all folded up; only 3 more to go, yippee!! And all four looking somewhat uniform Now this is what the kit cockpit would look like if built straight out of the box. (Please ignore the center control PE part and imagine a really crappy, raised, blobby, plastic detail area.) No wonder there were figures to put in here. Otherwise, there would be nothing to see. I put the PE control panel in the starboard fuselage half and it fit quite nicely and jazzes the area up a bit. Now here is where I ran into problems. There are two PE side instrument columns that run between the fuselage wall and the cockpit seats. When I dry fit them, there is not enough room between the seats and the fuselage wall for them to fit. My choices are to cut down the instrument panel and lose some of its detail, or sand down the chunky seats to allow more room for the side control column. I decided on the latter. Did I dry fit prior to installing the seats and begin work on the seat belt placement; of course not. I didn’t get the prudent idea of checking the fit until the seats were firmly in place. So, I pried off the port seat and sanded both sides of it down, trying to not mess up the seat belts. I then placed the seat back and you can compare the size of the sanded seat to the original kit seat. The seat appearance is improved I think. The side console will now fit. I just have to pry up the other side and do that seat too. But, it is time to go to work to pay for my plastic addiction, so I must stop. All comments always welcome.

This is the Hasegawa 1/72 P-2H (P2V-7) Neptune that was built for the informal Neptune Build. I had one of the old boxings and the decals were worthless. It did go together fairly well, but not as easy as you would think from a Hasegawa kit. For all the wonderful machinations in making this kit the WIP thread is here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234963193-p2v-7-neptune-blue-blue-and-blue;-finished/. For a 1/72 kit, it is quite large. Although the Neptune served in Vietnam, where I was and the time period I was there, we did not meet so I have no experience up close and personal with one. For the most part I enjoyed the build. I have the Revell reboxing of this kit and will do that one soon. Here are the finished results. And here it is in its new home. As always, all comments welcome.