Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune COAN - 1/72 Hasegawa

[EDCS87]

I'd like to start my first WIP to share my progress with all of you here on this project, inspired by Moggy and hgbn's threads on their builds of this classic plane. Slowly but surely, I've been building up my collection of the types that fought in 1982, and I knew at some point, the Hasegawa Neptune in 72nd was a must. My intention is to model the famous "2-P-112" aircraft in the following scheme, and try to replicate the war-weary finish of these birds that flew sorties until they gave up the ghost: 
 

 

Last week I started re-scribing and riveting the entire model, to varying degrees of success. I also intend to correct some of the kit mistakes as pointed out by Moggy in his superb thread, and since add my own scratch building or 3D printed parts in certain areas.

 

The fit is quite good for a kit of this vintage! The tail has been rescribed and riveted. You'll note my scribing needle punched off a piece of the hard Hasegawa plastic (and punctured my index finger in the process 😅). I'll take care of that later on.

 

 

Nose wheel well enlarged and moved. This area still needs loads of work. I'm unsure whether I'll build the new interior from styrene sheet or just bite the bullet and design a new drop-in well in Fusion and print it.

 

Testing the interior fit. Quite good! I've cut off the center console and will be adding my own 3D printed bit there.

 

 

Work on the interior was very fun and not too hard once you get the hang of Fusion, especially since most cockpit elements have simple shapes. 

 

Some interior and detail bits printed out: Instrument panel and side consoles, assorted radios/gizmos, yokes, seats, flame holders for the jet engine pods, flight deck/observer seats and a hydraulic tank (?) for the main undercarriage bay. I'm quite proud of the seats actually, they are very delicate and a great improvement on the kit's seats, IMO.

 

 

That's all for now! I've got some more days of sand-scribe-putty-sand-rivet sessions. Thanks for reading

Edited October 12, 2020 by EDCS87

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Wow!  Some impressive print-work going on here.  Your seats are vastly better than those included with the kit.  

[Graeme H]

As one who has a long ongoing P2V-7 build, i'm in.

One thing to note that is often overlooked is the Radar screen dominates the centre of the IP

 

[Jackson Duvalier]

Okay, this is really triggering my Aspergers.  Can't wait to see this play out! 

[heloman1]

Excellent start, I do like the Neptune.

 

Colin

[EDCS87]

On 10/13/2020 at 6:32 PM, Graeme H said:

As one who has a long ongoing P2V-7 build, i'm in.

One thing to note that is often overlooked is the Radar screen dominates the centre of the IP

 

Thanks for pointing  that out! That's an easy fix. I've found so many pictures of cockpits for Neptunes, but unsurprisingly, none of the actual Argentine Navy examples.

[EDCS87]

This week's update is brought to you by sanding, frustration, sanding and more sanding 😖

I had promised myself I would leave the Neptune main gear wells alone because it seemed like way too much work devoted to an area that no one besides me would ever look at. After a few more evenings of scribing panel lines and fixing mistakes, I broke my own promise, thinking, "How hard could it be? Moggy made it look quite simple." Spoiler alert: It ain't easy, especially without a rotary tool (I'm stuck using my cheap pin vise for now). Making the cuts was a straightforward affair, but now comes the tough part of making the innards and figuring out how to put everything back together.

 

 

In between the wheel well work, I detailed the observer's position with some sprue and sheet, as well as the floor and bulkhead in that area. I might add some more details there later, but I have to leave room there for the assorted 3D printed bits. I also lengthened the nose wheel as indicated in Moggy's excellent WIP, and built up a new nose wheel area.

 

 

 

I've also been toiling away on the cockpit. My 3D printed consoles look great, but turned out to be 1.5mm too tall and .5mm too wide, so those were thinned out and test-fitted. I realized that some pictures of the real aircraft show them fitted with the eight underwing pylons, and some don't. I've been unable to ascertain whether these pylons were fitted during operations during the war. I took a crack at designing the pylons in CAD and printing them, and they turned out OK. The detail is a bit soft and some were slightly warped. They are fixable, but at this point, I'm unsure whether its worth the hassle of drilling all the mounting holes, ensuring they're perfectly aligned, and getting them to look good in the first place. We'll see how I feel in a week's time. If it doesn't sound like too much fun, they might go into the spares box. 

 

 

After checking out the fit of the engine nacelles and the big radials, I had the crazy idea of upgrading this area too. I looked online for aftermarket R-3350 engines and they seemed a bit out of my price range. Then I had the crazy idea of trying to sketch and print them, but after spending an hour or so trying to model just a cylinder, I realized it's way beyond my skill level, and in the end, the stock engines would look just fine with some added wire and good dry-brushing. Thanks all for reading!

Edited October 27, 2020 by EDCS87

[EDCS87]

On 10/13/2020 at 5:30 PM, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Wow!  Some impressive print-work going on here.  Your seats are vastly better than those included with the kit.  

Thank you! It's hard to see with my poor photography and the overall gray resin, but my cheap printer managed to create some very fine detail. Once painted and pin-washed, I think they will fill up the flight deck quite nicely.

[EDCS87]

Yesterday and today I added some scratch-built wires and detail to the kit's engines. They don't look as good as an aftermarket R-3350 engine... but they also didn't cost me $30 + shipping (more than I paid for the kit 😯). Once the nacelles are all closed up, they should look OK.

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by EDCS87

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Do the kit's engines come with cooling fins molded-in, or did you have to scribe those?  OMG if you had to scribe them!  Alex

[EDCS87]

3 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Do the kit's engines come with cooling fins molded-in, or did you have to scribe those?  OMG if you had to scribe them!  Alex

Yes, the cooling fins are molded in, and to be fair, Hasegawa's original molding was quite nice! The cylinder heads are the wrong shape though, but they'll be barely visible once fitted.

[Tailspin Turtle]

20 hours ago, EDCS87 said:

Yes, the cooling fins are molded in, and to be fair, Hasegawa's original molding was quite nice! The cylinder heads are the wrong shape though, but they'll be barely visible once fitted.

Excellent build article, thank you very much. Note that, strictly speaking, because of the scale thickness of the plastic structure versus the actual thickness of the cowling sheet metal, it’s impossible for the engine cylinder heads to be accurately represented. They either have to be truncated or inaccurately reduced in height. The same goes for the width of cockpit sidewalls, the depth of some wheel wells (particularly in wings), etc. 

[EDCS87]

1 hour ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

Excellent build article, thank you very much. Note that, strictly speaking, because of the scale thickness of the plastic structure versus the actual thickness of the cowling sheet metal, it’s impossible for the engine cylinder heads to be accurately represented. They either have to be truncated or inaccurately reduced in height. The same goes for the width of cockpit sidewalls, the depth of some wheel wells (particularly in wings), etc. 

Thank you! That makes perfect sense.

[EDCS87]

Here is the next update on my progress with the Neptune. Last week I finished doing all the major "surgery" work on the main gear elements and wells. I recreated some of the firewall detail in the wheel well, then built new retraction legs for the MLG. A preliminary test fit shows it'll be a bit of a squeeze, but quite possible. 





I then moved to finishing the jet engine pods. I rescribed the remaining lines, and added my 3D printed flame holder parts, which were painted with a mix of Vallejo acrylics. After gluing and sanding the resulting seams, the pods look quite acceptable. The flame holder is very hard to see, but at least it's there and it prevents the see-through effect.

Things were proceeding very well until I test fitted the canopy and noticed it was clear enough to see into what would be the forward operators station just behind the cockpit. Wanting to finish the build quickly, I tried to rig up a curtain to cover the door way, but most of the material I tried (tissue, foil, paper) looked awful so I decided to try and recreate the interior. I've never done it before and I have to say it was quite fun. I did have a hard time with bulkheads, seeing as I lack a profile gauge, but with patience and sanding, I managed to put together a half-decent interior. I'd say it's roughly accurate, but I follow the "Is it fun?" rule in modeling, so I can't make any guarantees. I will say that most of this stuff will be largely invisible through the transparencies, but fun was had.

 

The nose observer's station with some added ducting and creative gizmology.

 

Nose section with front gear well being test fitted.

 

Rear of the plane, with galley, sonobuoy storage rack and opened crew hatch. Missing from this picture are the angled sonobuoy launch tubes, sonobuoy storage box (?) and various bins. I had a hard time figuring out what was what in this area, given that the only decent P2V cutaway I could find is labelled in Russian. 😑 Those rear steps are oversized... we're talking Sasquatch oversized, and the sonobuoys look a tad undernourished, but given that even with the open hatch it's nearly impossible to see inside, it'll do.

 

Left and right sides of radio station aft of the main spar.

 

Forward operator spaces aft of flight deck. I'm planning on stuffing the radome and underside of this floor with steel shot and Milliput for nose weight. 

 

Opened rear crew entry hatch. I'll be adding the customary ladder once the model is finished.

 

 

[EDCS87]

Speaking of nose weight, does anyone have an idea how much would be sufficient? I can easily fit 50g or more, but I'm worried about the landing gear integrity. 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Wow!  This is really impressive detail, and the fact that it'll be seen through the glass is pretty amazing.  I wonder how much of that equipment was still in the aircraft as they reached the end of their service lives?  I can imagine the Argentine Navy were heavily reliant on the ASV radar and "Mk.1 eyeball" to perform fleet shadowing, and probably stripped out gear (like sonobuoys and bunks) that would add weight and decrease range.  

[EDCS87]

50 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Wow!  This is really impressive detail, and the fact that it'll be seen through the glass is pretty amazing.  I wonder how much of that equipment was still in the aircraft as they reached the end of their service lives?  I can imagine the Argentine Navy were heavily reliant on the ASV radar and "Mk.1 eyeball" to perform fleet shadowing, and probably stripped out gear (like sonobuoys and bunks) that would add weight and decrease range.  

 Thanks! I have to admit I based the interior detail on a few grainy pictures and a very nice walkthrough of a restored Australian Neptune. I left the sonobuoy racks and storage in because there is an account of this a/c (2-P-112) dropping a pattern on a suspected sub during the war, but you're definitely right when it comes to end of their service lives. These Neptunes were truly clapped out and most of the equipment would probably have been stripped or inoperable.

[rodenlee]

This is a remarkable effort...will be watching this build!!

[Team Aer Lingus]

Very impressive work so far incredible attention to detail & the 3D printed parts are fantastic

 

Thanks for sharing

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[EDCS87]

Thank you all for the comments and interest. I've moved on to painting and finishing the interior. I raided the spare decals box for the borders around the windows and the assorted instruments, which will hardly be seen after all. After receiving a coat of Future and some Tamiya enamel wash, it's ready to receive the nose weight and be sealed up forever.

 

I turned my attention to the engine nacelles. Kudos to Hasegawa's mold maker(s) for their ingenious breakdown of this complicated section. Unfortunately, every single seam on my kit's nacelles required serious work. One of the nacelles had a sink mark, which I'm willing to forgive given the age of these molds! Even after fettling a lot of plastic away, I had to break out the Tamiya putty and dissolved primer. After filling and sanding all the seams, I rescribed the lost detail and added rivets where appropriate. 

 

 

 

After the nacelles were taken care off, I added the brutish radial engines and 3D printed oil coolers, which will be almost impossible to see (but I learned a skill while designing them, so I'll chalk that up as a positive).

 

A look inside the painted wheel well, with pressure flasks (?), hoses, and oil coolers on reverse side, with cut out flap.

 

The nacelles and their innards.

 

After dry-fitting and making sure the gear retraction elements would all fit, I added the remaining parts and varnished/washed everything up. It's a tight fit, but it works.

I then painted up the other part of the wheel wells and wing spar with Vallejo Green Zinc Chromate mixed with some Grauviolett. 

 

 

Lastly, I looked at pictures of the Neptune searchlight and decided to go for something a bit more realistic than the kit's puny bulb and reflector. I drew up and printed a quick bowl-shaped reflector and drilled out the kit's parts. Then I added some minor detail with sprue and plastic rod. I'll paint this up soon and then add the glazing.

 

 

That's all for now, thanks!

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

Beautiful work and a great reference for when I build mine - one day! My understanding is that the nose wheel leg on the Hasegawa P-2 is too short. It would be worth checking for yourself. 
 

Good luck!

 

Martin

 

I will be following!
 

[EDCS87]

9 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

Beautiful work and a great reference for when I build mine - one day! My understanding is that the nose wheel leg on the Hasegawa P-2 is too short. It would be worth checking for yourself. 
 

Good luck!

 

Martin

 

I will be following!
 

 

Thank you, Martin! You're right about the nose wheel leg. I taped the major portions of the kit together and added the landing gear with blue tac and the stance is definitely off. I added a section of 5mm hollow styrene tube and reinforced the joint with a piece of brass wire. I hope it will hold up to the weight!

Late last night, I painted the remaining interior bits in preparation for putting the fuselage halves together. 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Really impressive detail work on those seats, which really make this thing come to life.  What's the color of the underside radome? It looks to me like black on the RF-transparent part, and painted silver everywhere else.

[EDCS87]

Thanks! I think you're right about the black... I think something like Tamiya NATO Black would be pretty close. The silver looking paint is actually a light gray. This link (http://arqueologiaaeronautica.blogspot.com/search/label/LOCKHEED P2V-7S Neptune – 2-P-112) shows a preserved example, but the colors are largely accurate. The gray looks almost white in sunlight.

 

[EDCS87]

Back with an update! 

I finally got around to adding all the interior pieces: The three systems operators seats, with belts made from Tamiya tape and wire buckles. The radome was filled with steel shot (60 grams) and glued with PVA glue. I added some leftover Milliput on top to ensure it stays put. 

 

Added cockpit detail pieces. The center console is overscale, but everything else fits into place, and it looks just fine through the thick canopy. If you don't tell anyone, I won't either! 😉

 

I added the rear observers' seats, sonobuoy storage, tubes, and the all important toilet, and cleaned up the seams in the entrance hatch area. 

And speaking of the entrance hatch, here is the hatch itself, painted and ready to be glued into place.

 

The glazed nose compartment received its observer's seat, and other small details, as well as some small lead pieces right under the floor.

I then focused on the nose observer's footrest cage thingy. The kit piece is too small and incomplete. I tried to design a piece in Fusion 360, but was frustrated with my limited skills, so I tried other methods. Music wire seemed like a good idea, until I realized it's harder to bend than kryptonite, so in the end I resorted to thin plastic rod, glued with CA and extra thin cement. In the pictures below, it is still missing a few bars, but it's now in the paint shop awaiting a coat of light gray.

 

Added the roof glazing pieces, with some added reinforcement since I knew I would have to sand and polish the larger split window. The fit on this piece was not very good and required some fettling. The smaller dome fit well, but I lost it as soon as I closed the fuselage. I was able to rescue it with a toothpick topped with Bluetac, and from there was able to glue it back into place with Tamiya Extra Thin cement. Whew!

 

Lastly, I went to work on the canopy, adding the overhead instrument cluster with throttles, lights and levers. I still have to add the internal framing for the retractable sunshades over the crew seats.