1/72 Revell (Hasegawa) P3-C Orion

by Carl “Fuzzy” Fischer

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Here are some pic’s of my recently completed Revell Germany P3-C Orion.  This is my first completion of a kit after an all-too-long hiatus from the hobby (about 10 years, YIKES). The kit is a re-box of the venerable (read OLD) Hasegawa kit.  The kit comes replete with raised panel lines, atrocious fit, tons of flash, and forgettable cockpit detail.  The original intent was to re-scribe all the panel lines (UGH!), but that idea went out the window after 10 or so hours of fitting, gluing, filling, and sanding…and that was just on the fuselage!  Did I mention cursing, crying, cat kicking (just kidding), and serious reconsideration of continued sobriety.  All that being said, some more fitting and filling, along with some decent reference photos produced a reasonably attractive finished product.  The model was finished with MM enamels and Tamiya acrylics, shot with a Badger 360 Universal airbrush.  The only aftermarket items used were Dave Barnes excellent PropBlurs.  These nifty photo-etched beauties really add a neat effect, in my humble opinion.  The first set I ordered never showed up, but an email to Dave had another set promptly in my mailbox.  I will definitely be using his wonderful product in the future.  I wanted to give this bird a “well used” look, and fellow ARC’r Kaan Gok’s guide in the “tools & tips” section provided invaluable guidance to achieve the desired results.  The decals were a combination of kit-supplied (stencils and data), aftermarket (for the Lo-Vis insignia), and homemade (squadron logo and letters) done with Illustrator and laser printer on MicroScale blank decal paper.  Weathering was accomplished with washes and pastels.  Overall, I’m reasonably happy with the results.  While not a contest winner, it was a great time getting my “modeling legs” back, and trying some new techniques.

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I did this build as a Christmas gift for my boss, a former Flight Engineer who served on P3’s in the U.S. Navy.  And no, it was NOT to “schmooze” him!  He is a great fellow, and a real pleasure to work with.  He told me once that the only model of a P3 he had ever found was (I’m assuming) a wood desk display type.  I wanted him to have something a bit more detailed, as well as a model representative of one of the ships he actually flew on.  So a stolen (since returned) photo from his office and some research on VPNavy.org gave me the reference I needed.  GET WELL SOON TIM, WE MISS YA!  

This really was great fun.  I finally got a chance to try all these techniques which I have been reading about all those years I was “inactive” from the hobby, and I’m looking forward to more submissions in the future!  Pic’s will be better with the next submission, I promise.  I have a closet FULL of kits acquired over the last 10 years, and finally a little spare time to build.  On the bench…..Trumpeter’s 1/32 F4U-4 Corsair.  Thanks to ARC and all you ARC’rs for keeping the desire to build burning!  Stay tuned!

Carl Fischer

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Photos and text © by Carl Fischer