Author Topic: 1/72 Lockheed L-188-75 "Junior Electra"  (Read 15933 times)

Offline Spey Phantom

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1/72 Lockheed L-188-75 "Junior Electra"
« on: April 07, 2019, 03:44:27 PM »
after buying a 1/72 Hasegawa EP-3E Orion last weekend, i was wondering what to do with it.
after seeing this GB, i just had a good idea.

with many surplus US Navy P-3's in storage, what if Lockheed offered a conversion of these frames for freight and passenger transport. the orion itsself is already a conversion of the Electra airliner (with a shortened fuselage), so why not do it in reverse, MPA to passenger liner.

it would be called the "Baby Electra", due to its shorter fuselage.
as for a color scheme, im currently looking at a few options, including Lufthansa, Sabena and JetAir/TUI colors.

still working out some details, but work could start shortly  8)
« Last Edit: April 19, 2019, 07:27:22 PM by nils »
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Offline elmayerle

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2019, 01:02:36 AM »
Should be interesting.  I believe some of the P-3 operators have made similar conversions for VIP transport.

Online Kerick

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2019, 02:17:04 AM »
Sounds cool!

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2019, 02:54:10 AM »
Should be interesting.  I believe some of the P-3 operators have made similar conversions for VIP transport.

The RAAF kind of did that with their TAP-3 aircraft, though I wouldn't use the term VIP.  These were ex-USN aircraft purchased to be used for aircrew training/transport to extend the life of the P-3C fleet. They were essentially gutted inside though didn't look too different on the outside.
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Online Kerick

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2019, 11:37:50 AM »

Offline Spey Phantom

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2019, 03:19:15 AM »
Update:

im almost done with my research on the dimensions of the windows and cargodoors, all i need to do now is convert them into metric and the scale them down to 1/72 format. from what ive noticed, some of the orion windows will have to be filled up or modified, as they are not straight alligned.

as for a color scheme, i was first planning to paint it in Lufthansa markings, but the decals i have are too modern for the old airframe, thinking a classic airliner scheme (with a bare metal lower fuselage) would be more fitting.
i was thinking of a fictional airline by the name of "Trans Belgian Airlines" (TBA, based on TWA). i already have a possible logo in mind.
on the bench:
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on the drawing board:
-various 1/72 TinTin aircraft
-1/72 Eurocopter Tiger (Belgian Army)
-various other 1/72 and 1/144 aircraft

Offline elmayerle

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2019, 03:29:22 AM »
i was thinking of a fictional airline by the name of "Trans Belgian Airlines" (TBA, based on TWA). i already have a possible logo in mind.
Or go with the WTA logo from one of the Chuck Norris movies (Delta Force?).

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2019, 12:35:12 AM »
@Nils - A new set of propellers would also be a nice addition to your project if you can find some C-130J 6-blade or E-2 8-blade propellers to work with. 
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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2019, 02:43:58 AM »
@Nils - A new set of propellers would also be a nice addition to your project if you can find some C-130J 6-blade or E-2 8-blade propellers to work with.

You can get these on Shapeways
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Offline elmayerle

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2019, 09:37:25 AM »
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if the Electra had its APU, assuming it had one, in the same location as the APU on the P-3 (crossways in the lower lobe, just in front of the wing, exhaust on the starboard side through an opening panel)?

In any case, this "Baby Electra" could have that to allow it to operate out of fields that don't have start carts and such.  Not quite as good for unprepared fields as a Hercules, but definitely able to operate out of more fields than an aircraft that did not have an APU.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2019, 10:05:45 AM by elmayerle »

Offline jcf

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2019, 01:21:21 PM »
No APU mentioned in this Flight description from 1957.

https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201605.html

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Offline kitnut617

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #11 on: April 12, 2019, 10:16:41 PM »
In one of the Ice Pilots episodes, it was mostly on Buffalo Air's Electra being used to haul fuel "up north". It was mid-winter and extremely cold the day of the filming and while at the "up-north" airstrip, the APU wouldn't work. So for most of the episode it was about the mechanic trying to fix it. The APU was in a small compartment in the rear of the aircraft below the cabin deck. It could be moved out into the open from the compartment on rails.

Offline elmayerle

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2019, 12:41:30 AM »
I have to presume that the Orion moved the APU to the location I mentioned to allow sonobuoy chutes and the MAD boom in the rear of the aircraft.  An Orion converted to a "Baby Electra" would probably still keep the same APU location.

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2019, 03:52:45 AM »
My understanding is that the majority of Electras did not have an APU fitted.  Those that do/did were retrofits.  In fact, even on the P-3 Orion an APU was not included at the start.  APU's were installed from the 134th aircraft (152164) onwards after initial tests with 152140. Earlier P-3A's were retrofitted.
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Offline kitnut617

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2019, 04:03:26 AM »
Maybe it was an update when the Electras started being used as freighters and flying into some way out backwoods airstrips.

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #15 on: April 13, 2019, 04:27:32 AM »
On a case-by-case basis.  Not a fleet wide fit.
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Offline Robomog

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #16 on: April 13, 2019, 08:39:35 AM »
From what I recall from a TV series about Buffalo Airways the Electra had an APU in the tail between  the trailing edge of the main wing and the leading edge of the tail, no reason why the baby Electra shouldn't have one. Please check this though my memory is fickle.

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Offline jcf

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #17 on: April 13, 2019, 12:52:44 PM »
Maybe it was an update when the Electras started being used as freighters and flying into some way out backwoods airstrips.

As it's stuck into the aft luggage-bay a retrofit seems most likely, and as Greg says on
a case-by-case basis. It's very possible that APUs were added to the airframes that
underwent conversion to freighters.

https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/545117-buffalo-airways-l188-electra.html
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Offline finsrin

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #18 on: April 13, 2019, 04:29:15 PM »
Liking concept of Baby Electra  :smiley:
Got me interested to do scale measurements of P-3 to subtract length of tail boom.  Getting ~3ft length reduction.  Was hoping for more.  Is shorter.

Offline Spey Phantom

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #19 on: April 14, 2019, 10:48:23 PM »
And we are off  8)

starting with the most time consuming work, taping off and drilling all the holes where the windows are gonna be (white spaces).
after these pics were taken, the holes have been drilled in and the first 4 windows were filed out, loads more to go.

pictures:







on the bench:
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on the drawing board:
-various 1/72 TinTin aircraft
-1/72 Eurocopter Tiger (Belgian Army)
-various other 1/72 and 1/144 aircraft

Offline apophenia

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L188-75 "Baby Electra"
« Reply #20 on: April 19, 2019, 06:21:24 AM »
Now that is a masking job! Great start nils  :smiley:
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Offline Spey Phantom

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L-188-75 "Junior Electra"
« Reply #21 on: April 19, 2019, 07:32:13 PM »
Update:

After 3 days of filing, the windows are all there, although there are still some rough parts to be sanded out.
i also decided to make some changes on the project.

first off, i changed the name from baby Electra, to Junior Electra.
also, i reconcidered the color scheme, instead of a white/red trim with aluminium underside, i have decided to ge with a 60's Sabena color scheme  8)

more in-progress pics to follow later.

on the bench:
-various models

on the drawing board:
-various 1/72 TinTin aircraft
-1/72 Eurocopter Tiger (Belgian Army)
-various other 1/72 and 1/144 aircraft

Offline Spey Phantom

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L-188-75 "Junior Electra"
« Reply #22 on: April 20, 2019, 03:26:08 AM »
Update:

Decals have been designed, here's a rough concept art made in Paint (dot) net  8)
just need to make some refinements before printing them out.

« Last Edit: April 20, 2019, 04:40:41 PM by nils »
on the bench:
-various models

on the drawing board:
-various 1/72 TinTin aircraft
-1/72 Eurocopter Tiger (Belgian Army)
-various other 1/72 and 1/144 aircraft

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L-188-75 "Junior Electra"
« Reply #23 on: April 20, 2019, 03:26:22 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline elmayerle

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Re: 1/72 Lockheed L-188-75 "Junior Electra"
« Reply #24 on: April 20, 2019, 04:49:57 AM »
That's very nice.