Beyond The Sprues

Modelling => Completed GBs => Group and Themed Builds => Maritime Patrol GB => Topic started by: RayS on May 08, 2022, 09:18:12 PM

Title: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on May 08, 2022, 09:18:12 PM
Since I was given the opportunity to complete a well-started build in the P-7 I thought in a moment of madness I would use the leftovers from that conversion to create another P-3 variant.

I shall call this the P-3X, a twin-engine low-cost Coastal Patrol version for smaller Armed Forces who do not need the full capability of the standard P-3. FUll back story to follow.

I have started on assembling the jigsaw of the leftovers, I cut the forward section of the fuselage down a tad more (took out an inch) to make the conversion look a lot more compressed

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52059232765_2b18b1c0c1_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njibbH)

Compared to a full P-3 fuselage
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058983414_8750a2eb63_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njgU4y)

The wing leftovers are shorter at the root than usual and the inboard nacelles do not have enough prop clearance. So they need to be removed/reshaped with some reinforcing required before plastic removal
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52059232700_52679692ea_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njibaA)

Inboard nacelles top removed and void filled with card, milliput will be used to fill the rest of the void. I need to leave part of it protruding as the main wheel well extends past the leading edge. This means some sort of aerodynamic fairing will have to go on the front of it as well, most likely more milliput.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057707307_b0f8d8b7bc_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njamHH)

LOwer wing sections going together
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058745776_cb8741b436_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njfFqm)

A spar will be required to give the new wing some strength
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52059232660_89f61888af_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njib9U)

The spar has been glued to the wing which has been taped to the fuselage to give some semblance of dihedral, this shot shows a basic mock-up of the build so far. The eagle-eyed among you will note the cut-down and reshaped vertical stabiliser.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52059232580_138eb11930_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njib8w)

I find this initial hacking and slashing quite enjoyable and goes by quite quickly, then I get bogged down with the filling a shape refining. See how we go this time.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Old Wombat on May 08, 2022, 10:21:53 PM
All right! 8) :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: GTX_Admin on May 09, 2022, 01:32:31 AM
 :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Frank3k on May 09, 2022, 02:54:14 AM
Looks good! You can use the inner nacelle as a pod for an external fuel tank/landing gear bay/extra equipment
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: apophenia on May 09, 2022, 04:34:11 AM
Excellent concept. And a lovely bit of parts-bin 'recycling'  :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on May 09, 2022, 09:11:19 AM
Looks good! You can use the inner nacelle as a pod for an external fuel tank/landing gear bay/extra equipment

Great ideas, I need to keep the inner lower sections as they have the main gear wheel wells, I contemplated for a microsecond cutting them out and moving them outboard but decided it was too much work even for me.  :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Kerick on May 10, 2022, 09:26:22 AM
Lov’n both of these builds! I’ll be watching.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on May 10, 2022, 03:39:29 PM
Some paint applied to the interior is prep for starting to button things up
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52062308247_e5f0943cab_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njyWqg)

Cockpit painted and assembled
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52063346016_5cc712c8aa_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njEfUQ)

The locations of the engines were bugging me so I taped it all together to see what it would look like.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52063365828_7101848df4_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njEmNq)

I did start to look at how I could cut up the wings to move the engines inboard and the wheel wells outboard to make one unit. But I decided it was too hard for this exercise and binned the idea.

So Milliput was applied to the gaping holes in the wings in prep for huge sanding session to fair everything in.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52063837080_f8d6e83ddf_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njGLTs)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: finsrin on May 12, 2022, 02:00:50 AM
Shorty fuselage looks correct  :smiley:      Nifty treatment of inner engine delete  :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Kerick on May 13, 2022, 03:51:49 AM
Good idea taping up for the test pics. Carry on!
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on May 24, 2022, 07:49:51 PM
I have been distracted by other builds (in the background of these images). I manage to clean up the milliput on the wing assembly and get the fuselage together tonight.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52096286305_7424aaf1f3_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nnz5UR)

Since I can't find the nose wheel well piece I will have to build it wheels up. So the stand support structure has been added to the wing assembly as well.

More puttying on the way...
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52095784731_7dfc4acb47_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nnwvP2)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Old Wombat on May 24, 2022, 09:58:03 PM
Just you wait & see: As soon as you've got the finished build up on the stand, the missing nose wheel well will appear & smirk at you! ;)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on June 21, 2022, 02:38:52 PM
With other things getting in the way, like Australia's biggest Model competition I have been able to find time to do some more.

The wings went onto the fuselage and milliput seared in the resulting crevices. This was sanded back to give some semi-pleasing joinery (if you don't look too close)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52162381494_2330333eb8_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ntpQH5)

I also bit the bullet and built a nose wheel well and also installed a cut-down sonobuoy disperser panel
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52162381549_40144ed899_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ntpQJ2)

Some  putty applied to the new parts
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52162381664_5db47627ba_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ntpQL1)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Old Wombat on June 21, 2022, 04:26:10 PM
PSR, the modellers' curse! ::) ;)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Buzzbomb on June 21, 2022, 05:42:17 PM
Yes.. this is coming along very nicely
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on June 23, 2022, 12:47:01 PM
I have the tail planes attached ( from a B-17 of all things!) and am tinkering with the idea of making this a trimotor rather than a twin.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Old Wombat on June 23, 2022, 01:38:56 PM
I ... am tinkering with the idea of making this a trimotor rather than a twin.

I wouldn't.

No matter what you fit, wherever you fit it, it will
a) spoil the lines; &
b) reduce/interfere with your aircraft's patrol capabilities.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on June 25, 2022, 09:16:15 AM
Oops..... too late

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52171055964_72f1553a0a_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nubijU)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52169790067_b66b11604e_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nu4P26)

Replacement radar and other sensor lumps also added
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Old Wombat on June 25, 2022, 08:20:18 PM
Um, where do the turbine exhaust gases go from the turboprop? ???
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Jeffry Fontaine on June 25, 2022, 09:46:31 PM
Um, where do the turbine exhaust gases go from the turboprop? ???
Maybe it is a hybrid turbine/electric powered aircraft?  Two gas turbines on the wings and a large electric motor in the nose.  :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on June 26, 2022, 10:28:15 AM
Um, where do the turbine exhaust gases go from the turboprop? ???

At that point, I had not thought about where they would go, since then I have added an exhaust pipe just forward of the nose wheel well. Might change it to 2 pipes angled diagonally though.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on June 26, 2022, 08:14:43 PM
And here is how the exhausts went, the big one
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52174411500_d142bf0a75_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nutuNY)72_Has_P-3X_22 (https://flic.kr/p/2nutuNY) by Ray Seppala (https://www.flickr.com/photos/141750093@N02/), on Flickr

which I was not a fan of then replaced with two smaller ones (putty fixed up later)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52174407085_f0548ff6f6_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nuttuR)(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52173917766_45902099cf_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nuqY3j)

And then some pylons added
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52173930793_c993117798_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nur2UV)

and the proposed loadout (as I have LOTS of Hasegawa Mk46 torpedoes)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52174406985_4de85dbdaf_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nuttt8)

Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Buzzbomb on June 27, 2022, 06:49:27 AM
Wow, did not see that coming.
Sort of with Guy on this, in the ambivilent bucket around aesthetics.

However.... the radically changed looks makes it very purposeful and the modelling is top notch.

Great work.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: finsrin on June 27, 2022, 08:08:13 AM
Inspiring   :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on July 02, 2022, 07:00:58 AM
Haven't been able to pay much attention to this or my other build due to restarting part-time work.

With the extension, I will attempt to get this one finished at least.

Test with props fitted
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52185804264_9b45f1f3fc_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nvtTtW)


I too am not sure about the aesthetics at the moment, I shall consider my options
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Kerick on July 02, 2022, 01:26:25 PM
What's that small airliner with one engine in the nose? I'll think of it an hour from now.
I wouldn't have thought of three engines myself but its growing on me.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on July 02, 2022, 02:20:59 PM
What's that small airliner with one engine in the nose? I'll think of it an hour from now.
I wouldn't have thought of three engines myself but its growing on me.

Pilatus PC-12 is what you are thinking of...

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50149907597_45be67ed7d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jpzokg)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: GTX_Admin on July 03, 2022, 03:23:32 AM
Pilatus PC-12 is what you are thinking of...

Or SOCATA TBM (now Daher TBM):

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Daher-Socata_TBM_900_Air_to_Air.jpg/600px-Daher-Socata_TBM_900_Air_to_Air.jpg)

or Piper PA-46 Malibu:

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Piper_PA-46-500TP_Malibu_Meridian_AN1805813.jpg/600px-Piper_PA-46-500TP_Malibu_Meridian_AN1805813.jpg)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Kerick on July 06, 2022, 12:11:40 PM
Hmmm...
What I was thinking of was more like a Dash-8 or smaller with a honk'n big turbo in the nose. Maybe just my imagination or my old fart brain thinking weird again. Could become an interesting whiff some day.
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: jcf on July 08, 2022, 04:29:39 AM
Hmmm...
What I was thinking of was more like a Dash-8 or smaller with a honk'n big turbo in the nose. Maybe just my imagination or my old fart brain thinking weird again. Could become an interesting whiff some day.

You may be thinking of the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.

(https://cdn.jetphotos.com/full/6/50374_1558640823.jpg)

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Caravan_three_views.png)
208 Caravan on left, 208B Grand Caravan to the right.

Soloy tried to develop/market a twin-engine version as the Pathfinder 21.
(https://www.aircraftrecognitionguide.com/images/aircraft/Cessna/cessna-208-pathfinder-21.jpg)

Then, of course, there was the Ayres LM200 Loadmaster.
See attached image.

Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: RayS on July 14, 2022, 04:48:30 PM
Well, I have just got this one over the line.

I decided to go back to a two-engine config, here is is being decaled and nearing completion

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52215390798_07e6f22494_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ny6wwA)

Some weapons
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52215375826_bc6d1c0664_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ny6s5s)

And finished in a Seek and Strike mission configuration armed with AIM 9s (self defence), AGM88 HARMS (SEAD), and MK46 torpedos (ship strike/anti-submarine warfare)

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52214370347_d1d1fe6b0a_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ny1ibB)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52215855890_d972e2ebdb_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ny8UMq)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52215375691_4d6d535068_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ny6s38)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52215650879_424febe113_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ny7RQK)


Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Old Wombat on July 14, 2022, 05:13:15 PM
Well done! Looks much better! :smiley: 8)
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: GTX_Admin on July 15, 2022, 12:30:14 AM
 :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: The Big Gimper on July 15, 2022, 06:06:38 AM
A most excellent model Ray.   :smiley:
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Buzzbomb on July 15, 2022, 05:43:45 PM
great work all around
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: uncle les on July 16, 2022, 05:20:50 PM
Awesome. 
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: M.A.D on August 21, 2022, 07:01:25 PM
Wow, that's one awesome weapons load.

Where do I get to see your P-7 model RayS?

MAD
Title: Re: Lockheed P-3X
Post by: Old Wombat on August 21, 2022, 10:37:46 PM
Wow, that's one awesome weapons load.

Where do I get to see your P-7 model RayS?

MAD


Well, if he's really nice, it'll be at the SAPMA Scale Model Expo (http://expo.saplasticmodellers.com.au/expoindex.shtml) this year, so I can see it in person. ;)

I promise to bring along some other whifs, so it doesn't feel lonely! :smiley: