So I started a RAN AV-8B+ a few weeks ago and after getting the fuselage together on the Hase 1/72 kit I just sort of...lost interest...
So on to a new project, after all this is a hobby, not a job. This will likely be my entry to the "Anything Goes" GB.
The Kit...
The Story...
By early 2013 a combination of the US refocusing it's global priorities on Asia and the limited availability of Maritime Patrol assets from European NATO partners led even the (SELF EDITED TO COMPLY WITH THE FORUM RULES ON POLITICS) in Whitehall to admit that an Island nation with no Maritime Patrol Aircraft in the inventory was a bit of a joke. Improving economic outlooks allowed for the order of 7 Boeing P-8As, for delivery beginning in 2018. This off-the-shelf purchase would allow the UK to once again field a high-level MPA/MMA aircraft. The 7-aircraft fleet was a welcome addition the RAF inventory, but still it was a far cry from the former Nimrod MR2 fleet, or even the planned MRA4 fleet. With 7 aircraft it would be difficult to provide full time coverage to UK waters, PLUS the Falkland Islands, where tensions continued to rise, PLUS other overseas commitments, PLUS international maritime obligations, PLUS cover Trident submarine movements.
So by mid-2013 a second aircraft purchase was made; 13 Bombardier DHC-8-200 aircraft, to be modified by Bombardier into a MPA configuration. The second hand Dash 8-200 aircraft were purchased at a bargain price, and a fixed price contract for conversion was negotiated with Bombardier, making the entire Dash 8 MPA fleet more affordable than a single additional Poseidon MRA.1 For the MPA role the Dash 8 was fitted with an underfuselage FLIR sensor, SLAR, and a search radar in a retractable radome under the rear fuselage, retracting into the former baggage compartment. An additional fuel tank was also added in the tail, and a refueling probe was fitted. Fuselage pylons were fitted to accomodate torpedoes, Sea Skua (and follow on) missiles, or SAR packs. Four sensor stations were fitted in the cabin, leaving room for a lavatory, galley, and a small crew rest area.
The Dash 8 will serve in UK waters as local MPA as well as a flight of two permanently deployed to Mt. Pleasant in the FI, freeing the small Poseidon fleet to concentrate on more demanding tasks.
More details to come as the build progresses...
The Build...
I flew Dash 8-100s and 200s for about 700 hours and was also Simulator Instructor on it. It's an incredible aircraft, and to be honest the Hobbycraft kit is a bit of a piece of crap...but It's an OK canvas to work with. I'm not going to do much, if anything in the cabin and cockpit, since it will all be invisible when completed, but I am going to scribe proper panel lines, and add detail such as the deice boots and APU inlet. The windshield just doesn't look...right...somehow so I may try to improve that, but that will be a few days down the road. For now it's a night of scribing ahead! The 100 and 200 were virtually identical externally, with the only noticable differences being the location of the taxi light (nose on the 100, nosegear on the 200) and the engine breather tubes on the 100, so making this 100 into a 200 will be a piece of cake.
Suggestions welcome as to the color scheme...I have the Airfix Nimrod kit, so Sqn decals will likely come from there.