I have a buddy who is a pilot, and flies this for U.S. Customs. I have been trying to round up a model to build for him, but have had no luck.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Probably your best bet would be the Hasegawa 1/72 kit. A quick check at Squadron shows that they have the P-3C kit in stock.
Although if you’re going to build a Customs bird you may have to do alotta work, if you want to build the ‘Dome’. Also, I dunno if there are any 1/72 Customs P-3 decals out there or not.
Does this fella fly the ‘Slick’, the ‘Dome’ or the ‘Eagle’? Or does he get a chance to fly them all? Just curious…
Fade to Black…
As I Recall,Hasegawa Had/Has A 1/72 P-3 Orion
If Not In Present Production,Perhaps One Of The Many “Out Of Stock” Hobby Suppliers,Or E- Bay Might Have One
E-Bay Came Through On My Hasegawa EF111/F111 Fix Last Month,
Try “Hasegawa P” As The Search To Whittle The Search Down,It Might Help
Good Luck
Phil
P/S,As For Decals,I Am Un Sure
I don’t have a retailer for you,but I can recommend a kit: Hasegawa’s P-3C Orion in 1/72. It’s older (with raised panel lines) but the best (and only?) Orion around. It should still be available in most good hobby shops. Decals would have to come from an independent source or be homemade. Good luck!
[#ditto] I type the slowest of these 3 guys [(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]
I’m with you there, Krax. 
I dunno how many times I’ve started writing a reply only to have two or three guys get theirs in before I finish, and with some of the same info to boot…
Fade to Black…
I am not sure which one he flies, I will drop him a line and find out though. I know he makes references to the “Frisbee” on top (AWACS) if that helps…
Uhm, Is that P-3 or E-3 Mbolz?[(-D]
I dont know if the dome on top is the same size but you could use an E2 as a donor aircraft.
'Tis a P-3, Krax:
Customs flies several Orions in different configurations, hence the different nicknames.
The aircraft above is a ‘Dome’. There’s the ‘Slick’, which has no AEW radar up top but which has other radar and surveillance equipment. I think that the Slicks have a radar system similar to what the F-15 carries? I dunno about that fersher…
The ‘Eagle’ is said to have both the dish up top and the other radars, but I dunno fersher on this either; I don’t know much about this variant. But the name makes sense to me.
You can find out more about the Customs AEW Orions HERE. There’s some photos on the ‘Pictures’ page.
And oggy, I think that the system in the AEW Orions is the same basic system as used by the E-2, so your idea of robbing an E-2 kit is probably the way to go. Anyone know if Hasegawa ever released an AEW Orion?
Fade to Black…
Of course YOU’d know and have a pic to prove it[:D]. I see dutch Orions (P-3CII)regularly, but none that are so cool. Over here, the few planes we do have are about to be scrapped, along with the airfield they operate from.[V][:(!][censored][soapbox]. I have something of an opinion on how our government deals with the armed forces, but I don’t want to hijack this post (and it won’t change anything anyway).
NOW there is a plane that could be made into a nice family of kits, if someone would only do one. I do not know how many versions of the P-3 there are but I know there are probably several. The aircraft has been around for a long time. I think that it would be nice to see someone do them in 1/48, as I said in a thread months back. Call around to local or long distance hobby shops someone might nave one. Good luck in your search.
WOW! Finally someone interested in the P-3. I flew with VP-49 (Woodpeckers) back in 1969 - 1971 as an Aviation Ordnanceman. We had just transitioned to the “C” model from the A and B’s and she was a state of the art bird. Made two deployments to Iceland and visited a number of Europian countries. I had a beautiful 1/48 scale and a set of aftermarket VP-49 decals. Unfortunately, it somehow got destroyed during the move into my new house. I have two unbuilt kits at the present time. They are both Revell 1/72. One is from 1964 and the other is 1984. If you look hard enough you can find decals, although it is a daunting task. Having flown close to 500 hours I can attest to the fact that she is one beautiful flying machine. “No Santuary in the Deep.”
Nice to hear from a man who flew in one of those Orions. Woodpeckers…hmm…didn’t you guys have a Woody Woodpecker cartoon painted on the side?[8D][:D] The dutch birds went lo-vis grey recently, so no gaudy schemes this side of the Atlantic.
Orion32,
I was in the P-3 community from 1969 until I got out of the Navy in '74. Got my start
as an ASCAT team member in the TSC on beautiful Adak. Did a tour with VP-30
(The Pro’s) where we were frequent visitors at Keflavik, Bermuda, Lajes, Rota, and
Sigonella. I’ve got time in A’s, B’s, and B/D’s as well as Charlies. I ended up
in VP-10 (Red Lancers) as CAC-3’s FltComm/IFT. Deployed to Bermuda, Rota,
and Lajes. Spent time on my last deployment tweaking Qadaffi’s nose by repeatedly
crossing his “line of death” in the Gulf of Sidra. Got nearly 2500 hours in that sweet bird
Ray
BTW I’ve got Hasagawa’s 1/72 Charlie still unbuilt
Hi guys. Yes Woody Woodpecker was our mascot. He was perched on the arm of a Falconer, ready to strike at what ever he did not like. Especially subs! If you go to the web site VPNavy you can find out everything you ever wanted to know about P2’s, P3’setc. You can even look up old shipmates. Absolutely great site. Ray, had a few friends in VP-30. Wasn’t that a “rag” outfit out of Pax River? Made 2 deployments to sunny Keflavik. Were there was a blonde female behind every tree. 
VP-49 received her Presidential Unit Citation there in I believe 1970. I was a member of that unit at the time. We flew a “Flap” constantly for about a week. Well, got to run. Time to work on a few models before work. My email is EagelTC1@aol.com.
Ed
Wrong email. It’s EagleTC1@aol.com.
Sorry
Yep! VP-30 was the East coast “RAG” outfit. I was there 70-72 in the AV/WEPS division.
Strange about the blonde lady behind every tree at Kef. They said the same thing
about Adak. Adak did have a National Forest, though. About 12 small Christmas tree
size pines. None over 4 feet tall.
Ray
Great website Ed! You didn’t promise a thing too much[8D]. Especially liked the personal crew stories. Added this one to the bookmarks.
Uhmmm about those Icelandic women behind every tree… Well I don’t wanna bug ya, but Iceland is kinda famous for hardly having any trees [(-D][(-D][(-D]. I can however confirm the quality of women possibly to be found behind said trees, lol.
WOW! I can’t believe what I started here! Thank you all for your help, I went ahead and ordered the P-3 from squadron, and am now awaiting it’s arrival. Of course then I need to figure out how to scratch build the AWACs dish, and then ship the completed model from Oregon to Florida…what have I gotten myself into?!?