1/72 Monogram CP-140 Aurora

Gallery Article by Dan McWilliams on Jan 13 2010

 

I found this older kit in a hobby shop in Ottawa.  It came with two sheets of yellowed old decals that allowed me to build a CP-140 Aurora (the Canadian version of the P-3C Orion).  I have had somewhat of an association with the Aurora over the years.  My first flight in one was in the early 80s in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.  One came to give rides to groups of student pilots, to incite them to ask to fly this powerful and sophisticated sub-hunter.  I remember standing up behind the flight deck as we pulled 2 Gs doing closed patterns; the first and only time I've stood under 2+ G!  The colour scheme for this one is the first one it wore - white on top with darker grey below.  I've always liked how they looked, and find that the modern overall toned-down grey is a little boring.  The Aurora is a comfortable and relatively high performance aircraft for its class, and very manoeuvrable.

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The kit itself was an easy build, and fit fairly well.  For me painting was a big challenge.  I've always had a hard time with white.  Masking was a nightmare as well - I painted the white first (using Canadian Tire spray primer, believe it or not!).  It took several coats, and I found there were a couple spots that I got impatient with and sprayed too thickly, only to be rewarded with drips that I had to wipe off with a cloth and respray... seemed to take forever.

After masking and painting the bottom grey (I picked another household spray can for the purpose, not an exact match, but close enough for me), I peeled the tape off to find it pulled bits of white off with it.  I touched things up as best I could with a brush (the white).  The final finish is not perfect, but looks OK from a distance.

The clear windows could be glued in afterward, which much simplified the masking.  I hand-painted the black, and the props.  The red lines on the props were done by painting patches of white at the end of the silver props, and after drying I took a red permanent marker and made the red bands by hand.  These props are the same colour as the ones on the CC-130 Hercules (not surprising - same engines mounted upside-down).

This kit is satisfyingly big, and brings back fond memories of a few flights in this big beast.

Dan McWilliams

Photos and text © by Dan McWilliams