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.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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
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