The Boeing P-8 Poseidon (formerly the Multimission Maritime Aircraft or MMA) is a military aircraft developed for the United States Navy (USN). The aircraft has been developed by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, modified from the 737-800ERX.

The P-8 conducts anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping interdiction, along with an electronic signals intelligence (ELINT) role. This involves carrying torpedoes, depth charges, SLAM-ER missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and other weapons. It is able to drop and monitor sonobuoys. It is designed to operate in conjunction with the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle.

The P-8 is operated by the United States Navy, the Indian Navy, and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It has also been ordered by the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF), the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), the Royal New Zealand Air Force(RNZAF), and the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). There are currently 12 USN fleet squadrons and one training squadron operating the type. The last USN P-3s are planned to be phased out this year (2025)

The P-8A has been kitted in 1/200 by Hasegawa and in 1/72 by BPK. To my knowledge, this is the first time it is being offered in 1/144. This kit was released last year. If you have ever built any airliners in this scale, you will find this kit to be quite familiar as it is based on a late model 737. The kit provides three options; an extended FLIR pod, a full weapons bay with torpedoes, and the ability to display it in flight, though you are on your own when it comes to a display stand.

The kit does come with a cockpit, which some will find useful. One also has to build up the nose gear assembly and the bomb bay before closing the fuselage halves. There are also a lot of holes that will need opened for the large number of antennas that this aircraft has. There is no indication of nose weight needed, but I'd put in 5-10 grams at least just to be on the safe side.

Before assembling the wings, holes for the pylons will need to be opened. Now this is not absolutely required and you will find photos of planes without them; the choice is yours. When building the wings, you'll find that the upper wing halves interlock and include the roof of the main gear well. The lower wing piece contains the main gear openings and there are holes in this that will need opened as well. Once that is done the instructions have you build up the main gear, but I'd leave that off until after painting.

Next several steps are building up the bomb bay with its articulated doors. If you wish a closed bay, there is a piece for that. Each of the engine pods is ten pieces with the forward cowl ring being a single piece. These are then attached to the wings along with the flap actuator fairings. The last construction steps cover installation of pylons and Harpoons, the tail cone and stabs along with the cockpit transparency and the myriad of antennas. So many that the instructions go onto a second sheet to cover them all.

Speaking of instructions, they are well done and provide not only color info in several paint brands, but also some detail images to help align things. Two markings options are provided, both in FS 16515 (which used to be marketed by Testors as Voodoo Grey) with unpainted flight surface leading edges. One is the box art plane from VP-16, which I believe, was the first USN squadron to get the aircraft. The other is an unidentified Australian plane, which based on the tail marking is from 11 Squadron. Used to be two Orion squadrons, but 10 Squadron is going on to flying Gulfstreams. Decals are nicely printed and include the walkway markings. On a personal note, I would have liked to have seen a windscreen decal included so it would match my airliner models, but I'm sure that finding one won't be that much of an issue. For those who want something different, Draw Decal offers a good selection of US and foreign operators.

Nice to see this kit in this scale. The fairly large number of antennas will challenge some (such as I), but doesn't appear impossible and much better than having them molded in place. I would bet that Academy will release other boxings in the near future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_P-8_Poseidon

January 2025 

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