Hasegawa 1/72 ES-3A Shadow 'CAG of Seashadows'

The Lockheed S-3 Viking was a 4-crew, twin-engine turbofan-powered jet aircraft that was used by the U.S. Navy (USN) primarily for anti-submarine warfare. In the late 1990s, the S-3B's mission focus shifted to surface warfare and aerial refueling. When the EA-3B was removed from service, there was a need for a shipborne replacement and the S-3 airframe was chosen for the task.

Designed as a carrier-based, subsonic, all-weather, long-range, electronic reconnaissance (ELINT) aircraft. 16 aircraft were modified to replace the EA-3B Skywarrior, entering fleet service in 1993. The ES-3A carried an extensive suite of electronic sensors and communications gear, replacing the S-3's submarine detection, armament, and maritime surveillance equipment with avionics racks accommodating the ES-3A's sensors. These modifications had minor impact on airspeed, reducing its top rated speed from 450 to 405 knots (833 to 750 km/h) but had no noticeable impact on the aircraft's range and actually increased its rated loiter time. Because these aircraft were standoff indications and warnings platforms and were never intended to be part of an ingress strike package, this new speed limitation was considered insignificant.

Hasegawa's S-3 kit has been with us for quite a long time and is typical of the raised panel line kits Hasegawa produced in the 1970s. What you are provided is the standard kit with an addendum sheet for attachment of the single decal sheet option. The kit has a very basic cockpit that consists of a floor, rear bulkhead, generic looking seats, control sticks and two crew figures. The instrument panel has a decal and there are no side consoles though a central one is provided. The kit is based on the prototype and preproduction aircraft so there is an extra oval window on each side that should really be filled in once installed. While on the subject of windows, these are very dark on the real S-3 so you will need to spray several coats of something like Tamiya Smoke to darken them down. 8 grams of nose weight are required and there is plenty of room for it.

 Engine housings will need some careful work to remove the prominent intake seams. You can model the boarding steps lowered. You also have the option of having the refueling probe extended. Again, this were only extended on the ground during maintenance. For the prominent wing pylons, you have a pair of fuel tanks. In order to build a proper ES-3A, Hasegawa has included a couple of bags of cast metal parts. The casting on these is very well done and it should be fairly easy to install them. A few other mods are needed, basically removing centerline antennas. I also recommend that you get some good photos of the underside of the wings as there are differences. The box art shows the extra long underwing antennas and the 'towel rack' antenna that were present near the wing tips, items not included in the kit.

Instructions are standard Hasegawa with Gunze paint references. The two markings options are both for VQ-5 aircraft, one from the Abraham Lincoln and the other the Kitty Hawk. The box art plane is the Lincoln option and this option will require quite a bit of additional painting as it has considerable black areas on the airframe. As is often the case with limited edition Hasegawa kits, you get a standard instruction sheet with an addendum sheet for the additional bits. One thing that is not shown is that there are considerable underfuselage radio antennas and many of the extant antennas are longer than what is provided in the kit. None of these are impossible to duplicate, but it would have been nice to have had them provided.

This is one of several limited edition kits that actually includes the major additional parts. Hasegawa only did two boxings of the ES-3A and both of them cover Pacific based VQ-5. I'm thinking that there must be aftermarket decals if you want to find a VQ-6 option. The kit is not always easy to find, but well worth seeking if you want to add an important, though short-lived aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_S-3_Viking

January 2025

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction in part or in whole without express permission from the editor.