1/48 AMT/ERTL ES-3A Shadow

Gallery Article by Konstantinos Vergos

 

      

ES-3A Shadow was a 1991 conversion of S3-A Viking for electronic warfare role (SIGINT/ ELINT) on ships, submarines and planes beyond horizon, in order to replace the veteran EA-3B Skywarrior with more than 40 years in service. Electronics used was Aries II system from EP-3E Orion, in position of anti-submarine devices. So more than 60 antennae were placed on fuselage and wings, with additional equipment in the dorsal extension and inside torpedo bays. All these under the ghost gray color scheme gave a unique weird look to the plane on carrier decks. 

Sixteen Shadows were divided to VQ-5 and VQ-6 squadrons (on West and East coast) having 2 planes on each carrier group and being operational first with VQ-5 on USS Independence in early summer of 1993. Shadows kept in service for six years with the last ones retiring from USS Enterprise on September 1999. This model represents a VQ-5 commemorative bird on that retirement. 

AMT/ERTL’s kit came out on 1995 and is based on Esci’s 1983 Viking, having additional sprue trees with the extra equipment needed for a Shadow. Esci’s old moulding has excellent engraved panel lines and fine fitting, but the new door pieces for the swollen torpedo bay area here don’t seem to match the instructions and need a lot of putty for the gaps. Also some of the new pieces including antennae and the air inlet frame under the starboard tail wing are out of scale. The Ram Air cover at the bottom of the tail vertical fin was made from the MAD detector boom that is provided with the kit and it’s out of use on Shadow. The cover handle was made of copper wire with the same material used for the dorsal side antenna. Another addition was the anti-slip surface of the side door steps that was made from fine sandpaper. 

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Paints that used here are Gunze Aqueous. Weathering was done with oils and kept to a minimal level having in mind that a commemorative aircraft at least should have to be kept clean!

The decals for the commemorative livery are from Superscale with the ones given with the kit been used alternatively and additionally to them. We have to note here that Superscale had two decal sheets for S-3 variations and the stencils for this one seem to be a mix of both! After long searching through photos of Vikings (mostly) and the ones of Shadows found on the web, I managed to notice the positions for many of the stencils, leaving the others away. Care has to be taken with the large pieces for the tail sides, because they tend to twist and split after leaving the water! The anti collision lights on the tale decals are from the kit decal sheet, which as a whole is better in colour and application. 

After all, this was a construction of a kit that found forgotten on the shelves of the local (toy) shop and, despite its age, came out as a colourful eye catching theme of a short lived spooky plane.

Konstantinos Vergos

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Photos and text © by Konstantinos Vergos