Grumman E-2C Hawkeye from the book Treason Flight

The Project
I built this model for T.R. "Wombat" Matson, author of the book "Treason Flight."
T.R. Matson is a pilot, veteran, and best-selling author with over two decades of military and civilian aviation experience. His naval aviation journey took him to the skies to command the E-2C Hawkeye and the F/A-18 Hornet through four combat deployments. He is currently a captain in a major airline.
Treason Flight is Matson's first book, which tells the story of Jack “Rattler” Owen, a Navy pilot on a combat deployment struggling with life at sea, who ultimately finds himself involved in an exciting thriller that will force him to choose the safe path or the path that could end his career or even his life to expose the leadership that is willing to stop at nothing to benefit their own agenda. You must read the book, but I can say that the Hawkeye plays a central role in it.

To learn more about Wombat Matson, buy his books, and look at a ton of cool stuff, go to his website at https://www.trmatson.com/
The Model
This is the Hasegawa kit in 1/72 scale, but it has several add-ons, such as:
Wolfpack wingfold.
Eduard cockpit.
Blackdog engine and access door.
ResKit wheels.
Brengun towbar and wheel chocks.
Quickboost engine covers.
I started with the interior, which is actually not visible at all. Since I wanted to do it with the access door open, I didn't want to leave the fuselage empty, so I attempted to recreate some sort of interior layout from scratch.
As I mentioned, the cockpit PE is from Eduard, so that was easy to tackle.
Before closing the fuselage, I decided to tint the side and upper windows with the copper coat characteristic of modern E-2s. I achieved this by mixing Tamiya Clear Orange with a drop of Tamiya Copper, all heavily diluted with isopropyl alcohol. Then, I lightly airbrushed the windows from the inside.

Next, I moved to the wings. After cutting and preparing everything with the Wolfpack set, I decided to add more detail. I used lead wire to add some tubes and pipes, and I also added some rivets with resin rivet decals.
One thing to consider with the Wolfpack set is that the flaps' shape is wrong. I decided to use the kit's flaps and reshaped them to look the correct way. Below is a comparison between the Wolfpack flaps and my modified flaps. The ones at the top are mine. Always check your references!

Next, I moved to the starboard engine, which is cast in resin from Blackdog. It is well-detailed and nicely done, but it needs a few minor corrections and would benefit from additional detail.
I used lead wire, guitar cord, and EZ-line to modify and improve the engine detail.
Once this was done, it was time to put everything together and start painting. As always, I started with a black base and pre-shading. I attempted to mimic Daniel Zamarbide's pre-shading technique.

I painted the model entirely in Light Gull Gray FS36440 (MRP-098). I used Insignia Blue (MRP-300) for the tails, Hobby Color red 327 (FS11136) for the flaps, and dark gray for the walkway.

Another detail that I wanted to recreate was the glow-in-the-dark propeller tips. I achieved this by painting the tips white and then covering them with a brush coat of Wicked Colors' Glow in the Dark Clear.

With all the paint done, I moved to the weathering. Several Hawkeye pilots told me not to overdo it, so I coated the model with Aqua Gloss and highlighted the panel lines with Flory Models Dark Dirt.

After coating the model again, it was time for decals. The model's paint scheme is fictional since the actual aircraft had a big bird on the fuselage. I printed the squadron insignia and the crew names, all characters in the book, at home.
With the decals done, I did some touch-ups with oils only in a few areas, like around the engine access panels.
After a final sealing coat, the model was ready to go into the display base since I had to tie it down before putting the wings and the props on in order to have space to maneuver the tie-down chains.

The images below show the model with everything fitted up.
I finally decided to add two figures. I went with a maintainer and a plane captain. The figures are from Reedoak.


So after placing the figures, the engine covers, and a small ladder I took from a train set and modified to look like a standard aluminum ladder, the model was complete.
Check the gallery below to see more photos.
I met Wombat and delivered this model to him in person. It was a privilege to make this for him and have a chance to get together to share some time and stories.

I hope you enjoyed this short article about this build. As always, thank you for reading, and happy modeling!
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