Thread started by Viper1983
Patryk S.added a new photoalbum.
19 images
U-2F 56-6676 Cuban Crisis
1:72
More progress. Did scratch build the IR deflector usig reference photos which are not that many and the deflector from t...
Project: U-2F 56-6676 Cuban Crisis
1+ 32 12 December 2022, 20:23
Patryk S. AuthorOff we go. Here the products used for the project. Already started so many parts are off the sprue.
12 December 2022, 20:25
Patryk S. AuthorWings off the sprues, one already glued together. Removed the parts I identified for subassemblies that can be already cleaned out and glued, then primed.
12 December 2022, 20:27
Lochsa Riverchecking this out...please change the name to that of the kit or something else...
13 December 2022, 15:03
Patryk S. AuthorWings glued together and the vertical stabiliser also. Glued the stick and photo etched pedals to the cockpit. Sone lines were missing from one side of the stabiliser, did rescribe them. It is hard to understand why the stabiliser isn't moulded in one part like the horizontal ones as it would save some effort for both the company and the builder.
14 December 2022, 19:06
A.J. MadisonLove all the cold war 'warriors' especially those in natural metal finishes. Dragon Lady was definitely on the ragged edge of the envelope.
15 December 2022, 07:16
Patryk S. AuthorDid assemble the seat without the headrest and the cussion. Did assemble part B5 to the side of one part as in the instruction which ended as on the picture. I advise to first assemble the seat mainframe and then to glue part B5. My first impression is that HB has not put much effort in this kit as the seat is not straight and other parts do not fit good at all like the wings.
15 December 2022, 21:02
Patryk S. Author@A.J. yes theye are something special from a time where manking tried to push the technological envelope to it's limits.
15 December 2022, 21:04
Patryk S. AuthorDig glue the exaust pipe and some elements of the main gear bay today. Fit is acceptable but not what I expected from a mainstream manufacturer. Hoped for some easy assembly after the P-36...
16 December 2022, 17:39
A.J. Madison@ photo3. Why two parts for vertical stab? Well... I'm working on the 1/144 Mini Pan Am Pacific Clipper, and two of its tails are molded in one piece, and both of them have 4 (4!) ejector pin marks. And on a NMF kit no less. I've resorted to scribing the panel lines, then doing the fill & sand. Admittedly, I give the Mini Pacific Clipper a B- on the moldings.
17 December 2022, 01:26
Patryk S. Author@A.J.: Thank you for your feedback! I understand what you mean but this is a 2021 mold and they managed to mold both horizontal stabilisers in one piece with no ejector pin marks on the same sprue, that's why I wonder why did they went for that decision.
17 December 2022, 09:18
Bernd GrünFollowing your build with interest cause I've planned to
build the black U-2C. Keep on modeling, mate.😉
30 December 2022, 17:00
Patryk S. AuthorThanks for beeing here Bernd! I saw the C lately and it is basically the same kit with new decals- you just add the hump for the C. Would advise You to buy the pe fret from Eduard as the cockpit is devoid of any detail besides the controll column, seat and front panel. The side panels are empty and there are no decals for them. Not the best fit all around but still nothing too bad - just not the usual level of Hobby Boss in this regard. My impressions are that they done it with not much effort put in it. Pitty as I also long awaited a new mainstream kit of the U-2 in this scale.
30 December 2022, 17:37
CuajeteThanks Patyk. It seems that they have made little effort for the high price of the kit. I wonder if they will release an R or TR version.
Happy 2023!
31 December 2022, 19:36
Łukasz GlińskiI'm even later than Robert, how come? 😛 Very curious about the sprue quality and the finish
1 January 2023, 12:50
Patryk S. AuthorWorking on the right wing while I clean up small parts for priming. Added the photo etched fuel inlets and added some super glue in the position where later version had pods (and here they were closed by additional parts which are not flush) in order to blend them with the wings.
23 January 2023, 19:41
Patryk S. Author@Andy: I will most propably mess up this perfection with the canopy as the tamiya sprays and primers are at least for me difficult when demasking the clear parts, but I am forunately getting better with every kit so hoping to get this right.
24 January 2023, 08:33
Patryk S. AuthorCleaned up the main gear doors today. Enourmous sprue attachment gates but nothing some sanding can't manage. Working on the wings also.
16 February 2023, 20:20
Patryk S. AuthorGetting ready for priming of all subassemblies parts. Working to replace the internals of the speed brakes - the eduard ones are more accurate. The wiring immitation of the hb plastic is nice but the parts lack many details.
13 March 2023, 21:04
Patryk S. AuthorDid some additional reasearch - the Hobby Boss brakes are correct for the TR-1 versions and up. For the U-2A eduard PE ist the better choice, though it is not 100% accurate also, but gets very close to the original.
14 March 2023, 08:18
Patryk S. AuthorDid assemble some PE parts today and cleaned up the airbrake frames fo the PE.
17 March 2023, 17:26
Patryk S. AuthorDid some PE work today. Assembled the first airbrake and added some wiring and glued the PE oleo scissors to the main gear. Also drilled out a hole by the main strut to add some detail.
18 March 2023, 19:15
Patryk S. AuthorBoth internals of the speedbrake done. Was afraid it would be the hardest part of the build but it went reasonably quick as for my first time doing more complex PE.
20 March 2023, 21:09
Patryk S. AuthorAfter finishing the XP-77 it's time to continue the fight with the U-2. After purchasing the caracal U-2 decal set I decided to do the U-2F 56-6676 which was shot down by an SA-2 during the Cuban Crisis on Oct 27, 1962. The pilot, Maj. Rudolf Anderson unfortunately was killed in action. The F was a modified A model which wa able to receive aerial refuelling. A reaserch gave conflicting info as various sources state that the plane was either an A, C or F model. The pictures of the the wreck show the medium spine which was present on F models so I presume that this is the correct guess. Will have to think now how to scratch build the medium spine. Cockpit done. The eduard PE really brings life to it as the HB representation of it is really poor.
2 1 June, 12:20
Patryk S. AuthorAfter some research I came to the conclusion that the gear bays and speed brake bays were painted silver or left unpainted bare aluminium or painted in a yellowish green manner resembling zinc chromate in the early models. I went with silver and decided to prime the detail parts black so will do another coat on the white. I lend myself some wing supports from the mpc / airfix kit to add some detail.
2 30 June, 19:09
Patryk S. AuthorAs the kit lacks some detail I decided to do some scratch building. The main gear is lacking the landing lights so I started to recreate them. Here the crude outline which will be refined with some more sanding, molotov chrome and clear to represent the lenses. Interresting enough the airfix kit did many details right like the airbrakes internals and some main landing gear details.
2 14 July, 20:54
Patryk S. AuthorThe Dragon Lady sits on her wheels. All inserts in and fuselage glued together. Seam work awaits. All of the insersts besides the cockpit needed adjustment to fit - they are a bit too big but nothing serious - some sanding and the problem is solved. Fit of the fuselage is very good with minor gaps to fill - mainly in areas where the sprue gates were. I decided to glue the gear assemblies into the wells before closing of the fuselage as the inserts are very tight and I was afraid that too much force would loosen the wheel wells if I would install the gear after fuselage assembly. Check alligment before glueing, especially of the rear landing gear as I had some problems there.
1 21 August, 20:25
Patryk S. AuthorSeam clean up and rescribing of lost panel lines done. The kit doesn't need much filler for the fuselage - mostly where the sprue connection points were. After more picture analysis I finally decided that I will use the small spine on the kit as a deeper dive in the picture of the wreck and available publication did rule out the medium spine. One problem is that several resources state that it was either an A,C or F model with the propability of beeing either an A or F (which was a modified A model). The F's were then rebuilt to C standard. Did paint the intakes internally and glued them to the fuselage - the fit is good - I didn't need any filler, just a thicker layer of tamiya extra thin did the job. Here the first intake after sanding smooth and rescribing. The panel lines are very delicate on this kit with several dissapearing or non existent, particulary in the verical and horizontal stabilisers area. Did also add all of the smaler cooling intakes.
Now I need to scratch build the "sugar scoop" exhaust protection.
Here I must correct my earlier statement. The C model from HB has a different sprue with the fuselage halves, bigger intakes and other details to build a late C model including the sugar scoop which is unfortunately moldel together with the fuselage halves and the long spine.
1 17 September, 19:01
Patryk S. AuthorMore progress. Did scratch build the IR deflector usig reference photos which are not that many and the deflector from the AFV 1:48 U-2C kit for creating one in 72nd scale. Also prepped the horizontal and vertical stabilisers. Both require rescribing - the horizontal on the lover side and the vertical on the left side as a big part of them are missing - proof that the kit was hastily put into production - why? Next - painting the inner IR deflector and attachment of the stabilisers.
2 31 October, 22:41