Lockheed U-2R/TR-1A Dragon Lady Project
The kit is presented in a rigid and resistant box with an opening at the top.
It is made up of 5 parts of very hard plastic trees...
... a decal sheet for 3 options (2 from the USA and 1 from Taiwan) with good looks, metal parts for the landing gear and control stick, and two vacuform canopies.
We begin to see closely the plastic of shame... with a lot of flash...
We begin to see closely the plastic of shame... with a lot of flash...
Where are the pieces?? I don't see the shapes.
We begin to see closely the plastic of shame... with a lot of flash...
Starting to hard clean all the big pieces. Plastic is very hard...
...with terrible injection marks.
Cleaned main parts.
First fit tests...
This will have to be covered.
The kit does not include the exhaust.
It also does not include the inside of the air intakes.
This plastic is so hard that it is difficult to remove the flash, and most of the pieces have to be shaped hardest with the blade and sandpaper.
Those pieces should cover this gap.
It becomes even more difficult because the pieces do not fit well at all and are staggered and difficult to line up, so it have to go even lower.
Once that area has been worked hard, it must be filled.
The cabin does not have any details, except for the control panel, the control lever (metal part) and the seat (consisting of two pieces). Still the seat back is too thick and no part fits even remotely into the "office" set.
After a lot of work I got the cockpit to fit inside the fuselage with a minimum of decency.
For example, the seat was always higher than it should be and this prevented the canopy from closing. It was the hardest thing for me to adjust, because the plastic is very hard and it took me quite a while to lower it.
Some pilot did the small tests for the future accommodation of an astronaut figure.
For example, the seat was always higher than it should be and this prevented the canopy from closing. It was the hardest thing for me to adjust, because the plastic is very hard and it took me quite a while to lower it.
Some pilot did the small tests for the future accommodation of an astronaut figure.
I had to do some detail to try to avoid the poor details of the cockpit.
These are my homemade photo etches 😄😛
Revell's Mig 1.44 parts.
Too big.
Cut to fit inside High Planes kit.
Rolled brass sheet to simulate the inner tube (it is actually part of the metallic container of a caramel custard).
Better than before, although it may not be like the real thing.
Painted and washed.
Turbine installed. It may not be very real, but it serves to cover the horrible emptiness of the kit's air intakes.
Painted and washed.
I continue with the joints of the air intakes, returning to all the previous hard work, whose fit are terrible.
Puttying and sanded (on both sides).
The pilot will be an astronaut from the Airfix's kit "One Step for Man...", from Apollo's moon module.
It is made of a very soft and flexible plastic. Very difficult to sand.
It will be a bit complicated.
Some adjustments will have to be made to adapt the pilot to the cockpit.
Painted pilot. Due to the difficulty of handling this material, I did not dare to remove aerospace engineering to create the impression of the S-1010B pressure suit. I don't think can see much through the canopy anyway.
Painted cockpit.
Painted cockpit and metal control stick placed. I suppose that little of all this will be seen with the cockpit closed.
Pilot in place with handmade belts.
Canopy fit is very tight touching with the pilot's helmet, but it seems that it will be able to close well.
Applying Squadron Green Putty to correct visor deformations.
And paint it after.
Due to calamity of this kit, I preferred to avoid doing all the work that goes into the landing gear. So I decided to make this model in flight position. But I had to cover the gaps in the bay wheels with styrene and putty, because the kit includes the covers in the open position and these were removed at the beginning of the build.
Fill the large gaps with strips of styrene.
Dilute Tamiya's putty in acetone...
...and mask to try to prevent the sanding from taking away part of the panel lines that cross the area to be putty.
In the lower part I do the same, but with Milliput diluted in water (to test this technique with respect to the Tamiya putty).
Are these the ends of the wings? Ouch!
Now it has better shape.
Joining the ends of the wings with Vallejo vinyl putty. Easy to apply, don't need to be sanded.
Let dry a few seconds and remove with a damp cotton swab or with the finger of the hand moistened with water.
The "super pods" need a lot of work due to the imperfections of the pieces with the flash, the number of pieces and the bad joints.
Lots of gaps to fill.
This is a big challenge for someone with little experience.
There are still amorphous pieces of plastic to tame...
... and to try put in its place once tamed.
Much more of gaps to fill.
... and more of gaps to fill (down a repaired super pod).
Styrene strip to fill large gaps. The rest will be filled with putty.
More of gaps to fill.
Filling and sanding... is a constant in this kit.
Job in progress and job done.
Upper part finished...
... and lower part too.
For the wing's joints I've used Vallejo vinyl putty. It's easily applied and removed with a damp cotton swab or with the finger of the hand moistened with water. It is useful for these cases, because it avoids sanding in delicate areas.
For the wing's joints I've used Vallejo vinyl putty. It's easily applied and removed with a damp cotton swab or with the finger of the hand moistened with water. It is useful for these cases, because it avoids sanding in delicate areas.
High Planes did not make the gap to house the tail stabilizers... So you have to drill to make that gap.
Gap made.
Tail stabilizers in place.
High Planes made very weak pins to attach the wings to the fuselage, but didn't make the holes in the fuselage to attach them. Anyway it wouldn't have done any good due to the fragility of those little pins.
I had to drill the fuselage to use a metal rod to join the wings and fuselage without them falling off in the future.
I had to drill the fuselage to use a metal rod to join the wings and fuselage without them falling off in the future.
Done... but will needs more putty (and sanding).
This would be the result, but the wings are not attached yet. I still have to adjust the angle of attack of the wings before glue on.
Comments
67 10 December 2016, 12:10
Łukasz GlińskiMe 2. The fuselage and wings look like made of soap, not styrene😉
25 November 2017, 21:43
CuajeteMany thanks for your kind comments, mates. Welcome.
Łukasz, this plastic is much worse than modeling with a bar of soap.
David, this is a very difficult kit. Plastic quality is very hard to hand. At the beginning I cut a finger trying to work one of the pieces. Fit are very poor and so far I have had to use a lot of putty. But despite all this, I hope the work is finally worth it.
Unfortunately all my attention is now on finishing the Dornier Do-24, but as soon as I finish it, I will continue get to work with this U-2 😉
28 November 2017, 21:10
Oliver ZwienerTake a seat for this very difficult project, made this 5 years ago : modellversium.de/gal..-1a-dragon-lady.html
5 March 2022, 09:49
Alec KOh man… Charlie knocked this one off the unmentionable shelf. Now you HAVE to finish it 😉
5 March 2022, 12:41
CuajeteWow... that pressure! Many thanks for your feedbacks, my friends.
This is the most hard kit that I have seen. It's so hard I cut my finger on the blade trying to clean the blemishes from the horrible pieces. Plastic is hard and difficult to manipulate. I do not recommend it for beginner modelers or those with little patience.
Alec, unfortunately, my current activity has kept me away from modeling since the lockdown ended, but I hope to return to this project as soon as I have some time for this. Thanks! 🙂
Oliver, you did a great job. I think I started my U2 in 2013, but it's been sleeping on the shelf of doom for a long time. I will take your project as a reference when I return to mine, although I have not decided yet if I will finally make the R version or the TR version. Thank you very much!
5 March 2022, 19:23
Oliver ZwienerThank you for your feedback and glad you like my TR-1A. You have already solved the most difficult tasks, so have courage and continue to the end 😉
5 March 2022, 21:56
SpanjaardVery interesting. Nice to see crap quality kit becoming a beautiful model
5 March 2022, 22:32
NeilIndeed! Looking great mate! 👍 Some sterling work been going on here to get it looking this sharp. I'm also tackling a vintage 70s U2 kit currently...
Italeri | No. 808 | 1:48 | Lockheed U-2C | Album by djferrisbueller (1:48)
So following 👀 your build with great interest 👍
6 March 2022, 00:01
Thomas KolbOMG, you will need some serious shelf space for is one! I can indeed see that it is made of some kind of hard plastic, not the usual softish styrene. I can imagine that it is also a bit brittle? But I am sure it will look beautiiful once you are done with it!
6 March 2022, 09:04
CuajeteMany thanks Oliver, Spanjaard, Neil, Villiers, Thomas, Julian and Daniel for your nice and encouraging words. Very much appreciated, my friends!
@Neil, your U2 looking so good. I'm sure that you will do a great job when you finnish it 👍
@Thomas, the plastic is rock hard, but not brittle. You can see the comments about it in the new photos that I still had saved and that I have updated to complement this album. It has quite a wingspan, but I have much larger 1/72 planes than this 😄
I have uploaded more photos with comments to show a complete progress of everything I have done from the beginning until now.
13 March 2022, 18:48
CuajeteMany thanks, Guy 🙂
There is still work to be done, but as Oliver says I have already solved the most difficult tasks... or so I hope 😄
14 March 2022, 19:58
Patryk S.And I thought I have a challenge with the P-36 and the XP-77! Much respect for following through with this build!
19 March 2022, 19:22
CuajeteThanks again, Patryk.
Your P-36 and XP-77 also deserve all my respect. I'm sure your models will look gorgeous and that your effort will be worth it 👍
20 March 2022, 10:10
Dean HarpsterHard to find a U-2 in 1/72! Best of luck! I'm sure it will be a great addition to your collection.
23 September 2022, 04:56
CuajeteHi Dean, many thanks for your comment. Sure to will make a difference to my collection. I bought this one more than 12 years ago, being able to choose between this one and the one from Special Hobby. But I chose the High Planes one because it was cheaper, although I didn't know that it is much harder than the other one. Now it's too late to try to get a SH at a good price.
23 September 2022, 12:01
Bernd GrünModeling the hard way. I admire you for your patience and willingness to make this great effort. I'm afraid the bird would have ended up in the garbage for me. Congratulations!!! 👍👌👍
31 October 2022, 09:14
CuajeteThank you so much for your nice and warm comments, Bernd. Very much appreciated 🙂
1 November 2022, 19:46
Harald BesoldThe TR version of the U-2 is a great plane. You got a lot out of this model with a lot of work. Now comes the nice part. Have fun with the model of an extraordinary and interesting airplane. At the end you will be rewarded with a rare and awesome model.
4 March 2023, 14:45
CuajeteHarald, thank you very much for your motivating words. I haven't decided yet whether to make the version with Span or without Span. In any case it will go in flight position, because this kit is quite a challenge if you also have to do the bays of the landing gear including the fight with the terrible fit.
Thank you very much once again for your likes, mates!
4 March 2023, 19:31
