Italeri | No. 808 | 1:48 | Lockheed U-2C
I was going to sell this vintage 40+ year old kit, however on another whim decided to build instead. I'm going to build it in this more unusual 'Sabre' camouflage option. I have at least 3 more U2s in the stash, so plenty of time for black another day 😉
A U-2C painted in a grey camouflage pattern called the “Sabre” scheme in 1975. The camouflage replaced the usual black finish to ease British concerns about “spy planes” operating from the UK. In Europe, this U-2 tested equipment to locate and suppress enemy surface-to-air missiles.
Showing kit and wing building. seems to be in quite good shape for another ancient kit.
Fuel pods don't fit great. Air intakes... We'll have to see...
Air intake work.
Getting better...
I should have tried the yellow over pink trick I've seen others do on here. The yellow is Hataka - not impressed with their yellow! It's a very simple cockpit indeed on this one. I actually like the charming simplicity of it.
Pinched tight!
Beginning to look the part. It's bloody huge on my desk. The wingspan is over 500mm (20")!
I'll re-shape this a bit.
Had to clamp and squeeze to ensure a decent fit. So there's going to be work to bring it back to a cleaner finish.
Let a copious amount of Vallejo priming begin!
Air intake work going on here - they didn't sit very well. In the end I worked it somewhere decent, but to be honest this definitely is a vintage kit and the tooling isn't the best.
Seam/gap filling and general (disheartening) sanding away of the original raised panel lines to ensure a realistic joining of fuselage and wings.
More gap filling on major areas. Vallejo plastic putty being used.
Substantial blending works and we're beginning to get better surfaces... And I'm getting happier! 🙂 Unfortunately this means destroying the original raised panel lines.
This is all completed with varying grades of wet & dry, eg: 1500 and 2000.
Next step: Masking to (laboriously!) add back in the seam detail I had to destroy to ensure shape and fit. This takes time and I acknowledge that it's never perfect, but it does more-or-less return the kit to it's original manufactured style of raised panel lines.
This is the result after prudent scalpel use also. Bit more to tidy up. But looking sharper.
More raised panel line work. You can now see where I've completed this on the top of the main fuselage.
Went a bit heavy on line pre-shading, but no problem I'll knock it back down with the camouflage paint scheme.
More painting and cradle assembly also.
Beginning to tone back down my rather overzealous shading!
I lightly hand painted the camouflage edges first before...
Airbrushing.
I'm pretty happy with finish, I'm always completing these kits in a corner of my garage, so never the most dust free environment! You can clearly see the raised panel lines I've added back in...
I needed to tidy everything up more. How to turn an easy process into a difficult one! I've decided to break out the putty!
Still NOT keen on Hataka paint consistency. But I'll soldier on...
I'm pretty happy with my 'added back in' raised panel lines. I know compared to a modern kit it all looks a bit childlike, however it does keep the original true-to-kit vintage feel.
More blending, tweaking and post shading going on. I've decided I won't be using Hataka grey again in a hurry!
Looking better.
Lighting here makes it all look a bit yellow.
I decided the grey needed to be a bit bluer! So thought I'd have a crack with some Vallejo wash effects...
Before and after... Think I preferred before, but too late now!
Happier.
Working on external tanks - making it all line-up...
Almost there with the wash effect. I also tried adding some household bleach to the grey and also the wash to lighten certain panels, it did work, but in my garage there is no natural light, so contrast is not seen so we'll here.
Priming for undercarriage.
Instructions say Zinc Chromate Green (seems a bit WWII to me) but what the heck green it is!
Masking and painting airbrakes grey...
Work on the dolly and external tanks
A transfer is provided for the black panel - I painted.
More paint work on dolly frame...
Finished!
Painting canopy.
VINTAGE 44 YEAR OLD KIT - WORK IN PROGRESS. UPDATED: 8/3/22...
Obviously it's a raised panel line kit, so it's all going to look a bit skeletal. But it will add some contrast and define some panels - or at least that's the hope!
Wiping off excess
Comentarios
67 30 November 2021, 14:28
NeilHello Robert 🙂 HNY to you! Thanks very much for the comment, hope to do your interest justice 👍
6 January 2022, 20:25
NeilHi Augie. Excellent! Glad to have your interest 😊 very kind of you to comment 👍
7 January 2022, 21:09
NeilCheers James C and David H, hope you're both well 🙂 really appreciate your interest and comments mates 👍 I'm getting distracted by my other builds on the go at the moment. But I will get back to this one again soon. It's another oldie kit but what an iconic aircraft!
13 January 2022, 18:42
NeilCheers @charlie 😉 kind of you to comment. I've also added some new imagery today 👍
4 February 2022, 12:05
James CLooks to be coming along nicely mate 👍
You going to camouflage it per the box art or paint it black?
21 February 2022, 16:34
NeilHiya @James C hope you're well 🙂 thanks for commenting mate. Yes. I'm going for the more unusual box-art camouflage scheme. I believe they called it a 'Sabre' scheme that was used when operating out of the UK in the 70s... A bit different to the usual black 👍
22 February 2022, 09:13
NeilHi mates! 🙂 Thank you very much for stopping by and your kind words 👍 much appreciated.
15 March 2022, 10:38
Patryk S.Following. Interresting method of recreating raised panel lines, great result so far!
16 March 2022, 21:38
NeilHi Patryk 🙂 thanks for commenting and also for the likes guys. I'll get some new pictures up soon 👍
20 March 2022, 10:52
James CReally nice job on that camo scheme. I've also never seen one in anything but black. Very cool! 👍
8 April 2022, 18:12
GlennWow i built this old dog about 30 years ago and i think it was released about 30 years before that! (around 1962 from Hawk i think?) I did the NASA scheme back then.
8 April 2022, 21:40
NeilThanks David 👍 Hi Glenn, yeah agreed, it's an old one for sure. I only really build up vintage stuff. I almost went for the NASA variant, but the condition of the kit decals dictated my choice really. 👍🙂
10 April 2022, 12:56
David CulpIt's funny that they camouflaged the top of the airplane. Who's going to be looking down on it? 🙂
18 September 2022, 01:05
Erik LeijdensLooks very good Neil! Love the camouflage scheme! Is it finished already?
18 September 2022, 06:50
NeilHi mates 🙂 I'm certainly no expert on this sort of stuff, I too wondered why the camouflage was an option on a U2... So did a bit of research before I began... The detail I found I added against this album's description for what was called the 'Sabre' scheme 👍 hope this helps.
Thanks for your interest, your comments and your likes also to all. Means a helluva lot mates 🙂🙂👍
18 September 2022, 13:19
David HErm, has to sorta land and park up somewhere. Wouldn't want to make it too easy when you're on the ground .. 😂
18 September 2022, 14:55
NeilThanks Cuajete. Very kind of you 👍 🙂
Regarding the kit option and my chosen scheme (Robert & David - 🙂 haha!): apparently "The 2 tone grey colour scheme (Sabre Scheme) was insisted upon by the UK Government, concerned about the implications of "black" ops being carried out by American U-2s operating from a UK base. The TR1 was so designated for similar reasons... to dissociate the aircraft from its predecessors". If I have any of this wrong (which is highly likely!) Please feel free to correct me... 🙂 👍
21 September 2022, 10:39
Remco van HarenWow, what a great result. Nice job!
Btw: I like the way you repair the raised panel lines on the kit. I must try that too.
11 March 2023, 20:10
NeilThanks mates! You're all really kind to comment 🙂 and also to those who liked too 👍 I will get the final reveal images on here soon.
12 March 2023, 21:52
Album info
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, high-altitude (70,000 feet, 21,300 meters), all-weather intelligence gathering.
The scheme I've chosen to (loosely) follow will be a U-2C painted in a gray camouflage pattern called the "Sabre" scheme in 1975. The camouflage replaced the usual black finish to ease British concerns about "spy planes" operating from the UK. In Europe, this U-2 tested equipment to locate and suppress enemy surface-to-air missiles.
