TomcatFanatic123

Yeah, trying to. I still got some major clean-up to do on that. Also, there's an especially nasty seam right behind the cockpit, you can probably see it.

I guess I should take care of this, huh - looks like a piece of dust or somehting...how'd that get in there :(!

whoops...double post :(

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, here's the seat in place in the cockpit (dry-fit at the moment).

Y'know, I was watching this the other day, and I figured that it would start a debate around here . Anyway, the Tomcat would never make a list like that, 'cause it's in a league of its own, baby :) :)!

Thanks Mario :) :)!

It's the 1/48th kit, and I'll be doing it in the all black scheme - I want to do this one in all black, then tackle the big Testors SR-71, so I can display them side by side. The late model U-2's have white gear bays, I know, but I'll look into this one a little bit more to see if this particular version did. The instructions said interior green, so that's what I went by . Thanks a lot for the input! I appreciate it :).

Here's the main gear bay. The "plumbing" in there is all scratch built. I didn't have very good reference pics of U-2 gear bays, so I kind of decided to declare "artistic license" with this. Also there is a little touch up still to be done.

I noticed the seat looks a little bit glossy in the photos. I think it's just the camera - it doesn't look that shiny in person. Also, according to my references, on the U-2C, headrest colors varied. I like the look of the red, so I chose that.

...

I scratchbuilt probably 90% of the seat for this thing - the lack of detail was repulsive :P - including the seatbelts (made out of masking tape cut super thin), and seat "cushions" made out of a piece of foam I managed to come across. I still have to touch up the belts and figure out what to use to put buckles on them (any suggestions on that would be awesome), but here's what I've got so far.

G'day James, The paint stand you mentioned which I called, jig, was built from plastic card, rod & 'I' beam. Thank you! Andrew. Thanks! That's a great idea! Once again, stunning work .

Awesome work, espcially on the gear bays . Quick question...how did you make that paint stand that it is sitting on, or did you buy it? Looks like a pretty damn good idea .

Yet another transaction between myself and Mike Pister (Mike5401) that went off without a hitch. I got the kit just a couple of days after he received my payment, and, boy, does he know how to pack a kit for shipping. It's always an absolute pleasure to deal with him. You're awsome, Mike !

That's true with the SuperBug kit because I forgot the main wells were molded into the main fuselage section (duh ). You're also saying I should brush paint the struts, too?

About to start a SuperBug and I'm not quite comfortable airbrushing yet , so just wondering what would be best for painting the struts and wells. BTW, I HATE white paint .

Well, I guess it's a good thing I didn't try to make it back down again today (I live about an hour and a half away), what a wasted trip that would've been <_<! It was overcast and nasty here all day, and I kinda figured it would be there, too.

Did the Blue Angels get off the ground today (Sun.) at Pt. Mugu? The weather (and statics, or lack thereof) made yesterday's show a real stinka <_<.

Damn, that thing seemed to hang in the air forever :D! Thank goodness the aircrew was able to bail out.

Well, mine's gonna be a "C" model, so I guess I'll go with a gray seat with red headrest (I just think red headrests look kinda cool ) and dark gray seatbelts with silver buckles. Thanks a lot for the help, I really appreciate it :D!

Looks like you got an awesome view from there. We've got Atlas V coming next spring, and Delta IV already sitting on the pad, waiting for a launch (hopefully) next month. The Atlas V pad here is visible from the end of my street, as is the Titan IV pad, but I like to get as close as I can :D. Yeah, Titan was a loud beast - you could hear it AND feel it . This launch was setting off car alarms like crazy out at the viewing site. It was great .

The headrest on the seat of the U-2 I'm building - can I paint it red? The instructitons aren't very clear, and if I remember correctly, I've seen red headrests on them (maybe that's just NASA ones) in pictures. It's going to be an all black recon a/c, not sure if it's going to be USAF or CIA yet - probably USAF, though.

And finally...I had this all planned out - the Air Force expecting about 4,000 VIP's (yes that's 4,000 - three zeros) to view this launch, and their viewing site was supposed to be the parking lot of the Titan processing facility about 5 miles away from the pad. Woo-hoo! My "secret" viewing spot around the corner from there will be mine, all mine! No pain in the *** crowds to deal with, no traffic, just hop back in the car and drive home after launch. Boy was I wrong :). I get out there a little over an hour before launch, get comfy and wait. Then, not long after that, here comes 5 or 6 c

A typical Titan IV calling card B) ...a small brush fire in the area surrounding the launch pad.

Here is the best shot I could get of the solid rocket booster separation, about 2 1/2 minutes into the flight.