1/144 NASA ER-2

[Jay Chladek]

I've had Dragon's 1/144 U-2R and TR-1A kits stashed away for a few years and I have always wanted to do an ER-2, which is NASA's purpose built U-2R Dragon Lady. Rather than being used for aerospace and/or airframe testing like most of NASA's other aircraft, the ER-2 is used more for data collection using the unique platform of the U-2R to do it (hence the ER designator, which stands for "Earth Resources"). The plane is also unique as unlike other NASA aircraft which were sold/donated to the agency after military or civilian use, the ER-2 was purpose built for the agency from day one and it also served as the first production model of the TR-1A when it rolled off the assembly line. NASA operates two of these aircraft with the first one being delivered in the early 1980s. The first ER-2 is the subject of this build.

So what is a TR-1A? In the very late 1970s, Lockheed was awarded a contract to resume production of the U-2R. Unlike many other aircraft contracts, when U-2R production ended in the early 1970s, the tooling was put in storage instead of destroyed. The plan was to resume production of an aircraft designated "Tactical Recon" with real time data downlink capability to battlefield commanders in Europe. But as I understand it, except for some minor systems fits, the planes for all intents and purposes are identical and the "TR-1" designation simply allowed for the aircraft to be based in countries or fly from locations which wouldn't draw the attention or political stigma that a "U-2" would. After the cold war ended, pretty much all the aircraft became known as U-2Rs and they can fly exactly the same missions depending on the equipment loadout. Today, they have been refitted into the U-2S, but the changes (mostly in the cockpit) aren't visible in 1/144 scale.

Dragon has done kits of both the U-2R and the TR-1A. The U-2R kit essentially builds a clean wing configuration jet with the late 1960s external loadout. The TR-1A includes the sensor fitted "super" pods and wings that can accomodate them, plus some of the other little lumps and bumps that the fleet had in the mid-1980s. Technically a U-2R can be flown with or without the pods, but the kits don't allow you to swap. To do a clean wing model, you need the U-2R. To build one with pods, you need the TR-1A.

I started work on the kit last night:

It builds up nice, but one has to take particular care to select the right parts and the Dragon instructions aren't always correct in telling you which parts to use (plus there are errors). For instance you get two tails and four elevator stabs. For my build I used the proper TR-1 tail, but I went with the original U-2R stabs without the reinforcement strips (a retrofit to reduce stress from turbulence caused by the pods) since the ER-2 didn't have those fitted in the time period I am representing. Be aware if you use the TR-1 stabs that Dragon has you installing them upside-down. The reinforcement strips should be on the bottom, not the top.

Gaps in the kit aren't bad at all thanks to the slide mold technology Dragon uses. But, there are some steps in the parts that I need to deal with. I think I can keep panel line removal to a minimum though.

There are plenty of extras and options in this kit that they don't tell you about either. You get a couple different pod options and two different noses. I'm not entirely sure which nose I am suppose to use yet. But I have the Aerofax Datagraph on the U-2R guiding me along.

All in all, I've got three hours of work into the model thus far. It should go fast. The real trick will be how I manage to pull off doing the markings. Stay tuned for that!

[falcon20driver]

Great build choice, I'll enjoy watching this.

[Jay Chladek]

I got some more work done over the past couple of days. The body and wings are all together now, so it has been working on cleaning up the seams. I also spent a little time detailing a very tiny 1/144 cockpit to make it look somewhat decent (not that you can see much of it under the canopy anyway:

The seat looks good as do the sidewalls. But the control yoke had to be cut and repositioned as it was molded upside-down! There was also no combing in front of the instrument panel, so it was Apoxie sculpt to the rescue for that. BTW, one word of advice when building this, the cockpit HAS to be slid into the nose from the rear. DO NOT glue the razorback in until the cockpit is in. Also, do not anchor the pit down until you fine tune its position in the opening so it doesn't sit too far front or back. There is no positive alignment tab for it despite what the instructions say.

The model builds up pretty well IMHO, but due to how it is molded, there are some noticeable steps between the sub-assemblies which in this scale look HUGE. So the majority of the work has involved leveling out those steps without obliterating panel detail. I may end up reducing the panel detail anyway as in this scale, the lines are WAY oversized, especially if scaled up. I'll decide what to do after a couple primer coats.

[falcon20driver]

Looking great.

[53 Marine]

The aircraft were essentially identical. The designation change was done in order to get more funding so that more could be built as I recall.

Btw- nice work! I built that kit a couple years back, it's really nice. I still have another in the stash.

[jminer]

Looking forward to seeing how this comes out!

Justin

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Hi Jay! Glad to see you on-board this GB with a NASA aircraft. Very cool! I was thinking about doing the same but I was in the middle of another GB with a 1/144 NASA F-8C using the Platz kit so I wanted to do something a little bit different for this one. I have the 1/144 NASA ER-2 kit in my stash also so I will be following your build.

Hope to see you at the IPMS Nats this year in Columbia, SC!

Have fun modeling

Mike

:cheers:/>

[Jay Chladek]

Thanks Mike. Columbia is probably not in the cards for me. But, 2017 Omaha certainly is. :)