Dave Williams Posted December 29, 2023 Share Posted December 29, 2023 Any thoughts on the new kit? http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=1776&l=en I have the old Testors/Italeri kit, as well as the CE upgrades for it, so in the box the new HB kit gives you a lot of the stuff that you had to go he aftermarket route for the old kit. Detailed cockpit, wheel wells, speed brake wells, and exhaust. Kind of disappointing that they only give you the plain nose, when they provide the dorsal pod, antenna farm, and flat side super pods. They are supposedly doing another release with the ASARS-2 nose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichB63 Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 I’m eager to find out too - mine is on the way from ScaleHobbyist here in the U.S. Like a lot of modelers, I have a love/hate relationship with Hobby Boss/Trumpeter. But from what I can tell so far, this new kit looks promising. When I get my hands on it, I’ll post some pictures here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Curt B Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 I have never been really happy with any Hobbyboss kits, but the subject, a U-2R, is very tempting. Sounds like Rich may feel similarly. I would be GREATLY appreciative, even if it ends up being summarized in a few posts (instead of a detailed build log), that discusses the kit engineering and fit, perhaps just pointing out what doesn't work well, and whether you think the kit is worth it. I'm primarily interested how well the kit goes together, and hope a new tooled airplane in 2023 ends up being really well done. I wouldn't expect a Tamiya level fit, but something at least APPROACHiNG that would be encouraging, and may be sufficient to get me to actually get this kit. Please let us know!! 🙂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 My kit arrived today. For some reason, I thought the box would be bigger than it was, but there isn’t a bunch of empty space, so it’s as big as it needs to be. Looking at the sprues, it looks like there is a small sprue with just the nose, IP, and cockpit tub on it. I suspect this sprue will be swapped out for their future U-2S release. The surface detail looks nice, but not sure about the accuracy of a few things, like the wing spoilers, and air scoops on both sides on the Senior Spur pylon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichB63 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 (edited) In many respects, it’s an improvement over the old Italeri U-2. But, like a lot of other Hobby Boss kits, it’s let down by too heavy-handed an approach to surface textures. All in all though, I’m happy to add this one to my stash….planning a NASA ER-2. Edited January 5 by RichB63 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Illu Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I wasn’t aware that U-2s had fabric covered ailerons (with horribly over done rib effect). What a waste of plastic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sigtau Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 3 hours ago, Illu said: I wasn’t aware that U-2s had fabric covered ailerons (with horribly over done rib effect). What a waste of plastic. From a quick google search, it's easy to find photos of the U-2 flaps and ailerons. It's not an attempt to mold fabric covered control surfaces. The real thing has a wavy look where the ribs are showing through the skin. The kit seems to be replicating the look, but is somewhat overdone as the previous reply pointed out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabrejet Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Annoyingly the kit doesn't have a mission nose, which seems odd, given that the Senior Span pod is supplied as well as the aerial farm. Hopefully the aftermarket will come to the rescue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ya-gabor Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, Sabrejet said: Annoyingly the kit doesn't have a mission nose, which seems odd, given that the Senior Span pod is supplied as well as the aerial farm. Hopefully the aftermarket will come to the rescue. Or this is only one of the first versions released! And later with some extra sprues there will be more . . . On the photos the kit looks nice. I like the intakes and the vents on its side! The U-2 is still a fascinating aircraft!!!! It is interesting that the ejection seat it has is basically a Lockheed (or Stanley) C-2 seat with lots of extras added but still it has its roots in very early 1950's!!! Best regards Gabor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aircal62 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Gabor, yes still a fascinating aircraft. 50's roots include the U-2A-D cockpit, fuselage around cockpit and canopy were basically from the F-104. The U-2R kept the fuselage cross section through the cockpit and Lockheed ejection seat. Nice to see that Hobby Boss unlike AFV got the fuselage behind the wings correct, as it should be a circular cross section and not have a crease and small change in cross section in it like the AFV kit has. Hopefully Hobby Boss got the wheel wells correct also. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Illu Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 (edited) 19 hours ago, sigtau said: From a quick google search, it's easy to find photos of the U-2 flaps and ailerons. It's not an attempt to mold fabric covered control surfaces. The real thing has a wavy look where the ribs are showing through the skin. The kit seems to be replicating the look, but is somewhat overdone as the previous reply pointed out. I know it’s not an attempt to mold fabric covered ailerons, but that’s what it looks like. I’ve got every book ever written on the U-2, and a collection of thousands of photos of them, from the very first to the very last. And yes, you can see some oil canning on the ailerons, elevators, and rudder, but that model looks like a cartoon. And NO U-2 of ANY kind ever had rivets that look anything like those. A complete waste of plastic as far as I’m concerned. Just like the AFV Club kit. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why Trumpeter-Boss bothers with garbage like this. They have demonstrated the ability to produce some really outstanding kits. Then they go and do something like this. Edited January 6 by Illu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sigtau Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 2 minutes ago, Illu said: I know it’s not an attempt to mold fabric covered ailerons, but that’s what it looks like. I’ve got every book ever written on the U-2, and a collection of thousands of photos of them, from the very first to the very last. And yes, you can see some oil canning on the ailerons, elevators, and rudder, but that model looks like a cartoon. And NO U-2 of ANY kind ever had rivets that look anything like those. A complete waste of plastic as far as I’m concerned. Just like the AFV Club kit. I'm no expert on the U-2, but this photo shows both visible ribbing on the flap and visible fasteners on the wing and fuselage. Sure it's overdone on the AFV and Hobby Boss kits, but they are far better starting points than the Italeri kit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jtalex94 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 On 1/5/2024 at 6:05 PM, sigtau said: I'm no expert on the U-2, but this photo shows both visible ribbing on the flap and visible fasteners on the wing and fuselage. Sure it's overdone on the AFV and Hobby Boss kits, but they are far better starting points than the Italeri kit. I would also say the rivets are a bit overdone in scale but are a good approximation of what's on the jet for real. The aileron and elevator surface is thinner gauge metal than most of the wing structure so it displays some ribbing wear in real life. I can provide photos if needed. As far as configuration, a slick nose and senor spur is very possible for the time period depicted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Illu Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Anyone else noticed that the center panel of the windshield is curved instead of flat? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabrejet Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 8 hours ago, Illu said: Anyone else noticed that the center panel of the windshield is curved instead of flat? Noted elsewhere: presumably a compromise of the moulds for when the U-2S arrives (which hopefully will be correct). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JeffreyK Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 The U-2S kit doesn’t have the frameless windscreen, at least what the previews show. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabrejet Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 10 hours ago, JeffreyK said: The U-2S kit doesn’t have the frameless windscreen, at least what the previews show. J The ones round here do... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Illu Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 The one in the current kit has nothing to do with a frameless U-2S windscreen. It is a framed U-2R windscreen with an inaccurately curved center panel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabrejet Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Hence my comment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JeffreyK Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 5 hours ago, Sabrejet said: The ones round here do... The new U-2S kit has a framless windscreen part? The in-box reviews I've seen show the same part as the U-2R kit, which is inaccurate for both. 4 hours ago, Illu said: The one in the current kit has nothing to do with a frameless U-2S windscreen. It is a framed U-2R windscreen with an inaccurately curved center panel. Yes, I know. But Sabrejet's reply was inferring that the tooling was as such to facilitate the all-curved, framless windscreen of the U-2S. And my reply meant to say that even if that may be the case, the part in the U-2S kit (at least from what I have seen so far) is still the same part and not the framless type. So the windscreen part is not right for either the U-2R nor U-2S kits. Hence something is being done about it... J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ya-gabor Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 I don’t have the new U-2 kits, haven’t seen them close up only the sprue images in forums. But there is a video of real U-2’s prepared for flight and it has tons of information for modellers! This includes some views showing trailing edges and based on those images there are certainly some “ribs” on given surfaces. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6eTTyRmiSM Sure, it is possible that the kit manufacturers have overdone it on plastic, but in my opinion it is still better to have it this way than none at all. With some primer and sanding paper modellers are able to “tone down” those prominent ribs! It is far more difficult to start doing all this on a mirror surface plastic! But of course this is only my opinion. The video shows some fab close up details of other things also. Worth using the “freeze” image button. Visible that (of course) the whole airframe has rivets all over it and what’s more have a look at that cockpit image with un-paint/flaked rivets and fairly large patches of paint missing all together showing bare aluminium exposed! As to the overall black, worth looking at how the nose section is far more into a mid grey colour rather than black! Best regards Gabor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted June 26 Author Share Posted June 26 Got my U-2S today. As expected, it’s the same as the U-2R, with the short nose replaced by an ASARS-2 nose and the IP replaced by one with the 3 large MFDs from the RAMP upgrade. New cockpit tub part and IP cover too. Unfortunately, also as expected, they didn’t replace the windscreen with the frameless one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Bahr Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 They need to downscale this one to 72nd! 😉 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichB63 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 On 6/25/2024 at 10:52 PM, Dave Williams said: …they didn’t replace the windscreen with the frameless one. Since the windshield’s center pane was molded with curvature, I wonder if it’s possible to achieve a U-2S “look” by sanding away the interior frames (deep enough to eliminate the fastener detail too) followed by a polishing routine to restore clarity? Granted, we shouldn’t need to go to such extremes with a contemporary, new tool kit. ☹️ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arnobiz Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 The frameless windshield will be released by BAM Models in August 😉 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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