Special Hobby 1/72 U-2S/ES-2 'NASA'

U-2s have taken part in post-Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported several multinational NATO operations. The U-2 has also been used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, scientific research, and communications purposes. The U-2 is one of a handful of aircraft types to have served the USAF for over 50 years, along with the Boeing B-52, Boeing KC-135, Lockheed C-130 and Lockheed C-5. The newest models (TR-1, U-2R, U-2S) entered service in the 1980s, and the latest model, the U-2S, had a technical upgrade in 2012. The U-2 is currently operated by the USAF and NASA.

Plans to retire the U-2 have been brought forward several times since 2000 and in some instances, there was no funding for operations. However, Lockheed stated that the current U-2 fleet, operational since the early 1980s, had used only 1/5 of their airframe life. As such, the type is still in service, with its replacement, the RQ-4, not meeting all the capabilities that was initially hoped. As of this writing, the RQ-4 is scheduled to be retired in 2027.

This is a kit with a very limited release. The U-2R was released in 2009, quickly followed by this kit and has yet to be reissued by Special Hobby or reboxed by someone else. It is a true multi-media kit with a goodly amount of resin and vacuformed canopies (you get two).

Resin is used for the cockpit, intakes, a new nose, wing tip pods, and the large upper fuselage antenna along with a myriad of other items. If you are used to working with resin, then no issues. Looking at the instructions, assembly is pretty straight-forward, it is just that there are a lot of small pieces to fit in the cockpit and in various areas of the fuselage, many of the latter being various antennas.

You have to decide early if you want to do the U-2S/TR-1 or the ER-2. You can do the former with or without the large upper fuselage antenna, though not attaching it seems a bit of a waste. No nose weight is required and you can attach the landing gear after the kit has been painted.

Instructions are actually well done with lots of detail images to help with parts placement. Three markings options are provided. One is the box art aircraft, the ER-2, as operated by NASA in white and ADC grey. The other two are all black U-2S aircraft with the 9th RW at Beale AFB. Decals are nicely printed and should work just fine.

I'm not sure how available this kit is as I've had mine since it was first released, but if you can locate one, it is well worth picking up, especially if you are a fan of the type.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2#Variants

October 2024

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