MikeR

Nasty scuff mark on her port quarter. Wonder what happened? Mike.

Coming along nicely! I was going to buy the kit of Montrose when it came out, but when I learned that Trumpeter had moved to full-hull-only on it's modern 1/700 ships it became a hard pass. The one piece hull being the final nail in the coffin. Mike.

@Milan Mynar Another construction tip is to add a pair of spacers fore and aft of where the turret ring part sits. The hull tub is moulded from some rather thick plastic and on the three Takom T-55 family kits I've built there's been a slight bowing in of the sides. This does cause a slight fit issue with the parts for the hull top. After having problems with the first kit I built, adding the spacers on the next two greatly helped with the fit issues. @The_Lancaster I found the same thing on my three as well, particularly after paint went on. I ended up sanding the upper part of the lugs in order to loosen the fit. I didn't have the same problem when I built a MiniArt T-55 so I think Takom didn't make the upper part of the turret ring moulding high enough so the turret isn't raised up enough and it hits the engine hatch details. Mike.

Word of warning about the image in the first post: apparently it's a render/photoshop. It appears in this article HERE, dated 31st March. Mike.

My dad's phone was switched off at the time, so he never recieved it. Looks like it didn't store itself in the same way as a conventional text message. Mike.

Nicely done! I built this kit too a few years ago and found it to be an enjoyable one to put together. Mine also languished for quite a while during the painting stage. I'm blaming the road wheels, I seem to have a bit of a block about painting them! Mike.

Hi @kekelekou, Yes, I noticed the configuration error with the 3512 option when I had a look at the museum photographs of its sorry remains! Mind you, we're talking about HobbyBoss here so a bit of old fashioned modelling elbow grease is a something of a given! Strangely enough, AFV Club got closer with their 1/48 scale kit. Thank you for the tip about 3517, I think I'll go with that when I get the kit onto the workbench. Thanks again, Mike.

@kekelekou Thank you for the info, that's very helpful! I have your PDF on the U-2 and it's an excellent modellers guide. Regarding the 3517 serial number I wonder if 35xx was the sequence used by the RoCAF? It fits the 4 digit system they use and the museum example has tail number 3512. Any mention of a RoCAF Midnight Blue example in Pocock's book? I'm inclining toward that scheme. Regards, Mike.

@Hook That's brilliant, thank you! It never ceases to amaze me what can turn up on the internet! @Rob de Bie The camera ports covers are indeed in that video, at about the 28 minute mark. Interestingly, they're of a corrogated design. Wonder if that helped them separate cleanly when they were jettisoned? They look like they cover most of the scallop for the ports, so that's also a big help. A little less sanding is a good thing! Thanks again guys, Mike.

Hi all, I recently bought the new 1/72 Hobbyboss U-2C and I see that, like Airfix before them, they haven't attempted to give us the camera ports! As I'm going to be building it as it would have been on the ground, is there any information or images that show what the protective covers over the camera ports would look like? I'm assuming that there would have been such covers in order to protect the ports prior to take-off. Also, does anyone have any info on tail numbers for the Taiwanese operated U-2C's? A long shot, I know, but the ROCAF option in the box gives the number for one of the examples the PRC shot down and now languishes in a museum. If possible I'd like to build one that didn't get downed! Thanks in advance, Mike.

Two out of the three options are JASDF, I see. Definitely aiming for the homemarket first, I would think, with a bit of lip-service to the non-Japanese one with the box art and the Hill AFB option. Wonder if we might see another boxing with markings for other operators?

After a lengthy hiatus from buying any new kits I finally relented and procured a HobbyBoss 1/72 U-2C accompanied by the requisite Eduard canopy mask. To be done as the blue Republic of China Air Force version. Mike.

With me it's often the painting stage where something goes wrong. I only use Xtracolor enamel when I have to as it's a bit of a bugger to use at times, especially if your a brush painter like me. It just reinforces my dislike of gloss paint. Mike.

Nicely done! Mike.

Which is pretty much what I was implying, albeit in a very round about way. Ultimately I see no point in complaining or wishlisting when it comes to the Japanese manufacturers, the culture which they operate in is very different from ours. Mike.

Perhaps not, but I'd imagine those are the ultra cheap and cheerful bread and butter kits in the Japanese market. They gain revenue which allows Hasegawa to do other things, which at the moment are the type of kit that has limited appeal outside of Japan. Either way, I'd say Hasegawa are hyper focussed on the local market and aren't very interested in global sales. More of a nice to have, but not vital to their apparent business plans. Certainly a lot of their reboxings are of Japanese, Japanese marked or foreign but Japanese based types. Mike.

Nicely done! Mike.

Best summed up as "Home Market First". Mike.

Looks great! Mike.

It doesn't have wings! Perhaps my only quibble with the Rumourmonger section is that non-aircraft releases often fly below the radar. However, it's understandable as Homebee's area of interest is aircraft and he is the main poster of news. Mike.

Excellent! Mike.

The 1/35 Ferret and PR Mossie are of interest but otherwise my wallet has sighed in relief! Mike.

My mistake, then. Mike.

Are we sure it's a new-tool and not the Academy F-35B re-boxed?

I'm in the same boat myself. The last kit I completed was last year, a 1/72 AMK/Scaleworx Kfir TC.2/7 conversion which had one of those "it went a bit pear shaped" moments at the painting stage. That, a change of job and disappearing into the maw of SmartPhone Gacha games threw any real interest in building anything out the window. Still bought more stuff, though! Currently I'm (very) slowly working away at the 1/72 Special Hobby Bf 109E-1 in Spanish Civil War colours. Finally at the painting stage, so fingers crossed! Mike.