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TR-1/U-2R/S canopy question


Filler

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Does anyone know if the glass of the canopy is on the outside and the ultra violet canopy shield on the inside or vice versa?

 

Italeri have it molded with the slight ridge on the inside of the part. I am just about to mask it up, but suddenly realised I didn't know which side to mask and paint. Struggling to see clearly in any photos I've seen. In some it looks on the outside, others on the inside. I thing I do think is that the kit canopy is probably hugely over scale in thickness and thus it might look weird painting the inside even if that is how it really is.

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If this is the shield you are referring to, as seen in the links below, it looks to me that it is fitted inside the canopy- in the first linked photo, the shield does not sit proud of the external outline of the canopy, so must fit under it. Does this help?

Mike

 

https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2302589/training-the-nations-future-fleet-of-u-2-pilots/

 

https://www.beale.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/933049/1000th-pilot-tames-u-2-dragon-lady/

 

You can see the canopy framework and plexiglass sits above the shield in this photo.

http://www.airvectors.net/avu2_1.html

 

https://sky4buy.com/U2-Spyplane-Canopy163452424164/015799

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Thanks @72modeler, they’re great references and they do look to endorse that it’s inside the plexiglass.

 

Despite that, the more I’ve thought about it, I figure I’ll need to paint the outside as it is quite difficult to tell on the real thing, but on the 48th scale canopy it’ll probably look a little odd painted inside.  The kit canopy is 0.78mm thick which would make the real canopy glass very nearly 4cm thick. And I doubt that very much.

 

Something else I did notice is that we go to the effort of polishing and varnishing the canopy on our models, yet the photos of the Dragonlady you linked luck scratched to heck.

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Really? I’d always thought the scale thickness of canopies would be over. Sounds like they’re about right then.

 

In the case of the U-2, if that shield is affixed to the inside of the glass, it doesn’t look like there’s 4cm of glass above it. Maybe the U-2 has thinner glass to save weight.

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Thanks Jan, that Alamy photo is pretty clear that it’s at least painted on the outside.

 

Thanks everyone for your help.

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