FineScale Modeler 1998 09

The instructions include a brief history, 14 assembly steps, and a Tamiya color list. One problem here: The top color is described as USAF light gray; it should be Light Gull Gray (FS 36440). Parts fit is excellent - sometimes even too snug. The main part of the fuselage is split horizontally with the upper and lower wing panels, while the forward fuselage is split vertically. This seam inside the small vent on top of the turtle deck behind the canopy is difficult to fill. followed the instruction assembly sequence, but left off the stores, landing gear, and canopy until all the painting and decaling were done. The directions to paint gunmetal on the turbine fan on the front of part A33 in step 5 comes too late, as you've already painted that part white in step 4 - a reminder to study the plans carefully before beginning. It you choose to told the wings and raise the slats, you must cut a few tabs from the wings. The tail-bumper wheel can be posed down to keep the model on its nose gear.

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Model Magazine International 10-11 2003

The Olive Green camouflage colour was chipped first with the Sand colour, then with the Russian Green. Some of the Sand coloured chips have Russian Green chips underneath them. All of the chips & scratches were applied to heavy use areas using a very fine brush. The final chip colour was a dark Rust colour, which was applied just on the corners & edges of parts. This process was very tedious and time consuming, but necessary for realism. Now the model was very dynamic with colour, but still not quite realistic to me. The final weathering step was to make it dirty. The Egyptians used their SA-6 in a desert environment, and they used it heavily during the war. When the missile fired, it kicked-up an enormous amount of dust. When the vehicle drove at speed, it also kicked-up lots of dust. So I added lots of dust! This was done by first airbrushing a very thin layer mixed from Tamiya Buff & Desert Yellow overall. concentrating more on the lower areas around the wheels & tracks, and also the rear plate. At first this frightened me because it removed the harsh richness of the colours I worked so hard to apply before. Later, after looking at it for an hour or so, I got adjusted to the appearance. Finally I added more concentrated dust to the corners & recesses along the upper surfaces. This was done by mixing MIG Productions pigment colours until I found the shade I was looking for, then mixing it with some water. I brushed this 'wash' into the areas that I needed concentrated dust. In less than an hour all dust was dry. Naturally some dust was deposited in undesirable places, but it was easily blended out with a clean, dry brush. Finally, a few heavy use areas were lightly rubbed with graphite to bring a polished steel effect. As the SA-6 was a new vehicle in Egyptian service, I tried not to overdo this.

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FineScale Modeler 10 1998

The instructions consist of a short narrative, rough exploded-view drawing, tail-marking sketches, and several drawings that show details of the landing gear, seat, and antennas. Study the instructions and evaluate the work needed on the parts. I treated the plastic parts as though they came from a vacuum-formed kit - I sanded the mating surfaces of each on 320-grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. Once the edges were smoothed, the fit was generally good. However, I had to fill a large gap on a short section of the top fuselage seam. The intakes fit poorly, and the structure of the main gear well won't fit in the fuselage unless you enlarge the bay opening. There are no locators on the wings tor the super pods, so study drawings and references before gluing them. The noses of the super pods on the U-2R I modeled had large flattened areas not featured in the parts. I carefully leaned the pods against a clothes iron to produce the flat spots, then cleaned up the edges with sandpaper. To ensure the model would sit on all tour gears, I super glued the main and tail struts and wheels in place, drilled holes in the wings, inserted the outrigger "pogos," then tack glued the wings to the fuselage while resting the model on a flat surface. When all was set, I reinforced the wing/ fuselage joints with super glue, which also filled the gaps. The vacuum-formed canopy fit well. The antenna farm so distinctive of late U-2s is not provided, but the instructions' diagrams tell part of the story. I borrowed a 1/48 scale resin antenna set from Cutting Edge, laid the parts on a reducing copier, and shot a 66.7 percent copy. I used these shapes to make antennas from .015" sheet styrene, then followed the Cutting Edge instructions to locate the antennas.

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Model Magazine International 03 2005

I've always figured jumping around the instruction sheet keeps things interesting when constructing a model kit. However, I did follow standard operating procedures and started with the cockpits. The Cutting Edge instructions for the cockpit set tell you to remove the fuselage float and the kit cowling, which is fine. Just make sure you are actually going to use the replacement resin sets for those parts before following the directions perhaps a clever ploy to get you to buy the two other resin sets..? You will have to remove all the bumps and such from inside the fuselage, as well as the moulded-in instrument panel. Obviously, test fitting is the name of the game here, with two cockpit tubs and two bulkheads to properly align. The excellent Cutting Edge instructions clearly lead you through the procedure. One place I did deviate from the instructions was the attachment of the rear front cockpit bulkhead. The instructions would have you first glue the bulkhead into one-half of the fuselage and then build onto it. I felt doing this would eliminate any possibility of later adjustment of the tub position, so I attached the rear bulkhead to the tub and glued the assembly in as one piece. I felt the instruction for placement of the resin instrument panel to be a bit vague and decided to attach it to the front bulkhead. However, it turned out this caused the instrument panel to be set back a few millimetres too far. I would recommend placing spacers between the bulkhead and the instrument panel in order to get the proper placement.

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