A LINE-UP OF 21 U-2s!

Never before seen – twenty-one U-2s all in a row. But only at Scale Model World. That is the annual show staged by the International Plastic Modellers’ Society (IPMS) in the UK. It’s huge, and full of modelling enthusiasts displaying their work. Very impressive, especially for someone like me who lacks the patience to put even the basic kits together, let alone painstakingly modify and paint them to represent configurations that were not provided in the box.

Some of the stands at the IPMS show display the work of Special Interest Groups (SIGs). They specialize in building kits of airliners, or Second World War aircraft, or French Air Force jets, or whatever.

To mark the 70^th Anniversary of the U-2, the US Air Force SIG built and displayed no fewer than 21 of them – all different. It was a great way to show just how many times the Dragon Lady has been modified over its long and illustrious career.

The kits were all in 1/72nd scale, and 17 of them were newly-built for the show. The USAF SIG is led by Haydn Hughes, with Chris St Clair as his deputy. Other contributors to the display were Ted Bayliss, Phil Butler, Alex Hunger, Simon Perkins and Trevor Williams.

Haydn explained that six 1/72nd kits of the early, smaller-model U-2s have been produced, and three kits of the larger U-2R/S models. Academy, Airfix, AFV, Hobby Boss and Seminar Plastic Models made the smaller ones. The Academy and Airfix kits are no longer in production,, but do appear on auction websites. None of the three kits of the larger-model U-2 that were sold by High Plane, Rareplanes, and Special Hobby are still available. Surely a gap in the market there! However, there are some other U-2 kits available in 1/48th scale, from AFV Club, Hobby Boss, and Italeri.

For the record, the models on display were:

• A U-2D of the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC)
• A black USAF U-2C
• A black USAF U-2F with the ‘scimitar’ SIGINT antenna
• A gray USAF U-2E with the ‘scimitar’ SIGINT antenna
• A U-2D of the AFFTC in the ‘Smokey Joe’ configuration
• A U-2A of the AFFTC in the ‘Smokey Joe’ configuration
• A USAF U-2S in the current mission configuration
• A dark blue CIA U-2A
• A USAF U-2C in the ALSS two-tone gray camouflage
• A black USAF U-2E
• A U-2C of the AFFTC in white with red cheatlines
• A CIA U-2F in dark blue
• A USAF TU-2C (eg twin-cockpit trainer) in white
• A U-2A of the AFFTC unpainted with dayglo patches
• A gray USAF U-2E
• A ‘slick’ U-2R eg no sensors fitted
• A USAF U-2R with the original Senior Book SIGINT fit
• A black CIA U-2C with B-camera and System 6 SIGINT fit
• A gray USAF U-2C
• A USAF U-2A in natural metal (eg unpainted)
• A dark blue CIA U-2A  

Haydn told me that the group would consider assembling U-2 plastic model kits to order. Contact him at usafsig@aol.com