1/32 Trumpeter F-117A Nighthawk - in 45 Days!?!?

[DoogsATX]

Progress continues to be made!

FLIR and DLIR sensors. Have to say, I really love the depth that Trumpeter put into the clear parts, especially the FLIR. 

 

 

Some wiring on the bulkhead to liven things up a bit. 

 

 

Work on the canopy frame. I totally stole Brian's excellent tungsten cone idea, and man was that some fiddly work with the mounts. Scratchbuilding is definitely not my thing.

 

 

The cockpit sill. This shows as a very light gray in reference photos - markedly lighter than the dark gull gray interior. I used some MRP Light Gray (for Slovak MiG-29s or something) mixed with some USN Insignia White. Phone camera had a fit with levels trying to capture it, but it's a very light gray (some darker portions are masked off). 

 

 

Finally, cockpit work. Trumpeter's gauge decals are a bit too bold for my taste, but I'm trying to move quickly and am just going to deal. If I were doing it again I'd use Airscale stuff for sure. 

 

Airscale stencils are also being employed to break up the side consoles a bit. 

 

 

[Uilleann]

Simply delicious Matt!  Love all the greeblies too - they really make the difference.    May I ask about your panel wash used in the cockpit?  I've been wondering what to use for my own build there.  The canopy does have a lot more going on than many kite provide for (yeah you Trumpy!) and those little parts I think help to set things off nicely.  I noticed you even got the map lights worked in.  Excellent all around. 

 

[DoogsATX]

Just some AMMO Medium Gray PLW to give the illusion of separate panels - nothing fancy. 

[Uncarina]

Matt,

 

Excellent work! Which aircraft will you be depicting?

 

Cheers, Tom

[LSP_Ron]

Nice work. Interesting subject too. You don't see this kit often

[dodgem37]

Very nice.  Love the definition.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Jim Barry]

Nice work! I do like how a good blog and build can give us more appreciation for the real thing. 

[dutik]

Looks like the cockpit of Darth Vaders Tie fighter

 

Regards

- dutik

[DoogsATX]

Matt,

 

Excellent work! Which aircraft will you be depicting?

 

Cheers, Tom

 

honestly I haven't even gotten that far yet - it's going to be black so I'll dig into markings when I get closer to paint

[Uncarina]

Matt,

 

Note that the DS wheel hubs (center) differed slightly from later aircraft:

 

I'm not using these so let me know and I'll drop my set in the mail.

 

Cheers, Tom

Edited March 9, 2017 by Uncarina

[Uilleann]

My understanding was that the gear and wheel change from early to late types was a rolling update to the fleet.  Some of the nighthawks in DS already had the mod, and some did not.  You'll want to poke around the interwebs once you know which particular jet - and at which point in it's operation - you want to model.  There's also a great book out on every individual plane built with some history of each unique unit.  I found mine on Amazon:

 

Lockheed F-117 Night Hawks: A Stealth Fighter Roll Call

 

Might be of some help in deciding which one grabs your interest most.

 

Cheers

[DoogsATX]

I'm definitely not going with a DS 117 - going to stick with later in their service life so I can play with all the interesting surface wear. 

[DoogsATX]

So my plan to use acetate for the MFDs didn't work. I really wanted to find something identical to the acetate Aires, Eduard etc throw in. Thin but stiff. But the stuff I found was very floppy, and when glued in place, curved on me. Fortunately, PVA can be removed without too much issue. 

 

 

Since I need to keep moving, FICE is in full effect, and I ended up using Bondic for the displays. Not terribly pleased with it, but...need to keep moving. 

 

 

Cockpit sills and coaming painted up - reference pics show that the coaming seems to have more weathering than the rest of the cockpit combined, so that'll be coming up here soon. 

 

 

I was also looking at the Eduard exterior PE set and decided I wasn't happy with the intake applique panels. The raised rivet detail just doesn't work for me. So...I scanned them in:

 

 

And used Illustrator + my Silhouette cutter to make some replacements out of .005 styrene sheet. 

 

 

 

Rivet lines were marked and riveted.

 

 

And the panels glued in place:

 

 

 

Plan tonight is to weather the coaming and start getting that squared away, get final paint down on the FLIR and DLIR mesh so I can drop the insides in place, and get to some of the fuselage stuff I've been putting off.

Also - anybody happen to know if 1) the gear struts can be installed after the fact? They look like they can be. And 2) if this sucker needs any ballast to keep it from tail-sitting. NOTE that I'm leaving the middle engine sections out. Though they're mostly in-line with the gear bays so probably wouldn't impact weight distribution in any significant way.

[F`s are my favs]

I don`t know about the screens in the cockpit (i mean they look fabulous), but the longer switches (mostly on the right hand side panel) are like real... shiny, metal, long switches with round thicker tops, switched on, nice, nice!

 

PS: How do you plan to leave the canopy - open or close, cause when it`s close - the screens should not be so visible at all.

Edited March 9, 2017 by F`s are my favs

[Uilleann]

Matt, looking great! The main gear can be installed after the fact, due to the erroneous way they were modeled. But I believe the nose gear leg at least must be installed before the halve are closed up. In reality, the main gear *should* have been modeled the same way. Oh well!

 

The panels under the intakes look to he a great match and fit. Though be cautious with your rivets. On operational airframes there weren't any. Well, at least that weren't puttied over with RAM. The surface was generally quite smooth. Eduard modeled their panels after the jet at the AF Museum in Dayton if I had to venture a guess, and it's had all it's RAM stripped.

 

Everything is looking great though. Really first rate!