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F-117A Nighthawk (channelling my inner scratch builder)


Uilleann

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B-town!  The wife and I are hoping to make a move out there to be closer to family (well, about 45 min north up 95) in a couple years or so.  Pints on me when we finally get there!  :beer4:

 

So a little progress here and there...just some small detail stuff thrown in.

 

Couldn't stand the weird 'toothpaste stripe/blob/thing' that Trumpeter thought passed as an O2 hose, so out with the lead solder and brass wire core again.  While not perfect, at normal viewing distances, it looks a far sight better than before - to say nothing about the second hose on the other side which was completely omitted.  Here they are all fixes and in place, with a couple of handles worked in, and (what I hope anyway) is the final wash applied to the bulkhead and panels:

tub-more-detail.jpg

 

Cheers!

 

Brian~

 

I'm a Terrapin, dude!

 

 

I was born in University of Maryland Hospital, baby! I've been an O's fan all my life. I've watched the O's at Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards.

 

We left for the West Coast in '75 (When I was 10 Y.O.) while they were dredging out the now Inner Harbor.

 

I was raised in San Diego, CA. If it weren't for the humidity I would have moved back to Baltimore area a long time ago.

 

 

 

oh, BTW; The cockpit is looking great! Very clean work indeed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

And disaster strikes.

 

Well, a mini disaster anyway.  Having never worked on a Trumpeter kit before, I was unaware of their decal's tendency to commit seppuku on their way from the water bath to application on the model.  In working out the main panel details, with my shiny new micro punch set from UMM, I was able to get nice clean punches of the instruments themselves out of the sheet...but that was the end.  They disintegrated faster than a rebel planet with Darth Vader at the controls of the Death Star!  Google says this isn't a rare occurrence with their decal sheets...but still sucks to find it out now.

 

A few choice and rather colorful pronouncements, and a deep breath or two later, and I was off to Airscale's site to order a new set of instrument's for the kit.  When they arrive, I'll see if I can manage to finish off the panel to it's full potential.

 

In the mean time, back to the gear doors, and nose gear well.  Have been working on little bits here and there, and last night saw the creation of a scratch door actuator and associated hydraulic plumbing.  Pics a little later on perhaps.  Too dejected at the moment to revel in the little I've accomplished since the last update. 

 

Cheers all-

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And disaster strikes.

 

Well, a mini disaster anyway.  Having never worked on a Trumpeter kit before, I was unaware of their decal's tendency to commit seppuku on their way from the water bath to application on the model.  In working out the main panel details, with my shiny new micro punch set from UMM, I was able to get nice clean punches of the instruments themselves out of the sheet...but that was the end.  They disintegrated faster than a rebel planet with Darth Vader at the controls of the Death Star!  Google says this isn't a rare occurrence with their decal sheets...but still sucks to find it out now.

 

A few choice and rather colorful pronouncements, and a deep breath or two later, and I was off to Airscale's site to order a new set of instrument's for the kit.  When they arrive, I'll see if I can manage to finish off the panel to it's full potential.

 

In the mean time, back to the gear doors, and nose gear well.  Have been working on little bits here and there, and last night saw the creation of a scratch door actuator and associated hydraulic plumbing.  Pics a little later on perhaps.  Too dejected at the moment to revel in the little I've accomplished since the last update. 

 

Cheers all-

"Improvise; Overcome; and Adapt"

 

 

Opposition is hard at work to dissuade you and his name is Mr. Murphy :angry2: .

 

But remember: The best revenge is your success so, figuratively, tell Mr. Murphy to go pound salt. Oorah!!

Edited by Showtime 100
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Looks like Peter is the man on the BALL!  Placed my order with him online, and he's already got it shipped and on it's way to me less than 6 hours later.  Thanks Peter!  Looking forward to his decals.  Almost ordered the PE bezel set too...and still might later on.  But for now, just hoping the new dials [and their corresponding carrier film] will perform better than the Trump offering.  Even though I've been out a few years from the modeling scene, I can honestly say in ALL my years playing with plastic before this, I have never once seen a decal so completely obliterate itself.

 

The next major surgical undertaking will be to correct the intakes, which Trumpeter got completely wrong.  I had planned on modeling the blow in doors open, which give a direct line of sight into the intakes.  Though I have no idea whatsoever how to "properly" attack that.  Trying to keep perspective here as I can buy new decals for the instruments...but no one makes a corrected intake set for this 117 kit...and I doubt anyone ever would.  Here's to hoping that little project ends up being much simpler than I fear it will be.  :)

 

Now - if I can just keep the dog away... 

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Ok ok - enough praise for Peter at Airscale....well, maybe not quite enough...HE ROCKS!  Decals made it in record time, and exceeded my hopes both in their quality and their ease of use - couldn't be happier.  Now, if only my photography skills were as sharp!  ;)  At any rate, a touch of progress was made on a few bits and pieces.

 

Panel is starting to take shape, and is beginning to really look the part in the tub:

panel-pit.jpg

 

Still thinking I would like to add some of Peter's panel bezel PE detail, and have a few more little knobs and switches I'm hoping to include...but I feel like I'm finally heading in the right direction:

panel-airscale-decals.jpg

 

Found some great little gems at the local fly fishing supply as well.  These little guys were the perfect fit for some canopy scratch I needed to put together:

canopy-detail-parts.jpg

 

And with the help of a little square rod, some drilling and setting of some tiny 'posts' to mount the cones to, and a sharp #11 to cut the angles for mounting, they're looking pretty good:

canopy-detail-front2.jpg

 

Still need paint, but getting there soon enough:

canopy-detail-front.jpg

 

Also made some headway on the gear doors and their respective PE vs stock:

gear-door-details.jpg

 

Have also been working on the nose gear bay, door and a few other random parts here and there...none quite ready for pics yet.  But stay tuned!

 

Bri~

Edited by Uilleann
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Thanks guys.  So - out of curiosity, does anyone happen to know what those things on the canopy actually ARE?  While I was happy with their reproduction, I'm eternally curious, and have no idea what their function might be.  I don't expect they're related to the locking mechanics at all...possibly something to do with climate?  Hot air feed for the glass (anti fog/ice perhaps?)

 

Any guesses???

canopy-question.jpg

Edited by Uilleann
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Brian, I believe those are part of plumbing to connect canopy de-fog or a/c.

I thought that might have been part of the equation here.  :)  Thanks Mike.  Any word from your old F-117 friends as yet?  :)

 

Cheers!

 

B~

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