F-117A • Nighthawk

[F`s are my favs]

The bottom fuselage with the fuel/oil leaks - dry and ready:

 

 

On to the top fuselage - here are some moments from the second stage weathering - matte coat as a filter (transparent overall, but with a little bit of blue) + salt and water to enhance the white lines:

 

 

(PS: the next one is with white flashlight... the whites really stand out, but they were not as extreme as they look like)

 

 

Then the third and final stage is the final coat - a mix of around 70% matte and 30% satin lacquer. Then fuel/oil leaks with pure satin lacuqer (as on the bottom), and the final ''stains'' with oil paints, i.e. in the exhausts, traces along the canopy... maybe a couple more things. I wanted to keep a rather ''clean'' overall look though.

 

 

Then, the addition of the last components - the HUD and the oxigen line to the console in the cockpit, the intake grilles, and I removed the masks... and it is almost nighttime. Yet, I did a short video, it's low-res, but it's almost no daylight left. 

 

 

The oil paints are very very thin and subtle, so they should dry very fast as well. I almost can't believe, but I think it is ready.

 

[F`s are my favs]

Yeah, finally ready. It was a blast this model! There is only one thing that bothers me very much and I would fix if I could - the PE zig-zag pattern of the canopy... It looks like there is a gap or something (it looks like the original), because I fixed it not perfectly flush with the fuselage.  My goal was to leave a tiny little gap (fixed it while adding a piece of paper tape temporarily underneath) while trying to leave enough room for the primer/painting afterwards (the thickness of a paper tape). Cause it should make contact with the faceted surface, and I was affraid the whole canopy could lift up a bit if it was the paint touching underneath those zig-zag patterns. Yet, it turned out that the whole painting stage was with the canopy closed, and there is no paint(s) between the PE zig-zag patterns and the facet plastic. Well, it looks like the original plastic piece. I'm quite happy with everything else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out more pics - in flight mode & parked mode. It was a very interesting build. Thank you all for the comments, questions, tips, and other bits of advice! 

Edited April 21 by F`s are my favs

[Shawn M]

outstanding!