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Best bet for 1/48 F22 and YF-23?


RMP2

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Theres a few F-22s out there I see, but is the Hobby Boss the only YF-23?

 

Thoughts from modellers on the builds of each would be great - I dont trust online reviews as much as you guys, youre much more honest and knowledgeable. :)

 

Also - are they really much bigger than 1/48 Phantoms? Im restricted by shelf space....

 

As ever, any help, comments and thoughts are great, fire away!

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The YF-23 is longer than the F-22 by 2mtrs, and by nature of the overall shape in both they will take up more room than a F-4.

 

The HB YF-23 is the only game in town, while the F-22 is a toss up between Academy and Hasegawa, both have good and bad points.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey RMP2 -

I have not started it yet, but I have the HB YF-23 and looking at the parts, it's much bigger than you'd think. Looks like a fun kit. Have you started yet? Are you going to do a WIP? I hope so!

Thom

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From what I've been reading over the years, in general the Hasegawa F-22 gets the nod over the Academy kit. I think the RAM panels are greatly overdone, but some sanding will help take care of that (although, arguably they shouldn't have been molded that way in the first place).

The Hobbyboss YF-23 is your only option in 1/48.

DML did both the YF-22 and the YF-23 in 1/72 MANY years ago.

 

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6 hours ago, SPGhost said:

Hey RMP2 -

I have not started it yet, but I have the HB YF-23 and looking at the parts, it's much bigger than you'd think. Looks like a fun kit. Have you started yet? Are you going to do a WIP? I hope so!

Thom

 

I havent even bought one yet! Got enough to be getting on with to be fair. Its just a pair of aircraft I find interesting and quite pleasing to the eye thatd look nice on a shelf together.

Theres a nice WIP on here that I found a while back, worth searching out. :)

 

24 minutes ago, Don McIntyre said:

From what I've been reading over the years, in general the Hasegawa F-22 gets the nod over the Academy kit. I think the RAM panels are greatly overdone, but some sanding will help take care of that (although, arguably they shouldn't have been molded that way in the first place).

The Hobbyboss YF-23 is your only option in 1/48.

DML did both the YF-22 and the YF-23 in 1/72 MANY years ago.

 

 

Cheers. That was my thinking re the 22 also and no worries re the 23 - keeps it a simple choice there. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...
48 minutes ago, Stealthman said:

 

What price are you looking to pay?

 

Sensible ones, given whats available outside of here. Noone likes feeding the ebay pig or paying over the odds, thats not how it works here.

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Cheers. I have the Hasegawa ear-marked.

 

Might have to offload a couple of Phantoms and stuff in the for sale section here, its just not working out with trades so far. So many wants, too little overtime. :)

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On 10/20/2016 at 4:50 PM, Stealthman said:

 

What price are you looking to pay?

I would certainly want to be under $50.00. Maybe an unreasonable price expectation, but it's what I feel I could afford.

Edited by Don McIntyre
Used the wrong word
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F-22A - Hasegawa. Some say the raised RAM is too raised, but to be honest, to my eye its not as bad as many ppl like to suggest. Its a pretty epic build (far more complex than Italeri) and a pretty epic price, but the thing looks incredible! The only 'flaw' for me, is the exhaust can't be posed in the typical shutdown position - but this is what a/m is for.

YF-23 - HobbyBoss. But be prepared to WORK for it, if you want it to look right. I've been chipping away at mine now for almost 2 years and haven't joined the top and bottom yet! "WTF Dan? Are you bonkers?" I hear you say - perhaps, but the 'high-level' overview of corrections that are needed to make the thing look right (PAV-2 focused) are:
- lengthen the MLG bays - add the refuel point in front of the MLG legs, and reposition the bays about 7mm (off the top of my head?) rear wards, to put the gear where it should be. Replace the kit wheels with some nice a/c FA-18A wheels. The MLG Bays are still not quite in the right position, but they're close enough. (Done)
- re-engrave the Weapons bays and the lower rear fuselage - the weapons bay doors aren't even close! In hindsight, because the weapons bay was essentially an empty box, it may have been easier to box the thing in, but such is! (In Progress)
- exhausts need to be completely redone. Doing the GE-engined PAV-2, I liberated some parts from some 20 year old Hasegawa F-16's, etched YF-120 pattern flame holders, and jigged up a system to allow me to build the 'round-to-square' transition. Decals have been made for the sides, corrugated sheets fitted to parts and now just need to finish the deceptively complex 'exhaust paddle' (that has been torturing me, that shape!). Oh and of course, creating locating lugs inside for these things... (Done, except for the paddles)
- exhaust troughs are just awful, these need to be re-engraved into square tiles - the plan is to then paint it all metal and decal over the top to introduce the subtle variations and distinctive edges of the tiles. (Not Started)
- intakes... The worst part of this kit - the intakes bare no real resemblance to the YF-23, so you need to re-align all the leading edge surfaces (when viewed directly from the bottom, so they share the same angle ans the leading edge of the wing). This actually makes a HUGE difference to how the thing looks (especially once the MLG has ben moved backwards); the issue then becomes the intake trunks. So much card and putty and etc - and at the end of each, a compressor lifted from the aforementioned F-16's again. You should be able to JUST see the compressor face of the donks from certain angles. (In Progress)
- upper fuselage shape; not sure where the 'bumps at the front' of the engine fairings came from, nor the 'hollows' just outboard either, but its another case of re-shape and re-scribe. In the grand scheme of things, this isnt a hard problem to fix, it just takes time. (Done, all bar a polishing) The rear lower fuselage has minor shape issues, but nothing that you're really see if you put the vents and antennae and panel lines in the right place!
- cockpit is ok, but if you have gone this far, well you're going all the way - new seat, new canopy sills, structure on the insides of the fuselage, box in the avionics bay behind the seat and put the bits and pieces in there like the ECS and etc... Most of this work ends up being generally obscured, but its there! Hahaha. The BRUTAL part about this is building the inner frame for the canopy - that an the intakes have been the real soul crushers; the problem is, both are so visible. Even if you close the canopy, you'll need to build a good portion of the canopy frame internals (like the deck behind the seat). (Cockpit done, Avionics done, Canopy Frame in progress)

Yes, that's a BIG list, but a. its the only game in town, and b. there are positives - the wheel wells are surprisingly nice; even the MLG Bay which needs to be lengthened and slid back. All they need (beyond the MLG stuff mentioned) is a good painting and the odd piece of wire. They're really good. The cockpit Panels are quite good too (they're surprisingly close). And then the shape overall - its far from perfect (which considering full drawings and cross sections were available at the time they did the kits, its hard to know why they ignored them), is actually a decent basis (ie, the angles are pretty close and the plan outline is rather close to the engineering drawings). Plus the aftermarket Caracal decals are quite good too.

You could take an easier route too - move the MLG bay (easy), replace wheels with FA-18 wheels, put exhaust covers in place, correct the very front of the intakes, then put covers over it, close the canopy and do the minimum of frame work, while just fixing the major upper surface contours - and you'll have a very good looking YF-23. But either way, be prepared to suffer a bit for the YF-23, hahahaha ;)


Dan

Edited by Zaggy
Cant Spell
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