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Hello everyone. Here’s my Academy F-117A it’s been detailed and painted in a grey scheme that was trialled because of the loss of a Nighthawk over Serbia. A brief overview of the additional details and accessories used: CMK Cockpit CMK Weapons bay CMK Undercarriage + bays. Quick Boost Tailerons Eduard GDU-39 Small Diameter Bombs Wire mesh - the vents were opened up and wire mesh reinstated the details. CMK NATO standard pilots. Two Bobs decals Paints were mostly Gunzi. The decals say that the colour is FS36118 but the paint brands I tried came out far to Grey and far too dark. This led me to mixing my own blend : Gunzi FS36118 then lightened with a lighter grey than some dark blue added for the ‘hue’ . Depending on the photo the ‘hue’ is a warm blue grey. Weathering was kept to the tops of the faceted surfaces as a light grey - the highlights. The creases of the surfaces were treated to MRP Smoke to create the shadow. Photos showed the plane to have some soot deposits from several of the engine vents. This photo shows the problem I’ve had with the photography the cameras used keep using the light to was out the true colour. This shows the size of F-117 versus the 1/48 A-4 Skyhawk. Also of note is this is the base I’ve made for my stalled 1/72 TSR2 which shows the size of that rascal. This photo shows some of my problems with the photography I took over a 100 photos just to get these pictures. The intake wire mesh is a lot more blacker in the flesh. This photo shows the highlights and shadows created and the canopy jacks as well. I do recommend the CMK detail sets, but they still need extra work to get the most from adding details. For 1/72 I’d recommend something more like a JDAM for a weapon load out. The ‘Ablative’ red material of the exhaust was a Humbrol brick red toned down with dark metallic’s and metallic smoke. This is a photo I bought, there aren’t many readily available. A lovely shot showing the clean lines of the “Wobbling Goblin “. By the look of it , it shouldn’t be able to fly, but fly-by wire takes care of all that. Trying to create a dark and moody scene……. The F-117 came out of the shadows and took the world by storm. Shame about the glare on the photo…….. Finally the shape of the base not only matches the model but is a nod to to the designer’s who at the end of the ‘senior trend’ project received a wooden momento for their work. A clunky faceted piece of hardwood that only those in the know could appreciate. Thanks for looking. 😉

I had an original plan for this to go in the Gulf War Group Build (currently active) as a follow on from my Buccaneer "Fiona - Miss Jolly Roger". In the group I came by another A10 builder, working with the Italieri kit. And I spied the decal sheet on the bench. And on that sheet, my favouritest of all. The "Blacksnakes" of the Indiana Air National Guard 😍😎🐍 Change of plan. So this build is dedicated to the generosity and helpful assistance of fellow BMer @John Masters for contributing the remainders of his A10 decals - Internationally I might add! - to the project. Disqualified from the Gulf War GB of course, but that's a small price. This is the Thunderbolt Decor style for me! I have a couple of things to sort. The refuelling Dock and the white H on the nose are too far back - I'll do them again. The canopy needs a bit of a tidy up and could be propped open. I managed to find a couple of Aim sidewinder missiles. And I managed to make a pair of the Mavericks look a bit better. I read that they are seldom carried in three's. But it's easy to unrealistically load out these planes. So I'm leaving it at that. I'll get the improvements done but I really wanted to get this up, in honour of John Masters' kind and generous gesture. This is a great community!! Thanks again John 👍😇 When I say "Bad to the Bone" this is the face I'm talking about.... Those features on the leading edge roots and the blades under the fuselage in front of them..... They are to keep the exhaust gas from the gun away from the turbine intakes, because it's so completely stripped of oxygen when the gun is firing that it would stall the engines..... ‼️🐍