Search the Community

They say that the best way to make sure you will do something is to tell people you are going to do it and then you feel obligated to get it done. In that spirit I am announcing that I will be building the Unicraft 1/72 Boeing Bird of Prey. The Bird of Prey, (named that because someone thought it resemble the Star Trek Klingon Bird of Prey, there is some documentation that it was designated YF-118G)was a late '90 secret stealth technology demonstrator which first flew in 1996 and after 40 flights was retired in 1999. Due to its secret nature it was not publicly revealed until October 2002. For more details see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Bird_of_Prey. I like building weird or strange looking aircraft and the first time I saw a picture of it I knew I had to building it, so I did a web search and found that there actually was a kit of it in 1/72 buy Unicraft. I had never built a kit by Unicraft before so I bought it. It consists of 9 resin parts for the fuselage and wings and a resin slab for the landing gear. plus a clear canopy and decals. There is no interior, none, nothing. Note I got this picture off of their web sight since I forgot to get one before I started construction. If only may parts looked this good. What I got was warped and with huge amounts of flash and pin holes that made it look like Swiss cheaase, except I have never seen Swiss cheese with so many holes. Also the rear fuselage, (upper right) is shown here as a monolithic block. What I got was 2 pieces which looked like there hollowed out the block and then literally broke the top and bottom halves apart. I am not saying that this is the worst kit I have ever worked on, but I will take Mach 2 and Anigrand any day. Despite all that I should also say that I am grateful to have even that and will do my best to do it justice. So after much sanding and filling I have the fuselage assembled and the wings attached. Note that the front of the front landing gear opening has broken off and will need repair, both wings have broken in half and been reglued, the rear tip of the left wing is broken off and will need to be fixed, and the pi holes in both wing trailing edges. The wings still need to be blended in, but They will need to be straightened first. So after many dips in hot water I have gotten them this far; Which is a bit better. More to come, if it doesn't end up in the garbage, but I have suffered enough for now

This is my Unicraft Boeing Bird of Prey. The build thread for this can be found at Just to restate; The Bird of Prey, (named that because someone thought it resemble the Star Trek Klingon Bird of Prey, there is some documentation that it was designated YF-118G)was a late '90 secret stealth technology demonstrator which first flew in 1996 and after 40 flights was retired in 1999. Due to its secret nature it was not publicly revealed until October 2002. For more details see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Bird_of_Prey. Also to restate; I am sure I have built worse kits then this, but I can't remember when (the absolute best kit I have built is the Airfix A-4 Skyhawk). Not one of my best builds, but I am satisfied considering what I had to start with. Enjoy,