Nighthawk

[Phartycr0c]

Ok Ok Ive gone and done something REALLY Stoopid!

Iv'e just weakened and bought a 1/32 Revell F117 Nighthawk 1990 vintage!

Reasons I thought that because 08 is the F117's last year of flight I must build sommat that pays a small tribute to it BUT looking at the kit coontents its not exactly going to be taxing but hey ho its something different I suppose!

[spike7451]

So you've gone & bought a great big black doorstop then....

[chadders]

looking at the kit coontents its not exactly going to be taxing but hey ho its something different I suppose!

To make a 117 out of whats in the box is going to take the the skills of a brain surgeon and the patience of a saint!!!!!!!!! The two biggest areas are the nose which is completely the wrong shape and the wings have the wrong sweep. Add to that incorrect faccets, spurrious cockpit detail and bomb bay doors that open the wrong way!! I have one up in the cupbourd with a Flightpath set and some Cutting Edge decals, but I just can't summon the courage.

Mark

[Phartycr0c]

OMG ! shoot me! shoot me now!

Pictures, the pretty pictures!!

Ah well at least ive got the GR4 to do beforehand!

[Mike V]

It suffers from the same shape errors and inaccuracies as the 48th and 72nd scale kits do. In addition to the nose, the canopy and cockpit profiles are all wrong. The entire airframe is missing multiple facets. Also, the exhaust trailing edges need to be reshaped and angled upwards so you can't see directly into the exhaust ducts at eye level.

We had a talented modeler in our club who got about 90% of the facets corrected, fixed the cockpit, canopy, and nose profile. He used the Tamiya kit (the most accurate F-117 in any scale) as a guide, scaling up the dimensions. The cockpit was scratch built and looked simply amazing. He was working on correcting the landing gear and wheels the last time I inquired about the project. I need to pester him to finish that beast up, as it was on its way to being a show stopper.

Mike V

[Alan P]

How does the Testors/Italeri version compare? or is it the same kit?

[Mike V]

Same-same

[Alan P]

1/32 is not very well served in the accuracy department is it? (Unless you only build Phantoms, Hornets and Vipers that is... )

[Phartycr0c]

Am I right in saying that the moulds forthis have passed from Revell to italieri then to Testors or are they different.

Looking at the contents it doesnt seem to be an awe inspiring build, just to say that I think it is something completely different.

There is soo little in the way of kit reviews / build threads to go on and without accurate plans im not sure as to exactly what corrections to make in order for this to be "acceptable".

anyhow the kit dates from 1990 and I suppose suffers from an elemnt of antiqueness in the representation.

[Mike V]

Originally, it was a Testors/Italeri release. From there the kit has been reboxed several times between the two and as mentioned, ROG.

As for reviews, there's not much out there, but then again, there's not much to the kit either. Unless you intend on correcting the multitude of shape and accuracy issues, it's a straight forward build from what I've heard. I've built both the 72nd and 48th scale Testors F-117 kits and they were pretty much slammers; though I did not attempt any corrections.

I will offer this suggestion, for any 48th or larger F-117 kit. Due to the size, I highly recommend this mod. The lower fuselage is pretty much a flat triangle sheet. You’ll need to stiffen that up using thick sheet runners or beans to keep it from collapsing. I fabricated a reinforced box by gluing sheet beams directly to the lower inside fuselage. I’ve done this to all my F-117 builds, after the 1st 48th F-117 I built suffered a fatal collapse back in 91. I even shore up the Tamiya kit, thought it’s a lot more stable. I’ll have to post of photo of a Monogram F-117 lower fuselage I reinforced a while back.

No, it's not very accurate, but if it “looks like” the subject is was intended, then that’s all it needs to be. For those who are looking for something that’s more realistic in scale, you’re going to have your work cut out for ya. I’ve seen quite a few 32nd F-117s built up over the years, not to mention two from my club. It is impressive on size alone, but close up it looses its first impression. Another lack of appeal is due to the color of the subject. A straight Black paint job just does not cut it, where as playing around (Without exaggeration!) with the black and dark gray tones makes a more appealing display. Add in some RAM patch repair, and you can break up the monotonous black void.

Mike V

[Phartycr0c]

Cheers for that guidance M8, very useful.

I did find, somewhere out there, an extremely brief review of the Revell kit http://www.gustafsen.nu/English/US-jet.htm. hence the question as to wether the Revell offering was different

As far as mods go I was looking at detailing the bomb bay a little as it appears that the 1:1 has a central spar dividing the bomb bay into effectively two seperate smaller bays. Also I was opting more for an anthracite grey as opposed to pure black in an effort to induce a little bleaching etc.