F117 A stealth fighter

[Gannetfan]

Hi everyone,

In the mid 90's I was stationed at RAF Colishall when an F117 on detachment in Holland somewhere was playing games trying not very hard to penetrate the UKs radar defences developed engine trouble. For some unknown reason the jock forsakes the options of Mildenhall or laken health a few more minutes "up the road" and annoyingly diverted to us at Colt.

I was on the station reaction force at the time and was "knocked on" by my colleagues of the much loved RAF Police to join the " Aircraft guard" The yanks were still very touchy about the jet in them days.

So I dutifully drew my weapon and trotted off to the shed it was tucked away in.I drew the night shift and We had a ball wandering round it and poking our noses into this and that bit of the thing.

Now I want to build a nostalgic model of the plane but I have never attempted it before. Can anyone recommend the best 1/72 scale kit out there of this unique plane?

Edited February 9, 2016 by Gannetfan

[roym]

Italeri. May need aftermarket decals though. Hth. Roy

[Hook]

The Italeri kit isn't as good as the Hasegawa... see here:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/75427-best-options-for-f-117-and-f-22-in-172/?p=830397

Cheers,

Andre

[Gannetfan]

Thanks guys yes the hasegawa version looks both accurate and a nice model too. Love it in grey but it I'm going retro. Black it shall be

[Hook]

Thanks guys yes the hasegawa version looks both accurate and a nice model too. Love it in grey but it I'm going retro. Black it shall be

Excellent choice.

"There's something about this that's so black, it's like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black."

Cheers,

Andre

[tempestfan]

Has Hasegawa made a second tool of the 117 ? As far as I recall, they were among the first to release a kit around 1991 or so, and that one reportedly was as close to truth as all the early MiG-29 kits. Missing from Mike V's list, I think, is the Revell kit. It's a long time since (and they may also actually have made two moulds), but IIRC the (second ?) Revell kit was the first to take advantage of more precise dimensional and shape information released than was available for Hasegawa and e.g. AMT/Ertl.

[Gannetfan]

The pictures I have seen of the Hasegawa kit look very nice indeed but as for the kit being new I cannot say. I quite understand the point about the awful MIG 29 I bought one of them so if the 117 follows that trend early on then maybe not so good.😕

But The revell looks nice too. Academy does one too anyone know anything of it?

[Navy Bird]

Has Hasegawa made a second tool of the 117 ? As far as I recall, they were among the first to release a kit around 1991 or so, and that one reportedly was as close to truth as all the early MiG-29 kits. Missing from Mike V's list, I think, is the Revell kit. It's a long time since (and they may also actually have made two moulds), but IIRC the (second ?) Revell kit was the first to take advantage of more precise dimensional and shape information released than was available for Hasegawa and e.g. AMT/Ertl.

You're right about the first Hasegawa kit. It came out in 1989 and was at best a parody of the actual aircraft. IIRC, they worked from just the one photo that the USAF had released at the time.

However, they did an entirely new tool in 1992. The OP will want to avoid that first kit - its kit number is SP16 or 51516.

Cheers,

Bill

[Widow 65]

Im building the Italeri one at the minute and to be honest its just ok, but the bomb bay is completely wrong. The whole bay is open with the doors on the outside whereas the real one has a 2 part bomb bay with the doors opening from the middle.

Still, it looks like an F-1117 so never mind.

Nick

[sroubos]

I've built both the Academy and the Italeri, I preferred the former.

[Navy Bird]

I've built both the Academy and the Italeri, I preferred the former.

I built the Academy kit - it sure looks the part. But I did not compare it against any drawings, etc. It was quite easy to build though.

Cheers,

Bill