Tamiya 1:48 F-117A Grey Dragon +++ Finished +++

[Jasonb13]

Hey all...

 

I must admit, I've been looking forward to this GB for a while! I've had this kit for a year or two, and I'm deep in the middle of a F1 Car build that's slowly draining my will to live, so I'm looking forward to a couple of months off from it!

 

Anyhow, here's the box art:

 

 

 

 

I've heard good things about this kit, and the runners do look nice (and big!)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought this kit from a member in our club, and he'd planned to build the Grey Dragon himself. He put some initial work in so I have a nice few extras in the box:

 

 

 

 

That's the decals for the Grey Dragon (from a Two Bobs sheet I believe), the masks that come with the kit (and have to be cut out), another set of Eduard Masks, and two sets of Eduard PE. The dual masks are handy, I'll probably use the Eduard ones on the outside of the canopy and the kit ones on the inside. For the PE I'll pick and choose from the two sets. The metal cylinder is a weight for the kit that Tamiya give you in the box.

 

My plan is to build the Grey Dragon, a two tone grey scheme which should hopefully make a change from the usual black:

 

 

 

 

Apart from the PE and Decals, this will basically be out of the box. I have some Mr. Colour paint for this, which so far I've really liked using, and I'll also give black basing a go to see if I can make the two greys look a little less boring. I won't, thankfully, be filling in all the panel lines like the real aircraft apparently did!

 

That's it for now, thanks!

[MarkSH]

Nice choice, and especially in the grey scheme.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 hour ago, Jasonb13 said:

My plan is to build the Grey Dragon, a two tone grey scheme which should hopefully make a change from the usual black:

Id never thought i would have said this. The grey's actually improve the looks of the darn thing. 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good evening Jason

 Welcome aboard ...

I think you should enjoy your build and face less difficulties ..

 

All the best

Patrice

[Dansk]

Looks fantastic in the two-tone grey!

[Hockeyboy76]

Nice, real nice. 

[Jasonb13]

Thanks everyone! I shouldn't have put up a pic of the real thing, there'll be too much to compare the finished build with!

[exdraken]

Nice!

A long time since I've seen a Nighthawk here! 

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by exdraken

[Jasonb13]

So I've made a start on this. As usual I followed a tip I got from a member of my club, and I start on the undercarriage/ordinance etc. first. That way I get the fiddly stuff done and out of the way, and they only have to be glued on at the end of the build. Saves me being impatient near the end of the build and rushing their assembly/painting!

 

I assembled the Paveway Bombs and also the 'cradles' they're carried on. I also assembled some parts of the bomb bay, though I left some other parts off to make it easier to paint. I also have the undercarriage assembled, and the wheels too. And I took everything that needs to be painted white as well, and here's how it all looks now:

 

 

 

 

I've some sink marks to tidy up, especially on the inside of the bomb bay doors, but with luck I'll get this all primed tonight. I'm using White Primer, so I plan to do the priming/painting in one go!

 

[Jasonb13]

Hmmm...

 

The priming/painting didn't go as well as planned. It's just too hard to paint white and black plastic with white paint so that they end up the same colour! The black plastic was just becoming lighter and lighter grey, and the white plastic just staying its own shade of white. The primer I'm using (Ammo One Shot White) is quite thin, so it doesn't have excellent coverage and needs multiple coats, and that's not helping either.

 

Anyhow, I have some done, but it's late and it's going to have to be revisited. If I were starting again, I'd spray it all Halford's Grey first, to get it all to the same colour, and then work on the white. I might still end up doing that actually! I'll see how it all looks in the morning. So, unfortunately, a really quick start to the day screeched to a halt tonight. Ah well, there's always tomorrow (or during the week, as I might not get to the bench tomorrow!).

 

Thanks...

[Scargsy]

Watching this thread with some interest, I'm fancying doing a 117, just a standard black one.

It's odd the parts aren't all the same colour, I've no experience with the Ammo primers but that doesn't sounds good - though I guess if they provide a good key for the additional layers it shouldn't be a problem? What's the primer's base - at the minute I'm using either Vallejo stuff (water soluble poly-carbonate based), which so far seems good on plastic or Zero paints stuff - which is lacquer based, sticks like hell to anything and dries super fast but is somewhat nasty to use with the solvents in it.

 

[Jasonb13]

14 hours ago, Scargsy said:

Watching this thread with some interest, I'm fancying doing a 117, just a standard black one.

It's odd the parts aren't all the same colour, I've no experience with the Ammo primers but that doesn't sounds good - though I guess if they provide a good key for the additional layers it shouldn't be a problem? What's the primer's base - at the minute I'm using either Vallejo stuff (water soluble poly-carbonate based), which so far seems good on plastic or Zero paints stuff - which is lacquer based, sticks like hell to anything and dries super fast but is somewhat nasty to use with the solvents in it.

 

I think Tamiya went down the Matchbox route, the majority of parts that end up black are in black plastic, and the majority of parts that end up white are in white plastic. But there are some black plastic parts that end up being painted white, and that's the hassle. The Ammo Primer is water based and it's good primer, goes on very smooth, but it's just a bit too thin for my liking and needs too many coats (especially over black plastic!). Like I said, I should have primed all the parts with Halfords grey first, and then used the Ammo White Primer. I'm just trying to cheat, using the white primer as a white top coat as well!

 

Anyhow, after some sleep and some Halford's White Plastic Primer, it's looking a lot better!

 

 

 

 

With luck I might get a bit more done tonight, maybe get the Paveways painted and add the lights to the undercarriage.

[Jasonb13]

And that's exactly what I got done. Got the base coat on the Paveways, here's how they're looking:

 

 

 

 

They still need a yellow stripe on them, will mask them later. Got the lights painted and glued onto the undercarriage as well.

 

Next up is painting the various oleos on the undercarriage and bomb bay sections and then doing a bit of a wash on them.

[Jasonb13]

Got another little bit done last night. Started masking the Paveways for the yellow stripe (as I don't have the kit decals) and painted all the oleos on the various hydraulics. All the white parts are now ready for a wash, not sure when I'll get to it though, bench time will be brief for the next few days. 

 

 

 

 

I'm also trying to find a decent pic of the Nav lights near the wing tips to see if they're clear with a coloured bulb, or solid colour, as that's another easy job to do. 

 

Once I have the wash done on the white bits, I'm pretty much ready to move on to the cockpit.

 

Thanks...

[Jasonb13]

Got to the bench for a few mins this evening, and I knew I didn't have time to do a wash or anything like that, so decided instead to focus on a few small details, basically the lights.

 

Firstly I read online and found a pic that shows the very top of the canopy has a rear facing light to illuminate the refuelling port at night. So I put a little dab of silver inside the canopy:

 

 

 

 

and I'll mask the same spot on the outside, before painting. That'll represent the light, or at least good enough for me!

 

I then found a pic that suggests the wing nav lights are solid colour (as opposed to clear glass over a coloured bulb) so I put the clear plastic in place and painted the inside:

 

 

 

 

and the outside have masks from the Eduard mask set:

 

 

 

 

Finally, a few pictures show a protruding red light on the underside, near the front undercarriage. You can see it on this pic:

 

http://www.b-domke.de/AviationImages/Nighthawk/3642.html

 

I wondered to myself if I could fashion something to represent it. But I quickly found out I didn't need to! Firstly, I spotted this almost pre-drilled hole on the inside of the lower fuselage, pretty much exactly where the light would be (it's right beside the white plastic holding the weight in place):

 

 

 

 

And then I found two spare parts on the clear plastic runner that are basically the correct shape! A little drilling later and here's what I have...

 

 

 

 

I can leave it off, paint that part clear red and glue it on near the end. I've no idea why Tamiya include the part and don't include it in the instructions, which even tell you that it's not needed.

 

So that's where I am now, and I'm *definitely* not near the bench tomorrow. I still want to get the wash done on all the white parts, it's the next logical step. I'm also trying to convince myself to just leave the panel lines alone, and not try to fill them/sand them (as they're covered on the real thing). I've seen pictures showing that a lot of them are covered with a what looks like tape, and I reckon if I could get tape that was the same width to scale I may even try that, but really that way madness lies! I'd have to cut the tape to width myself and I'd never get it straight enough. If I just don't do a panel wash (which will be hard not to do!) that will reduce the appearance of the panel lines a lot.

 

Thanks...

[Jasonb13]

Little bit more work done! All the various bomb bay and undercarriage parts are basically finished now (though I still have to paint the wheels). Got the matt coat on them this evening, and did a little bit of dry fitting with the bomb bay...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seeker heads on the Paveways are done with a little bit of Clear Blue over Semi-Gloss Black, as I find the Clear Blue adds a hue to the Black which I like. I'll probably do the same for the two cameras on this aircraft as well.

 

I need to figure out how much of the Bomb Bay stuff to put in now, and how much to leave out to make masking easier when I'm painting the airframe! But for the moment the next steps are some tidy ups on the lights on the undercarriage, doing the wheels as well. and then adding the bomb bay and wheel wells to the underside of the fuselage. Then I can move on to the cockpit!

[Alan P]

Looking very nice so far. So much white! 😄

[Jasonb13]

Tell me about it! Thankfully there’s not a lot of white left, soon I’ll be moving on to grey. That said, the cockpit sill is white, so it’s not gone yet! All the white, and trying to weather it subtly, is always an issue for me with US aircraft.

[FortyEighter]

On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 12:12 AM, Jasonb13 said:

The seeker heads on the Paveways are done with a little bit of Clear Blue over Semi-Gloss Black, as I find the Clear Blue adds a hue to the Black which I like. I'll probably do the same for the two cameras on this aircraft as well.

 

 

That's an interesting idea for the seeker heads and they look good in the photo.

[Jasonb13]

1 hour ago, FortyEighter said:

 

That's an interesting idea for the seeker heads and they look good in the photo.

Thanks, I've done it for a while now. Don't know how accurate it is, but I think the clear blue makes it look more like a camera lens or something than just plain gloss black.

[Jasonb13]

Well, after a few days away I got back today and have spent a happy hour or so at the bench. Got a few bits and pieces painted and glued on. Got the FLIR done, I tried to capture the clear blue on the dome part, but it doesn't show up too well...

 

 

 

 

I also got some bits glued onto the upper fuselage, including the FLIR window, the intake covers and the bits that the tails will attach to. One of the intake covers wouldn't fit quite right and will need a bit of filler...

 

 

 

 

On the lower fuselage I got the three wheel wells and the bomb bay glued in place, along with the DLIR window. Here's how it looks from the inside and from the outside....

 

 

 

 

 

 

I glued in the upper part of the bomb racks as I realised that they had to be glued in before the centre wall in the bomb bay, and the centre wall can only be glued in before the bomb bay is glued to the fuselage! It hopefully won't be too awkward to mask, I'm hoping to use the undercarriage doors to mask the wheel wells.

 

So, so far so good. Next up are the wheels, and once I have them painted properly, I pretty much have all the peripherals done, and I can move onto the cockpit, and the PE that's going in it.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

20 minutes ago, Jasonb13 said:

It hopefully won't be too awkward to mask, I'm hoping to use the undercarriage doors to mask the wheel wells.

If you have blutac or Tamiya tape either work well for bomb bay and landing gear doors. I usually paint mine on the kit that way. 

[Jasonb13]

Yep, I’ll be using Tamiya tape alright, it should be fine. Undercarriage doors should take care of the wheel wells, so it should only be the bomb bay that needs the tape.

[Jasonb13]

Have started work on the tyres. Decided to follow a tip I saw on FB, though it's fiddly and probably suited to 1:32 scale (or better modellers than me!). Firstly I sprayed the tyres matt black:

 

 

 

 

Then I got some tape and tried to replicate some treads...

 

 

 

 

Next step is to do the other two tyres, and then spray them all anthracite (my usual tyre colour). In theory, that will give me a very dark grey/black tyre with black groves for the treads. We'll see though. Already I'm not certain if the tape is too wide. That said, it's really just to give a representation of it I suppose...

[oggy4624]

looks like the F117 may just be back from the dead

 

From Airforces Monthly

Recent flying activity by F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters over southern California and Nevada has revealed a possible new operating unit. One of the aircraft has been seen carrying a fin band bearing the name ‘Dark Knights’ together with a Nighthawk symbol. If this is indeed a unit designation, it’s not one known to have been connected to the F-117 in the past. However, the fin band seems to suggest that the unit operating the jets from Tonopah may have received this name, unofficially or otherwise.

All other markings on this particular ‘Dark Knights’ F-117 have been removed, although a faint ‘ED’ tailcode might be visible, suggesting it is one of the examples flown from Palmdale under the 410th Flight Test Squadron.

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by oggy4624