Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk "Stars and Stripes" - 1/72

[Keif]

I managed to pick this kit up on eBay a short while ago, it was stashed on the pile as a "to do" but I wasn't planning on doing it before a few others.

However, following @theaa2000 1/48 Tamiya build of his F-117A, I decided to go for it.

 

So the results.

 

 

 

 

and the tribute underside




I painted the underside gloss white and then masked it off.

The top got a Matt Black coat, but it looked too black. The majority of pictures of the F-117A look a very dark grey. So over the Matt Black, I hit the highlights, airbrushing on Revel Granite Grey, which isn't as dark as the colour swatch looks, so just to blend it all in, I went back to the centre of each panel with Revel Tar Black. Then used a dark grey wash over panel lines, which ended up darker than the overal finish. Happy with the results though.

 

The only thing I didn't really like from the kit was the colour of the underside decals (could be there age), but they looked cream more than white, so the decision was made to cut the decals and apply just the red segments

 

Decals

https://imgbox.com/QPyQXn1T

 

So I went in, one stripe at a time.

 

On to the next build

Edited July 28, 2021 by Keif

[darthspud]

Nice work. Looks like a good idea to do away with the large decal for the underside.

Is that the 1/72 scale kit?

 

[Keif]

5 minutes ago, darthspud said:

Nice work. Looks like a good idea to do away with the large decal for the underside.

Is that the 1/72 scale kit?

 

I did think it's be a pain to get it symetrical, but wasn't too bad at all.

Yes, should have put it in the title it's 1/72

[darthspud]

Nice. i did the 1/48 kit a few years ago ( no pics survive thankfully). It was finished as a 12 Sqn RAF  in Desert Pink finish.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Looks cool. It was probably easier to get such aa good finish with the decals chopped up. That was a good idea.

[SAT69]

Beautifully done!