Italeri | No. 829 | 1:48 | Lockheed F-117A Stealth Nighthawk
2021/22: OOB build of the vintage '90s Italeri 1/48 kit.
Fresh plastic... It's so stealthy I don't know where the main body is!
This kit differs from many others as wings must be attached and of course ensured they sit right also. I still maintain I need one of those flashy jig things I see others on here with.
Not technical and/or accurate, but it's a pretty tidy cockpit that offered opportunity to paint some detail.
Tamiya paint used here as well as my usual Vallejo choice.
Mating of wings and fuselage... Wing is slightly propped to ensure correct angle.
These old kits are never completely compliant! I believe some manufacturers don't expect you to join wings to fuselage. Italeri however, do!
Adding fish weights in nose, clamping and armament assembly/priming.
Minor cockpit tweaks, gaps will be filled.
I had to damage edges to ensure fit, but will make good afterwards.
Still needed filling and sanding etc.
1500, 2000 and 2500 wet and dry.
More tweaking of the base black primer.
sand, sand and a little bit more sanding!
This is first pass at creating some highlights and tonal range within the black.
These old kits have minimal panel line detail - it's not a Hasegawa I acknowledge. So just trying best to get some colour interest in an otherwise flat surface.
Adding some grey tones.
Masking for panel painting.
Painted.
Exhaust base silver painting.
Working to add some 'scratchy' surface detail and painting of air intake panels with Hataka black.
The scratchy surface staining will be toned down.
Streaking and adding greys to panels.
Endeavouring to create variables of exhaust staining by using diluted Vallejo paints.
Adding flat (first pass) grey tones to panels. The scratchy paint effects will be toned down also.
Masking/painting undercarriage.
IN PROGRESS. UPDATED: 15/3/22...
Коментарі
62 17 September 2021, 08:06
NeilHi Arif 🙂 thanks very much 😊 very kind. I'm a bit further along now too. So the blending looks better... Must get some of the newer pics on here 👍
19 December 2021, 17:48
Robert PodkońskiWatching, of course, with pleasure 😉 From time to time I am tempted to purchase a Nighthawk kit... 😉
19 December 2021, 18:07
NeilHi Robert 🙂 you're always welcome. 👍 I have four of these in the stash. This is bash one, i thought I'd build this simultaneously with the F-19 and U2c also currently on the bench... I spie myself a trio of stealthy builds on the radar mate! 😉
19 December 2021, 21:34
Konrad -A little bit late but here I am😬!
Looking forward to your next steps Neil
20 December 2021, 09:11
NeilHi Konrad and Ricardo 🙂 welcome aboard, thanks for your kind words. Hopefully I'll do your interest justice 🙂 👍
20 December 2021, 15:20
JvLooking good
Yes I think most of us don't have all the best tools we like to have
But its turning out very nice
Look forward to see what its going to look like
7 March 2022, 11:28
James CI've got the Tamiya kit in the stash, but haven't attempted it yet due to the large surface area and being overall black. No easy task to break-up the monotone colour like your doing. Following 👀
7 March 2022, 16:51
NeilHi Jv, Nathan and James C 👍 thanks for commenting. Yes, updated some imagery today, you're right @James C - I'm trying(!) to accomplish that... Very much glad to have you here mates 🙂
7 March 2022, 17:19
NeilThanks very much WhiteGlint and Roland, very kind 🙂 great to have both of you here 👍
9 March 2022, 21:39
NeilHi all 🙂 So I'm still catching up... I've got around to taking reveal pictures for many of my previous build albums. I shall be updating each and including a few build notes in the description too - especially on the bits I messed up! Broke! Dropped! etc. This time I present my version of the Italeri Nighthawk, completed back in 2022.
As usual I made a few mistakes on this build, not least broke (and lost) the antennas on the leading edge. Of course, I could have made something else work, but to be honest I've got this aircraft several times more in the stash. So I'll just make a better job next time! Hahaha! The aged decals with the kit were also completely unusable, so on this occasion I had to buy an aftermarket set.
I learned a lot about how to try and mimic/paint that stealth finish, my next effort will be better. I also used a healthy dollop of artistic licence too in highlighting the angular shape/edges. Thanks to all who showed interest and liked, it's very much appreciated from such a talented lot as you guys. Hope you like my efforts. 👍
5 March, 09:51
Album info
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a semi-retired American single-seat, twin-engine stealth attack aircraft that was developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology.
