Academy 1/48 F-22A

[MESHER]

I just purchased this kit and in reviewing what is inside the box it looks really nice. After reviewing the instruction sheet I have a few questions I hope someone can answer or help me with.

1. Painting instructions call for FS36251 (Aggressor Gray) FS36176 (Dark Gray F-15) and FS36375 (Light Ghost Gray). Is this correct? The Aggressor Gray looks a little funny, it does not have any blue tinge to it and I would figure it would be more like Dark Ghost Gray instead? Does anyone have a after market decal sheet like Two Bob's or something that confirms the FS colors for this bird?

2. Also in the paint legend these list the 3 FS colors for this bird but under Testors Model Master paints they advise FS36176 and FS36251 are not available, is this a mistake?..because Model Master clearly offers these colors FS36251 Aggressor Gray bottle #1794 and FS36176 F-15 Dark Gray bottle #2036.

3. Instructions do not indicate what color to paint the inside of the intakes, I would assume white with Light Ghost Gray around the front openings?

4. Instructions indicate to paint the inside of the exhaust pipes white, I know this is standard ceramic color in jet pipes like the F-15, F-14, but in many color photos I have seen for the F-22A the inside of the exhaust looks all a silver metalic color all the way down to the turbine. Is this an error in the instructions.

I am far from an F-22A expert I would just really appreciate any help or advice so I can get this started and get the top and bottom fuselage halfs together.

[Murph]

Check here for how to replicate the paint scheme. I would go with what you see on internet walkarounds for internal colors.

Regards,

Murph

[weirich1]

MESHER,

I'm currently building the 1/72 Revell of Germany F-22, with the 1/48 right behind it on the bench, here are some answers to your questions:

1. I used Dark Ghost Gray FS36320 instead of the Aggressor Gray; Aggressor Gray is an odd color. DGG really complements the Light Ghost Gray FS36375 I used for the flight control surface edge areas. TwoBobs sheet does confirm the FS colors as stated in the instructions.

2. Yes, Testors Model Master colors are available; what a pain it was finding the F-15 Dark Gray FS36176.

3. Paint the exposed areas of the intakes Light Ghost Gray, inside Gloss White

4. Exhaust has me confused too, this kit has required a lot of research.

Good luck with the build.

[Stratospheremodels]

Whooooaaa.... I've just got to get that one.

I just saw about the Academy F-22 in Finescale yesterday. I already have the Italeri 1/48th kit,

but i know Waco said it was not accurate, (i saw the comparisons of the (wrong) angle of the front fuselage and nose for the Italeri kit

here (meaning Big surgery..), but i was already aware of the few panel lines problems from examining my kit (though i would dare to

say they were most likely 'intentionnal' errors..). I am looking forward to see how different the Italeri and the Academy kits are.

But at 69$US for a mass market injected kit... uunngh.... that's hard... (that's not a short run, as far as i know ??)

(i remember the 1/48th Su-27 from the same company was going for something like 25$ a few years ago)(though i haven't checked lately).

Stephane.

[Huey Gunner]

But at 69$US for a mass market injected kit... uunngh.... that's hard... (that's not a short run, as far as i know ??)

(i remember the 1/48th Su-27 from the same company was going for something like 25$ a few years ago)(though i haven't checked lately).

Stephane.

Once you see inside the box yourself you will understand the price a little more. GMW and Sprue Brothers have them for about $54.

[Ro-Gar Hobbies]

But at 69$US for a mass market injected kit... uunngh.... that's hard... (that's not a short run, as far as i know ??)

(i remember the 1/48th Su-27 from the same company was going for something like 25$ a few years ago)(though i haven't checked lately).

Stephane.

I have a couple that I am selling, they are new and still wrapped.....$48.00 each not including shipping. Check out the link;

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....p;#entry1654396

Regards,

Robert

[mrvark]

Check here for how to replicate the paint scheme. I would go with what you see on internet walkarounds for internal colors.

Regards,

Murph

One change that I should have made to that article regards the intakes, which Waco sorted me out on. The intakes should be Light Ghost Gray back to about the beginning of the Sidewinder bays, then white. The silver I reported on in the article is actually a series of boundary layer holes not unlike those found on the intake ramps of F-4s. The good news with the Academy kit is that they not only include this feature, but also include decals for it! I haven't built the Academy kit, but I have seen it in the box and based on my experience building the very nice 1/72 RoG kit, it looks very nice and worth the money. The only thing that looks to be a challenge is the fit of the canopy to it's frame--I would have voted for a single piece for that assembly...

[dedalus]

Whooooaaa.... I've just got to get that one.

But at 69$US for a mass market injected kit... uunngh.... that's hard... (that's not a short run, as far as i know ??)

(i remember the 1/48th Su-27 from the same company was going for something like 25$ a few years ago)(though i haven't checked lately).

Stephane.

This one that you kinda need to get on e-bay. They often appear with a buy-it-now option for $35-ish, and about $50 total including shipping from Korea which takes a week to get to the west coast. But, if you just watch ones up for option, they usually go for about $22-$26 and so around $40 including shipping. I bought 2 from "NewLangleyShop" this way with no problems. While you're at it, pick up an Academy F/A-18A Hornet this way and combine shipping. Just e-mail them first. They let me wait a few days for the auction to close to do it that way.

[Waco]

but i know Waco said it was not accurate

I'm quite certain I've NEVER said anything about accuracy in a kit. I tend to judge a kit based on its ease of construction and whether I think it has the overall look of the subject being modeled. In other words, it would have to be grossly inaccurate or have something dramatically incorrect in its looks for me to declare it "inaccurate."

Even the Italeri kit looks like an F-22 to me, and I've seen some very well done builds of that kit. I, myself, find the darn thing just so difficult to construct and of such poor fit that I have vowed never to try it again (after giving up in both 1/72 and 1/48).

The Academy kit looks VERY nice, and, apparently, goes together relatively well also. I myself do not have one yet.

[Murph]

The silver I reported on in the article is actually a series of boundary layer holes not unlike those found on the intake ramps of F-4s.

So they copied it from the F-4.

:)

Regards,

Murph

[Fishwelding]

So they copied it from the F-4. :)

Never a bad idea, that.

(Long live double-ugly!)

[Aggressor Supporter]

The only thing that looks to be a challenge is the fit of the canopy to it's frame--I would have voted for a single piece for that assembly...

I agree. The kit's canopy rail does not fit well onto the cockpit. If you want it closed, you will need to get the putty out as there will be a gap, especially on the left side, or at least on mine. Not impossible by all means, but will be a little work due to the inaccurate fit. I wish Academy would have corrected this. I agree that a one piece canopy would have been much better, like the 1/72 Revell Germany version. Don't know if the Legends canopy frame fits better though and if an aftermarket company would make a one piece canopy for the Academy Raptor, that make life so much more easier.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Aggressor Supporter

[Pierre Sacha]

Hi,

Always had great service from Hobbyeasy and they sell it for around $42.00 without shipping.

www.hobbyeasy.com

Pierre

Edited February 17, 2009 by Pierre Sacha

[Waco]

Well, I finally got to put my hands on one of these and take a first hand look at the kit, thanks to Mark Sindiong and his friends (great part about AF travel is getting to visit model clubs and ARC friends all over!!!).

As has been pointed out repeatedly, this is a VERY nice kit. It looks very much the part of an F-22, as I've said, with a few very minor things that I looked at, had to think about for a second, and went, well, it's certainly close enough. Nothing dramatic, that's for sure. I didn't look too closely at the canopy framing/fit though. The tinted canopy plastic is VERY nice, and, to my eye, looks spot on.

The only thing that surprised me was the massive decal sheet. I know that many have touted these markings as being the panacea, but I was, quite frankly, fairly disappointed. Now granted, most of my disappointment was because I am fortunate enough to get up to these machines on a daily basis. There are a LOT of errors on the sheet, mostly in terms of names, spelling, and a few markings. The one that jumps out the most is the 90FS tail markings. One of the 90FS is highlight shaded, and one is not, where they both should be shaded. Some of the tail banners were incorrect or "proposed" markings, rather than the final ones that are on the aircraft themselves. And virtually every name on the sheet is misspelled, both for pilots and crew chiefs. I think I found 4 of the many that did not have any errors. The rest were misspelled, missing letters, or chopped off early.

Big deal? Probably not. The weapons decals were very nice, and most of the stencilling looked pretty good (although again, some minor spelling errors). At any rate, I'll just fill in with my TwoBobs sheets where necessary. That'll also open up some more options for more line based jets, since the in-kit sheet mostly covers flagships. But since I know most of the pilots and maintainers on the jets, I'd prefer to build them with the names spelled correctly. :)

Nice kit...can't wait to pick one up for myself!

Edited February 21, 2009 by Waco

[Fishwelding]

Thanks for the review, Waco. Sounds like the kit is well worth it. The widespread misspellings of names is a curious flaw.

I've been waiting for the obligatory Revell(-Monogram) 1/48th scale boxing, as Monogram did almost every major US warplane, and I am to Monogram as Mac-geeks are to Macs. But I'm beginning to worry they're going to let me down on this one! :)

[MESHER]

Well I pretty much have this kit together and ready for painting. I think the kits fit is really good, just a few notes. The canopy rail fit to the fuselage is the biggest disappointment in my opinion, no problem if you do the canopy in the up/open position. I had no problem with the intakes at all, figuring out the inside grey/white painting line demarcation was a bit challenging. I wanted to do the first one with the armament bay doors closed, the main bottom bay door fit great closed, the sides were a bit tricky and not the greatest fit, but I suppose most will want to model this bird with them open to display the great detail inside and all the armament hanging on their racks. The only other area I had a problem with (and it was not construction) was the exaust...instructions advise the insides are painted white, all the reference I can find show the interior a burnt metal color all the way back to the flamers. Still not sure about this as all modern jets seam to have this area white/sooted. Any way, pretty impressive kit for Academy and easy to assemble and looks fairy accurate.

[mhoupt]

I'm quite certain I've NEVER said anything about accuracy in a kit. I tend to judge a kit based on its ease of construction and whether I think it has the overall look of the subject being modeled. In other words, it would have to be grossly inaccurate or have something dramatically incorrect in its looks for me to declare it "inaccurate."

Even the Italeri kit looks like an F-22 to me, and I've seen some very well done builds of that kit. I, myself, find the darn thing just so difficult to construct and of such poor fit that I have vowed never to try it again (after giving up in both 1/72 and 1/48).

The Academy kit looks VERY nice, and, apparently, goes together relatively well also. I myself do not have one yet.

Waco,

I am building the kit now - I am the idiot that tried the one day challenge. I got hung up on the intakes, up at the front where they blend / meet the fuselage. The overall engineering is great. I just for some reason could not get those things to mate up in the front all that well. I worked on the kit all day and that was basically the only thing I did not get done. I think I may pick it up again this afternoon and see what I can do with the intakes, then I can mate the fuselage together.

Mark

[Murph]

The only other area I had a problem with (and it was not construction) was the exaust...instructions advise the insides are painted white, all the reference I can find show the interior a burnt metal color all the way back to the flamers. Still not sure about this as all modern jets seam to have this area white/sooted.

I would go with any photos you have.

Regards,

Murph

[Stratospheremodels]

Once you see inside the box yourself you will understand the price a little more. GMW and Sprue Brothers have them for about $54.

That's a little better. I will have a look at it when i can find pictures of the parts on the web. I guess they must have used slides ?

Stephane.

[Stratospheremodels]

I have a couple that I am selling, they are new and still wrapped.....$48.00 each not including shipping. Check out the link;

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....p;#entry1654396

Regards,

Robert

Hi ! Thank you Robert ! Sorry, i missed your offer (just checked the link tonight).

Stephane.

[Stratospheremodels]

This one that you kinda need to get on e-bay. They often appear with a buy-it-now option for $35-ish, and about $50 total including shipping from Korea which takes a week to get to the west coast. But, if you just watch ones up for option, they usually go for about $22-$26 and so around $40 including shipping. I bought 2 from "NewLangleyShop" this way with no problems. While you're at it, pick up an Academy F/A-18A Hornet this way and combine shipping. Just e-mail them first. They let me wait a few days for the auction to close to do it that way.

Hi, thanks Dedalus, i'll check it, though i don't have Ebay.

Stephane.

[Stratospheremodels]

I'm quite certain I've NEVER said anything about accuracy in a kit. I tend to judge a kit based on its ease of construction and whether I think it has the overall look of the subject being modeled. In other words, it would have to be grossly inaccurate or have something dramatically incorrect in its looks for me to declare it "inaccurate."

Even the Italeri kit looks like an F-22 to me, and I've seen some very well done builds of that kit. I, myself, find the darn thing just so difficult to construct and of such poor fit that I have vowed never to try it again (after giving up in both 1/72 and 1/48).

The Academy kit looks VERY nice, and, apparently, goes together relatively well also. I myself do not have one yet.

Hello Waco, then it must be those photos i saw in that thread that induced me in error. There was a side view comparison of the front fuselage of the F-22 and the kit, and the two were not at the same angle from what i remember.

Could anyone please post clear side view photos of the front fuselage section of the Italeri kit, the Academy kit and the real thing so we can compare please ?

I look forward to see the comparison.

I haven't tried to assemble my Italeri kit yet, so i can't comment yet on the ease of assembly or not, i'm "weird", i usually don't like to separate my kit parts from the sprue.. (unless i got two kits of the same, then i assemble one of them).

Thank you for the review Waco ! I look forward to get one of these too in the future.

Stephane.

Edited March 5, 2009 by Stratospheremodels