1/72 F-117A Nighthawk

[Azza]

I am in between projects and looking at doing a 'quick" simple(ish) build. Always wanted to build an F-117. I can readily get my hands on either an 1/72 Academy, Italeri or Hasegawa... There will obviously be pros and cons on those 3 kits, and they might not even be the best kits out there, however would appreciate your thoughts on which of those three would be the best.

cheers

[Andre]

I'd go with either the Hasegawa or Academy.The Hasegawa kit is the most accurate shapewise, just a tad more so than the Academy offering - it's only drawback is that the wings are seperate, which makes for some noticable joints to take care of, while the easier to assemble Academy has the upper and lower fuselage and wings molded as single parts. Academy also gives a bomb bay interior and some weapons (a pair each of LGB's, pig iron Mk. 84's and, for some reason, AIM-9L's) as standard, while only a few limited Hasegawa editions feature a bomb bay interior and a pair of LGB's; in addition, the Academy kit has the radar reflector thingys (seperate parts) that were often fitted to the F-117 under peacetime conditions.

Both will certainly look the part when finished. Since you mention a quick build, I'd recommend you get yourself an Academy kit (which should be cheaper as well).

I'd skip the Italeri kit alltogether personally - it predates the Hasegawa and Academy kits and has several shape errors, the one most standing out is the leading edges of the wings that are not straight, like on the 1:1 thingy, but have a kink molded in which throws things noticably off. It does have a rare pair of B61 "shapes", however.

HTH,

Andre

Edited February 15, 2011 by Andre

[lyonkubb]

I'd go with either the Hasegawa or Academy.The Hasegawa kit is the most accurate shapewise, just a tad more so than the Academy offering - it's only drawback is that the wings are seperate, which makes for some noticable joints to take care of, while the easier to assemble Academy has the upper and lower fuselage and wings molded as single parts. Academy also gives a bomb bay interior and some weapons (a pair each of LGB's, pig iron Mk. 84's and, for some reason, AIM-9L's) as standard, while only a few limited Hasegawa editions feature a bomb bay interior and a pair of LGB's; in addition, the Academy kit has the radar reflector thingys (seperate parts) that were often fitted to the F-117 under peacetime conditions.

Both will certainly look the part when finished. Since you mention a quick build, I'd recommend you get yourself an Academy kit (which should be cheaper as well).

I'd skip the Italeri kit alltogether personally - it predates the Hasegawa and Academy kits and has several shape errors, the one most standing out is the leading edges of the wings that are not straight, like on the 1:1 thingy, but have a kink molded in which throws things noticably off. It does have a rare pair of B61 "shapes", however.

HTH,

Andre

I agree with Andre's assesment above- One thing I found odd about the Academy kit is that it has absolutely nothing for wheel wells! There is a socket for the gear and that is it! I you are building to have the underside viewed..be sure to at least pick up the CMK resin wheel wells set!

[Berkut]

Well, honestly, i have never seen Acad kit "live", but having built Hasegawa kit (the later edition with weapon bays), i can only say good things about it. It fits great, but i made myself work a bit extra because i filled most of the panellines. That is something most won't care about. The only bad thing on my example was that the fraiming on the canopy was extremely weak. That might be limited just to the kit i built, i don't know. But either way, i recommend buying Eduard masks, gives great results.

As i have said, i have not seen or built the Acad kit, however, judging from pics, it looks a bit "off" to me. Some angles looks very off tbh. Yes, Hasegawa costs more. Yes, you might spend a bit extra (3 dollars?) on mask, but it will be worth it. For me it was. :D