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1/48 YF-23 decals


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  • 2 weeks later...

I got notification that the decals are on their way to me. I will probably go ahead and enable preorders this weekend; so please watch your in-boxes for the notification e-mail (You are on the mailing list, right?) These decals will only be available direct from me for the first three weeks after release - I will make the remainder available to resellers.

Edited by KursadA
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Excellent... Excellent... :) And yes, on the mailing list since I discovered the thread.

Have to start measuring/drawing/etching some corrected Exhaust Tiles for PAV-2 now; for me, that the big stand-out issue... I have some F-15E Wheels to replace the HORRIBLE kit wheels with and am bound to have a resin ACESII around here somewhere. I know there are shape and panel-lines issues, but I'm only going to try and focus on the obvious ones (such as the Missing Vents on the lower surface, the little hexagonal drop down intake, the missing antennae, etc) and see how we go... PAV-1 requires more work on the exhaust, so maybe that one will get attacked a bit harder.

muchly looking forward to the decals :)

D

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Let the games begin! The 1/48 YF-23 sheet preorders are now open. I expect to be able to start shipping these on December 12.

Caracal Models CD48048 - YF-23 Prototypes

I will send the mass e-mail tomorrow, after I sort out some issues with the Web pages for the other sheets in the batch. But I wanted to give an early heads-up to those who followed the thread and helped me with their feedback.

This sheet will only be available from me until the end of December; i.e. the resellers will not have it before the end of the month. There is only a limited number (300) available, so act soon!

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Knowing others in my part of world will be after this as well, I posted a link do the Decal Page on your site on the AMI (Aussie Modeller Int.) site too.

Out of curiousity, what percentage of your 300 sheets are 'spoken for already, after day 1?

D

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Knowing others in my part of world will be after this as well, I posted a link do the Decal Page on your site on the AMI (Aussie Modeller Int.) site too.

Out of curiousity, what percentage of your 300 sheets are 'spoken for already, after day 1?

Thanks! As of now, slightly fewer than 100 of the sheets are gone. The pace will taper in the next few days though, and I don't expect to sell out this batch before the end of the month.

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Congratulations Kursad! :thumbsup:/> I knew this sheet would be a good seller but this response is fantastic. Thanks for doing this decal in both 1/48 and 1/72!

Have fun modeling!

Mike

:cheers:/>

Half of the print run is now gone..As I said, I think the orders will cool down and I will not sell out very soon, but I am not very sure anymore.

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I am still busy with packing these, but took a few minutes to take some photos. I have only about 75 or so 1/48 sheets left, by the way - thanks!

dec_batch01.jpgdec_batch02.jpg

Looks like the boundary layer decals came out OK. I am looking forward to seeing the first few builds.

dec_batch03.jpgdec_batch04.jpg

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Since this thread is minor hive of activity re: the Hobby Boss YF-23, I thought I would ask here: ANYONE have any pictures of PAV-2's cockpit? Particularly behind the seat. I have some partially useful images of PAV-1 showing green/yellow zinc chromate all over the shop and an ECS to the left rear of the seat, but PAV-2 had its ECS in a totally different place and the PAV-1 images dont actually show what was behind and DOWN behind the seat. I can 'guess' what some of it looked like (like structurally, it would have needed a brace at about sill level, behind the seat rails, but the kit has side panels that go all the way back, WAAAAAY past that point), but I'd rather something more substantive than what I have. Even pics THROUGH the canopy would help!

ATM, I am showly chippy away at correcting the easier to fix errors on the Hobby Boss kit - such as moving the main gear bays about 1-2mm rearwards, so I can get the refeuling points in front of the main mounts built, replacing the 'iffy' kit seat with a nicer one (tho I nee ro scratch build the rails with some evergreen I-beam and add camera mounts) and working out how to correct the exhausts. I also am on the look out for some FA-18A/B/C/D wheels (as I bought F-15E wheels, but they're just not quite right) to replace the kit options and considering what I should do about the shape and panel line issue's.

Re: Panel Lines, I can probably live without having to fix those - although the missing vents and the drop down door on the underside will need to be added - but I'm in two minds about the shape issues. Most of the shape issue's I can live with, but the horrific butchery that occurs on the upper surface, at the start of the engine fairings/above the intakes, is slowly getting to me.

Cockpit sills - not sure what HB were thinking there, but its not a hug fix either.

On the positive, despite the simplified shape and missing refueling point, the main gear bays are pretty cool. When painted with Green Zinc Chromate, Black Carbon Fibre, Steels and whatever the Brown composite is, they look really good. One of the advantages of this kit being more PAV-2 than PAV-1, is that PAV-2 is a little more interesting, with regards to the way the bays were painted (ie, Nose Gear bay is mostly white, but Main gear Bays are VERY colourful), the exhausts and one may argue, the scheme also...

BUT, need some Images of the rear of PAV-2's cockpit.

Dan

Addendum - this is the best pic I have to date (a larger version of an image I have seen on yf-23.net); obviously its PAV-1 and has the big ECS unit to the left rear seat, but the cross-brace and etc, can be made out. From this picture, it looks like an F/A-18 style avionics bay is behind the seat, but note also that the cockpit pressure seal seems to 'seal' across the brace also... I assume something this structurally fundamental would hold true for PAV-2? It also looks like parts of the canopy are from the F/A-18 also.

Northrop_YF-23_080617-f-1234b-004.jpg

Edited by Zaggy
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I got my decals the other day, they looked great! But I thought that the Air Force Titles and the stars and bars on PAV-1 where white. I left the sheet on my coffee table and went to bed. during the nights my cats decided it would be fun to play with it. But I think I can still use the sheet after they got done with it.

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Yeah, cats will do that - they can be insidious little bastards when you turn your back on them! I've lots bits, progress and etc, thanks to the 'assistance' of my little buddy Frank! Always keen to help (in his own special way) is Frank :)

I guess in a way, I'm lucky mine haven't shown yet! Less chance for the little bugger to screw them up! :)

As for the YF-23, well the cockpit from the rear of the Ejection Seat and back, is GONE, having been rebuilt from plastic card save the curved part RIGHT at the top rear. It has been rebuilt using a combination of the YF-23 Drawings (you can actually extrapolate quite a bit from those) and the little snippets of stuff one can see in pictures (like above) of PAV-1; thus for the time being, I'm STILL on the look out for Images of this area of PAV-2, while working mostly on the more structural parts - stuff that I can see on PAV-1 and then figure from the drawings. I think I'm putting off the BIG external jobs - like re-shapping the engine nacelles and correcting the Missile Bay Doors - the latter is kind of scareing me!

Dan

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I got my decals the other day, they looked great! But I thought that the Air Force Titles and the stars and bars on PAV-1 where white.

Hi Vince,

I'm glad you liked the decals. The AF insignia and title on the PAV-1 were not white, they are a light-to-medium gray - not as light as 36495, but lighter than 36173. I picked a color that I believe is a good match. The photos below should show the contrast between the gray insignia and the white Northrop-McDonnellDouglas logo.

yf23_gray01.jpg

yf23_gray02.jpg

And here is how the PAV-1 insignia on the decal sheets will look when placed on a FS36118 background - I used markings from my 1/72 YF-23 sheet on a scrap F-16 I use as a testbed:

yf23_gray03.jpg

Edited by KursadA
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Ahh yes, the Kit.... Not one to be taken lightly (says the man who continues to cut away at things, replace bits, scratchbuild and who is about to *GULP* take to the upper surfaces with a big file!)

Vince, I *WISH* now that I followed the little mantra in your sig (and my original plan) - SHUT UP AND BUILD IT - that would have worked for me! ;)

Dan

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Ahh yes, the Kit.... Not one to be taken lightly (says the man who continues to cut away at things, replace bits, scratchbuild and who is about to *GULP* take to the upper surfaces with a big file!)

Vince, I *WISH* now that I followed the little mantra in your sig (and my original plan) - SHUT UP AND BUILD IT - that would have worked for me! ;)/>

Dan

I have been building for well over 30 years now, I do respect people like you that go the extra mile to make a model more accurate. But for me, I'm happy building out of the box.

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