F-23A Black Widow II

[my favs are F`s]

And after gluing the 2 halves:

 

 

And from the fuelage side:

 

 

[my favs are F`s]

Nose landing gear: moveable :) 

 

So here it is with the door closed, again via magnets and hinges:

 

 

 

Check out the black MLD sensors at the nose. I think i made them slightly larger than they should be, but at least they are perfectly symmetrical and with the right shapes:

 

 

The landing gear fits at the level of the cockpit thub and the "diagonal" strut is right behind the seat. It`s painted white already - so here is how it looks from atop when the gear is up:

 

 

And a couple of pics with the gear down:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Major Walt]

I’m loving this!

[my favs are F`s]

Mery Christmas! 

 

I edited the nozzles and the afterburners completely. The afterburner rings are changed with 2 oob pieces left from F-15C in 1/48:

 

 

 

 

Then the parts for the nozzles were used and transformed into replicas of the Raptor`s nozzles:

 

 

 

 

And testfitted:

 

 

 

 

[Zen4130]

Excellent work, this looks very promising. 

[my favs are F`s]

The nose section went through an overall reshapement... Basically everything is edited - the edges of the chines are straight, the top of the radom is with a straightenet shape, the front part of the IP`s hood is cut out, the Pitot tube mounting holes are filled and flush, the 2 angled edges and the very tip of the radom received PE reinforcements, and maybe i forgot something. However, the major change is the extension of the entire nose section with a little more than 1cm from the conjunction with the wings. Here it is after the first gluing:

 

 

 

And after the fine tuning of all these things mentioned above. I just sprayed a control layer of Surfacer and there are still plenty of things to do, but here it is on nighlight. Sry for the quality - only the silhouettes are great for watching at this moment:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2018 by my favs are F`s

[my favs are F`s]

If you think about the strange plastic rods along the extension area - they are there for a proper alignment and to provide a solid base for the extension surfaces. Plus, there are 5 huge pins that ensire the precise 1-way fitting of the nose to the fuselage:

 

 

 

[martin_sam_2000]

This

 

Is 

 

Amazing!!

 

The guts it took to start cutting this up is far beyond what I have.

 

 Keeping an eye on this for sure!!

 

 Sean

[Ikon]

It's like a reverse explosion, with all the parts falling right back into their intended place.

[my favs are F`s]

Yeehaw, so abstract, rly?! :) 

Thank you all, very much!

[Major Walt]

Now that’s what I call plastic surgery! Great engineering work—I especially like the deplorable nose gear. I’ve nevr seen that done before 

[southwestforests]

There's "Some assembly required" and then there's this! Cool. Very cool.

[my favs are F`s]

The MLGs are almost ready as well. It`s 1 step closer to gluing the 2 halves of the fuselage...

 

The main parts, and the magnets that i previously wanted to use. Indeed it turned out that only 1 small round magnet to a metal plate, per door,  was what was used.

 

 

 

But the main emphasis here is the modification of the main pylons`s forks. Now they continue from the pylons in a straight direction. The hinge is at the very base of the pylon, while the main supporting strut is pivoted at the connection with the pylon. Thus the entire pylons rotate instead of moving them in and out from the bays. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[my favs are F`s]

The bay doors - that`s how they look from inside after the "alignment" mods:

 

 

 

And with the bays testfitted:

 

 

 

Still not sanded and smooth, but check out the view from the exterior with the doors closed. Almost perfectly flush already:

 

 

 

 

[Ikon]

All that work, and working gear to boot! Wowza!

[Aigore]

Outstanding surgery! I'm thoroughly impressed :D

[my favs are F`s]

A little up on the intakes - the reshapement from the outer side is done. The lips recieved a small extension, which will be cut in a zig-zag pattern, and then the diffuser cones will enter on the upper side. Here are these parts separately:

 

 

... and a couple more angles testfited:

 

 

 

 

[crackerjazz]

I'm amazed at your ingenuity to be able to make all those modifications to make the landing gears retractable.  Very impressive stuff.

[my favs are F`s]

The engine nacelles are basically prepped. Still some more fillings and sandings, but the overwhelming part is done. Here are the gaps right infront of the nozzles filled with stock, and the nacelles are untouched:

 

 

 

Then after alot of sanding and filling and sanding...

 

 

 

And here they are prepped - smoothened, rounded, shiny:

 

 

 

 

 

Now  - the negative curves between the nacelles...

[my favs are F`s]

Check out some profiles...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know i know... Still quite some pouring and sandng... 

[Ikon]

Seeing what's been done so far, we have no doubts of the outcome!

[Thadeus]

That's a massive projects. Big kit, huge amount of mods. Seeing Your previous builds I can't wait for the outcome. Great work!

[my favs are F`s]

I doubled the thickness of the intake lips from the outer side, first to lmake them ook a little bigger and two to have more space when sanding the insides. And i also scratchbuilt the infrared provision under the nose section. Still a little bit more sanding and polishing to come:

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2018 by my favs are F`s

[my favs are F`s]

Warrup guys! :) The main stage of the conversion is done. Finally. A couple of pics after the filling with a concoction of CA glue, shavings of 2 types of plastic, and dry kit powder. It dries slowly, but the waiting is worth it - it becomes one with the rest of the surfaces, solid, and thus easy for sanding.

 

 

 

after the first major sanding:

 

 

 

 

[my favs are F`s]

And after the fine tuning: