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Well hello! 🍓 Let's build that beast! This is my second model in this scale and after the B-2 in 1/72 - everything in it looks ginormous. 🙂 I somehow found out after the B-2 that the bomber planes have a slightly different structure and shape from the jetfighters, and i liked it too.... in a different way, but still i like it a lot and that's how i decided to build the Nighthawk. This F-117 kit is giant. It has metal landing gear, PE intake screens, rubber tyres and canopy with thin flat sides - almost like windows with no blurs or distortion whatsoever, while the decals are only a few:

 

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This is what i got for the improvement of this yet high-quality kit - the AFV Club's canopy with anti reflection coating from the inner side, the unused in my F-15E model tyre+wheel set by GTR, and a piece of PE screen for the sensors. 

 

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I only need to get a pilot figure. So, the landing gears are first and i'll start them these days. I plan to make the model in 2 modes again - inflight and parked. With everything that can move - moveable 🙂 but in full stealth mode so the antennas, the RCS enhancers and the lights will not be added. That's it for now. Thanks for following along! 

 

Edited by my favs are F`s
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FIrst, the NSL. I made a hybrid of the metal gear and the original plastic one, then i sanded and polished the metal parts quite thoroughly:

 

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All arranged and ready for assembly. The main retraction is hinged on 4 points - two are part of the bay (the 2 uppermost sides) and 2 are on the lowest portion of the diagonal strut. Here you see the three pins for the three hinges, the fourth one is actually the base/root of the metal pylon. Also only for the NLG i'm using the kit rims and tire instead of the GTR's. I think it's more correct that way.

 

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And then i painted everything white. I think the paint stick well enough. Here is how the gear looks extended and retracted, and how it will fit in the bay when retracted.

 

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Well, I need to postopone the NLG and continue with the bomb bay.... Why? Because I can thus solve 2 issues at once - the slightly bent fuselage on its entire flat side, right underneath the bomb bay. Check out the slight bending of the bomb bay side walls:

 

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It's a little bummer but all should be fine with the side walls of the bomb bay firmly instaled. The next issue is that the plastic is is too thin and hence the entire lower fuselage is an almost flat giant piece which bends easily... I mean that's what the gravity does:

 

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The NLG bay door fits so perfectly in the fuselage and even the slightest bend will cause to pop up or missalign: 

 

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So, there was no doubt that the only way to troubleshoot is to get the bomb bay started. These are the parts, testfitted only:

 

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The plan is to glue both side walls to the lower fuselage (already done and drying) with plenty of glue and reinforcements. If that's enough to straighten the lowe fuselage and make it rigid enough, I'll proceed with the motion of the cradles, the extending of the airflow disturbers, the closing of the doors, and the attachment of the bombs. I think that's the right direction. This is my 2nd 1/32 model and I don't know if the plastic is really thin for this scale or it just seems to me like that, but anyways I'm sure that all will be qute legit with all other things glued.

 

 

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The trapezes are adjusted and glued... well, they move actually 🙂 I can't count how many hinges went in but they are a lot. Only the launching rails are testfitted on some of the pics. FIrst, a couple in an extended mode:

 

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Here is how they look retracted. THere will be plenty of space inside the bay even for bombs so they will be actually a little bit more extended.:

 

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Edited by my favs are F`s
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  • 2 weeks later...

I started the FLIR and... yeah, it's always the simplest and easiest method that works the best. 🙂 I'm talking about the fine screen mesh, which I was about to make with the PE screen. But, I first did a coupe of trials with stainless steel grits of two different grades, and a piece of plastic scared with the tip of the knife... 

 

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This is the PE - it's just out of scale. Maybe there are finer grits however, but that's what I got:

 

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This is with the tea filter. It really is the finest mesh but the transparency is almsot none:

 

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And, just a thin clear plastic piece scared to imitate the pattern, then with a black wash and subtle black tint:

 

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It's way better in both pattern and transarency. This is what I'll go with, and I think I could improve it even more. Here are the test pieces side by side - in the middle is the original kit part. The grit next to the PE is from a flour grader cup - it's way out of scale too.

 

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I also noticed that the entire tourette needs to be moved up a bit because in the real plane it's clearly visible that it almost touches the upper frame and the screen:

 

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But this looks like to be an easy fix. After these trials I can start making the rotation of the tourette... I'll keep you updated.

 

 

Edited by my favs are F`s
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  • 1 month later...

The cockpit is on the way now... all switches and knobs will be replaced with thin tiny plastic rods. its not ready yet. sory about the lack of spacing between the pix. they also appear to be in reversed order but it will be quite overwhelming to post them 1by1. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/4/2019 at 1:03 PM, my favs are F`s said:

I started the FLIR and... yeah, it's always the simplest and easiest method that works the best. 🙂 I'm talking about the fine screen mesh, which I was about to make with the PE screen. But, I first did a coupe of trials with stainless steel grits of two different grades, and a piece of plastic scared with the tip of the knife... 

 

IMG-20190304-174408.jpg

 

This is the PE - it's just out of scale. Maybe there are finer grits however, but that's what I got:

 

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This is with the tea filter. It really is the finest mesh but the transparency is almsot none:

 

The industry term for the fineness of the holes in a screen is, logically enough, "mesh".  Usually defined as the number of holes in a linear inch in the U.S.

Edited by Slartibartfast
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Oh wow, I had to catch up. Thanks guys a lot for the nice words.

Slartibartfast; awesome clarification, tu much! After lots of trials with all those "ready parts" I found out that I don't have what it gets to make it justice, so I did it myself and actually I'm quite happy with the result. One major con though - the glare of the entire plastic piece at a certain angle - it definitely looks like it's not a transparent screen with holes, but a solid transparent piece. I think this effect will kind of interfere with the glare of the wind shield when viewed at the same angle... But I rather prefer this abstract view than a closeup with an overwhelming screen (...mesh :) ) visible. Thanks again.

 

oh, ang guys, I think I will put off this model aside for a while cause guess what... I decided to build the B-2 . . . but this time in 1/144 :) (the revell kit) I'll keep you posted once finished. I think it won't take long. It's just at the assembly of the two fuselage parts; then only the wings need to be attached; final touch ups; painting, etc. 

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  • 4 months later...

It all started with the side panels again... :) drilling, filling, cutting, etc... Thats the amount of holes:

 

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check out the amount of pins I placed inside. It looks like a forest of pins when you ook it in front:

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And that`s the ready thing, painted and weathered. Some decals here and there. 

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Hi Aigore and thx!

 

Nope, no lubric. whatsoever. 

 

I actually tried once to do so with a tiny bit of mineral lube (for my bike's chain) about 1-2 years ago - for the MLG of F-111 in 1/48, just to see what will happen - and yes, it does signifficantly affect the moving of the parts, but I always have something in mind - that a lube may "damage/wear" the plastic in some way in long terms. But it actually does not. Yet I prefer not to lube the moving parts for just such cases. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

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