1/48 Collect-Aire Resin YF-23 PAV 1 and Hobby Boss YF-23 PAV 2 Dual build

paulsbrown · November 29, 2020

The Northrop McDonnell-Douglas YF-23 was the losing contender to the Lockheed Martin YF-22 in the 1990s Advanced Tactical Fighter competition.

These are two very different kits, one nearly 20yrs old and one a recent offering, both requiring a lot of work. The 2002 Collect-Aire is the more accurate and much of the dual build was to get the HB model to look more like the C-A.

Some photos of the build can be seen here F-15, F-18 parts where used for the landing gear just like the real aircraft, lots of modifications to both aircraft's cockpit although the C-A was the more accurate but lacking details, both canopies needed scratchbuilding interiors.

The C-A had the dropped flaps and the weapons bay. There's no photos I've seen of it ever carrying weapons but the PAV 1 (gunship gray) aircraft had operating doors. It had some decent details and I only added riveting in the bay but left the Collect-Aire's offering of a weapons mount intact, I may add the door mounted sidewinders later but for now I wanted to show the essence of the company's endeavors on putting out such a remarkable kit especially considering the resources and published photos at the time.