1/48 Tamiya F-117 Stealth

by Scott C. Schuyler

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I've been a steady reader of ARC for 5 years now, and have just recently gotten back into aircraft & space modeling after a hiatus of 3-4 years. I just finished a Minicraft 1/144 Shuttle Orbiter, and felt I was due for something relaxing, so I chose the Tamiya kit.  I employed several tricks which I've learned on the ARC galleries, and have modified one to fit my needs for this aircraft, which I share in detail a little later.

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As others have pointed out here, this is a beautiful kit...all that we have come to expect when we shell out the extra bucks for a Tamiya kit (in this case $47 USD).?  I appreciated that the kit was molded with a top & bottom fuselage.  The crisp detail is vintage Tamiya.?  The canopy masks, while tricky, are a useful addition that rendered great results (just make sure to keep the masks on until AFTER applying the clear coats. Resist the urge to peek at your paint job like I did). The positionable ailerons & v-tail fins, which like the real thing can move independently, are a nice option too.

Construction began with the cockpit, which I initially planned on closing.  I was so impressed with the level of detail that I later decided to leave it open.  This created a problem as pieces B1 & B2 were lopped off in step #1!  I improvised & propped the canopy open with some small pointy-ended wooden dowels of the variety frequently handed out at fine eating establishments.  For the record, that mod was not found on ARC!!  The instrument panel is a decal, and it looked okay; however most of the panel will be hidden by parts B32-33 in the final step anyway. As noted in the instructions DO NOT remove the extra sprue protecting the antennas on the front.  These parts are very brittle & will easily break off if you're not careful.  The remaining construction went smoothly with the exception of attaching the two fuselage halves.  I was unable to get a good join in the front, and only after removing 1/8" from the top of the front landing gear box (where it touches the bottom of the cockpit) was I able to squeeze the two halves together.  I left the bomb bay doors open, and added the Paveway III bombs which are included in the kit.  Bomb bay detail is a little sparse, but who looks under there anyway??

I did not use the kit decals, choosing instead to go with TwoBobs "Kosovo Bandits" sheet.  The 10 USD cost is reasonable, and the shipping is free here in the states. After applying Polly-S "Night Black" to the entire model sans landing gear, I allowed the model to dry over the weekend.  Next up was 2 -3 coats of Future floor wax, airbrushed on as described on ARC.  After another 48  hour drying period, I applied the decals using small amounts of Micro Set & just a touch of Micro Sol. The TwoBobs instructions are a little misleading when modeling aircraft 834, which was the personal mount of the 49th Fighter Wing Commander.  The diagram shows the grey band at the top of the tail fin going all the way to the top, when in fact it must be applied down about 1/8" from the top in order to fit (and to be accurate).  I figured this out after applying one of the bands in the wrong place.  After applying all markings, and allowing 24 hours to dry, the model was then coated with Testor's Semi-Gloss.

 

My final trick, which I learned partially here on ARC, was the Remove Before Flight tags found on the Paveway bombs & the bomb bay doors themselves.  Everett McEwan describes how to make the British version, but here in the states we need to have the words on our tags.  In Adobe Illustrator I created a red rectangle, and typed in white text set for 6 point, Machine font "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT".  I then copied & pasted the resulting tag right next to itself, creating two identical tags.  Printing was on regular copy paper.  Next, using a brand new blade, I cut the tags out, careful to cut INSIDE the red box.  I folded it over, and super glued the halves.  Next I added a 1/2" section of wire folded over on itself.? These tags were then super glued to their respective location.  I have saved the file in PDF format, and you can download it here if you wish. 

This was the perfect kit to build after such a major challenge as the space shuttle.  The resulting model is impressively large, and thanks to the great advice found here at ARC, will hold a special place in my collection.  I would also like to acknowledge the book Nighthawk by Paul & Allison Crickmore as it helped throughout the process.

NOTE: The diorama base used for these pictures was originally built for a 1/48 B-17...hence the 500 pounders, and the guys wearing Mae Wests etc. 

Scott

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Photos and text © by Scott C. Schuyler