1/48 Tamiya F-117A Nighthawk - Final Verdict

 

Depicted as F-117A 85-0814 "Final Verdict", from the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron USAF - Saudi Arabia  1991.

This was one of those kits that seemed like a good idea at the time. But as time went on it turned out less so. I picked this up at a local model shows swap and sell for an absolute bargain, funnily enough I saw it there the previous year and decided not to pick it up. The nest year I grabbed it. It had a few bits assembled but nothing major.

The Kit

• 1/48 Tamiya Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk, it No. 61059
  
  

The kit is typical Tamiya  - nice detail and great fit. 

 Aftermarket

• Aires Cockpit
• Resin Seat  -  Unknown Brand
• Royale Resin Wheels

Decals

• Caracal Models CD48138 - F-117A Stealth Fighter
• Afterburner Decals USAF Weapons (for the GBU's)

I decided to add an Aires cockpit as the I figured the big cockpit would be a focal point of the build, in the end it was probably not worth it. The Aires cockpit did need a bit of effort to make it fit but nothing to difficult, it was one of the easier Aires pits I've used.

The detail in the Aires Cockpit is , as usual, excellent. The only down side is the PE belts for the seat. I ended up replacing the seat with a resin one with molded belts.  I'm not sure of the brand as it was just in a bag of bits in the spares box.

I did make a balls up with the front FLIR which resulted in the clear part falling back into the kit. To fix this I cut out that section. It took a bit of work to get it all sorted.

The Paint

• Gaianotes Black Grey - base black
• Tamiya XF-2 White - Weapons and gear bays
• Mr Color 304 FS34087 Olive Drab - GBU's 
• Alclad Jet exhaust 
• Tamiya Red Brown (tint coat for hte exhaust
• Gaianotes Gloss
• Gaianotes Flat

The purpose of this build to see if I could make a all black subject interesting. After a base coat of  Gaianotes Black Grey I used a number of splatter masks and torn scotchbrite to add some lighter and darker patches

Then a thin coat of the black grey was applied to blend it all in. I actually repeated this process multiple time until I was happy (actually until I got sick of it)

I also stuffed up the location of the Bomb Bay art putting it on the wrong door. Originally I planned to do "Unexpected Guest" but after putting the art work on the upside down I decided to strip it off and do "Final Verdict." Sadly you can't really see it.

The Photos

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