F-117a Nighthawk 1:33 scale, Halinski

[Dazliare]

Hello!

I recently started my new project, a F-117a Nighthawk, kit by Halinski. I've always loved this aircraft. I remember seeing pictures of it as a kid and thinking "that doesn't look like a plane! How does it even fly?". I scored this kit on Ebay a few months ago for pretty cheap, and finally decided to dive in!



This won't be a quick or small project, which is how I like it. I've been looking for a model to really sink my teeth into, and this kit really inspires me. 12 pages of parts, though I don't know the actual part count (over 1000 I think?)

Step 1 is to create the skeleton. I started to do that, but quickly ran out of sparkling water cases to use to thicken skeleton parts. No matter, the next step is to start creating the bomb bay with parts 1:



There's a lot here that I'll get into with a future update. In the meantime, a trip to the grocery store provided more backing card, so I was able to finish gluing and cutting the skeleton pieces:



Lots of cutting, and a few exacto blades later, and I dry-fitted most of the skeleton:



I'll start gluing tomorrow

[modelperry]

I will be following along with interest!
Greg

[MacSongLi]

That is a lot of formers. That would hurt the fingers.

Great looking skeleton.

Gary

[mor54]

Nice start with the skelton, a lot of formers to assemble. An interesting aircaft that is still flying.

Shalom Mor

[airdave]

This plane is so stealthy, you can't even take a photo of it!!
I tried...at the USAF Museum...look what I got!!




LOL
attached is a slightly better one that shows the stealth skin surface.
The stealth factor is improved by all the hand prints! lol

[Dazliare]

Originally Posted by airdave

This plane is so stealthy, you can't even take a photo of it!!
I tried...at the USAF Museum...look what I got!!




LOL
attached is a slightly better one that shows the stealth skin surface.
The stealth factor is improved by all the hand prints! lol

Thanks for sharing! You're right haha. It's like a ghost

[T haf]

How this plane came to be is one of my favorite airplane stories. There is a book I've read a few times called SkunkWorks. It's written by Ben Rich, the man responsible for bringing this plane into reality. At the time it was being built it was THE biggest aviation advancement since the jet engine ~20 years prior. It has the radar cross section of a bumblebee. In the book they tell a story about one of the first 5 produced for the Airforce. The first 5 were expected to be the learning curve of the jet in regards to production. While they were doing some of the tests to ensure it met Lockheed's expectations they came across an issue. The radar was picking it up! It was reading as big as a barn door on radar. This baffled designers and made the government nervous that it was too good to be true. Upon further investigation they found that a single screw head was protruding 2mm above the surface of the jet. They tightened it back down and ran the tests again. To the expectation of some and the amazement of others, the plane completely disappeared off of radar. It was untraceable. This jet is the father of all stealth aircraft.

The book has some amazing stories about the SR-71, F117, U2, and some other once top secret projects in the Skunkworks department of Lockheed. I highly recommend a read or listen to.

I'm excited to see the model come together! It looks like it'll be a fun one. Can you post some pictures of the instructions. I'd love to see how it was designed to be built

[murphyaa]

I'v listened to Ben Rich's book on Audible. IT is a fun behind the scenes story.

Dave had better luck with his picture than I did last time I went on the Boneyard tour down in Tucson. They don't let people get handprints on their planes down there.

[Dazliare]

Originally Posted by T haf

How this plane came to be is one of my favorite airplane stories. There is a book I've read a few times called SkunkWorks. It's written by Ben Rich, the man responsible for bringing this plane into reality. At the time it was being built it was THE biggest aviation advancement since the jet engine ~20 years prior. It has the radar cross section of a bumblebee. In the book they tell a story about one of the first 5 produced for the Airforce. The first 5 were expected to be the learning curve of the jet in regards to production. While they were doing some of the tests to ensure it met Lockheed's expectations they came across an issue. The radar was picking it up! It was reading as big as a barn door on radar. This baffled designers and made the government nervous that it was too good to be true. Upon further investigation they found that a single screw head was protruding 2mm above the surface of the jet. They tightened it back down and ran the tests again. To the expectation of some and the amazement of others, the plane completely disappeared off of radar. It was untraceable. This jet is the father of all stealth aircraft.

The book has some amazing stories about the SR-71, F117, U2, and some other once top secret projects in the Skunkworks department of Lockheed. I highly recommend a read or listen to.

I'm excited to see the model come together! It looks like it'll be a fun one. Can you post some pictures of the instructions. I'd love to see how it was designed to be built

Happy to! I'll post a few instructions pics during the next update. Thanks for sharing this story - just makes the bird even more intriguing

[Dazliare]

It's been a little while since my last update, but that doesn't mean I haven't been building. I've made a few mistakes, but I've also learned a few things, so that's progress. I glued the formers together pretty successfully, though next time I build a model with formers I'll probably try and find some card with the right thickness. I used soda boxes for this one, and the results are alright, but could be cleaner.

We then start with step 1 - the bomb bays. I'll likely build the bombs themselves later in the build, but we're off to a good start!




One bomb bay complete, one to go! I decided I wanted a change of pace and cut out parts 2, 3, and 4:




Part two cut and folded:



And dry fitted to the frame:



Part 4 dry fitted to the frame as well:



That's all for now on the building side of things. Here's a picture of part of the instructions that someone had asked for