1/72 F-117A Stealth Fighter. 1/72 F-117 'Nighthawk'.

Italeri 189
The leading edges of the wings are not straight. The port one suffers from a kink starting from the airtake rearwards, and the starboard wing starting 5cm from the wingtip on the top half. The result is that there is misalignment between the top and bottom halves causing a 1mm step on both the leading and trailing edges, and a 1mm misalignment of the gaps between the flaperons. Simply puttying over the step is insufficient because it does not rectify the kink, neither does it solve the problem of the flaperons. The only solution is to cut off the wings at their roots, stick the top & bottom halves together correctly aligned, and then rejoin the wings to the fuselage, taking care that the leading edges are arrow-straight, and then filling any gaps at the root. Its a pity that this has to be done, because left untreated, no daylight can be seen through the flaperons: Italeri went to the trouble of ensuring that the flaperon edges were sharp and distinct, but all that is lost when the halves are put together.

Kits
F-117A	Hasegawa 00066 , 00086 , 00383, 00531 , 00747 , 00833 , E1, E01

Cast Detail Parts
ACES II ejection seat	Neomega EJ 72011, Pavla S72012, Quickboost 72120, True Details 72406, Verlinden 0226
Bomb bay	Czech Master Kits CMK7107
Cockpit	Czech Master Kits CMK7106
F-117 wheel hubs & rubber tyres	Equipage 72250
F-117 late wheel hubs & rubber tyres	Equipage EQSU72251
Undercarriage & wheel wells	Czech Master Kits CMK7108

Etched Detail Parts
F-117A	Czech Master Kits CMK7106
F-117A	Eduard 72324, 73253 , SS158
F-117A	Airwaves C72042, Eduard 72189

Paint Masks
F-117A canopy & wheel hubs	Black Magic CEBM72119, Eduard XS053, CX108
F-117A canopy & wheel hubs	Black Magic CEBM72121
F-117A RAM repair panels	Black Magic CEBM72120


Decals
USAF
F-117A	79-10782 w/- US flag on undersurface	Cutting Edge CED72118
F-117A	37 TFW: 789, 802, 807, 828 TR, 843, 790 415 TFS 'Nightstalkers'	Superscale 72618
F-117A	25th Silver Anniv Bandits. 85-835/OT overall gunship grey or FS36176/36375 schemes; overall black scheme: 86-839 49 OG flagship, 81-797 7 FS flagship, 84-809 9 FS flagship, 85-819 'black sheep'	Two Bobs 72061

72scale detail entry
	Lockheed F-117A 'Nighthawk'.
menu aircraft fighters manufacturers Lockheed links


Kit Reviews
Hasegawa The Hasegawa tooling is easily the best F-117 of any on the market. The only critcism of this kit would be the breakdown of parts: the wings are separate components, which makes for some very unsightly join-lines right where they are least wanted. The Academy and Italeri toolings are credible reproductions of the F-117, but the Hasegawa tooling really is the best. The modeller should take note of the catalogue nos above, as Hasegawa did release an early kit of the F-117 long before these toolings, which was hideously inaccurate, almost cartoon-like, due to a lack of documentation on the F-117 at the time.

Italeri 189 The leading edges of the wings are not straight. The port one suffers from a kink starting from the airtake rearwards, and the starboard wing starting 5cm from the wingtip on the top half. The result is that there is misalignment between the top and bottom halves causing a 1mm step on both the leading and trailing edges, and a 1mm misalignment of the gaps between the flaperons. Simply puttying over the step is insufficient because it does not rectify the kink, neither does it solve the problem of the flaperons. The only solution is to cut off the wings at their roots, stick the top & bottom halves together correctly aligned, and then rejoin the wings to the fuselage, taking care that the leading edges are arrow-straight, and then filling any gaps at the root. Its a pity that this has to be done, because left untreated, no daylight can be seen through the flaperons: Italeri went to the trouble of ensuring that the flaperon edges were sharp and distinct, but all that is lost when the halves are put together.