We now have a grey ghost 
Now the fun can begin
Now the fun can begin
Hasegawa 1/72 Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk
- Thread starter flyjoe180
- Start date
Looking great Joe. In the grey it looks really futuristic doesn’t it.
As Tim says futuristic it wouldn't look out of place in Star Trek. Looking forward to the paint going down.
I've progressed a little bit with this build. The landing gear components and door insides are all painted white. The landing gear bays were painted white and masked off.
The airframe was painted Matt black. I managed to get some variation in the black by layering the paint lightly and building it up gradually, leaving it darker on the underside and on the sides. This won't be too worn, just enough fading to create some visual interest in what is otherwise a pretty boring scheme. It will darken under a the varnish coats.
I was going to mask off some of the panels and paint them a dark grey, but I have discovered that Matt black likes to absorb dust and particles that appear out of nowhere. So this ugly sucker is off to the booth for a gloss varnish to help protect that black aint finish. Then I will apply the dark grey, gloss it again, and apply the decals.
The airframe was painted Matt black. I managed to get some variation in the black by layering the paint lightly and building it up gradually, leaving it darker on the underside and on the sides. This won't be too worn, just enough fading to create some visual interest in what is otherwise a pretty boring scheme. It will darken under a the varnish coats.
I was going to mask off some of the panels and paint them a dark grey, but I have discovered that Matt black likes to absorb dust and particles that appear out of nowhere. So this ugly sucker is off to the booth for a gloss varnish to help protect that black aint finish. Then I will apply the dark grey, gloss it again, and apply the decals.
Nice progress Joe, good idea to layer the black for a bit of tone variation.
Hope you can get it dustfree again before adding the gloss, I'm always fighting dust too!
Steven
Hope you can get it dustfree again before adding the gloss, I'm always fighting dust too!
Steven
Time slipped, and i got slack and lacked motivation, but the F-117 is crawling towards the finish line.
Once the black paint was protected with a varnish coat, I maske doff various panels according to photo references and painted them dark grey .
Decals on, and a panel line wash using a light grey.
Everything was smoothed down, I then applied two light matt varnish coats. Once dry I masked off the tail areas and painted the exhaust areas, which are a base of steel with a light burnt iron effect which follows the exhaust fins out from the fuselage.
Next steps are to fit the landing gear, gear doors, unmask the clear parts, and paint my home made anti collision light on the lower surface. Nearly there!
Once the black paint was protected with a varnish coat, I maske doff various panels according to photo references and painted them dark grey .
Decals on, and a panel line wash using a light grey.
Everything was smoothed down, I then applied two light matt varnish coats. Once dry I masked off the tail areas and painted the exhaust areas, which are a base of steel with a light burnt iron effect which follows the exhaust fins out from the fuselage.
Next steps are to fit the landing gear, gear doors, unmask the clear parts, and paint my home made anti collision light on the lower surface. Nearly there!
Wheels and landing gear doors are on. Had to bore out the holes for the main legs but otherwise it went in no problems. A few details to do and a bit of tidying up, and should be complete by end of play today.
I had one issue when I unmasked the clear parts. The nose sensor on the upper surface, I just couldn't get the masking tape off it. And then it occurred to me I was scraping paint and under that was plastic. I had fixed the lens into the nose with the masking tape inside. Gentle paint removal followed by high grade sandpaper, and lastly Tamiya Polishing Compounds to the rescue. Managed to salvage the part and get it fixed into place. I need to remove some residue from the polishing compounds.
The very few issues I've had with this kit have been of my own doing.
Completed photos to come in the near future.
I had one issue when I unmasked the clear parts. The nose sensor on the upper surface, I just couldn't get the masking tape off it. And then it occurred to me I was scraping paint and under that was plastic. I had fixed the lens into the nose with the masking tape inside. Gentle paint removal followed by high grade sandpaper, and lastly Tamiya Polishing Compounds to the rescue. Managed to salvage the part and get it fixed into place. I need to remove some residue from the polishing compounds.
The very few issues I've had with this kit have been of my own doing.
Completed photos to come in the near future.
Great work Joe.
YES Joe ive really enjoyed this build very well done m8
chris
chris
Joe
Very hard indeed to get a monochrome paint job like this look interesting but you've achieved it.
Very well done indeed.
Andrew
Very hard indeed to get a monochrome paint job like this look interesting but you've achieved it.
Very well done indeed.
Andrew
G
There’s a novel mistake I don’t think I’ve seen before
Glad you managed to fix it.
Looks good now Joe. Really fine result on the all over black. Love the pale panel lines as well.
Hi Joe
Looking great. You certainly did a good job of construction/filling/sanding. No room for error on such a smooth angular plane. Paint job is first class. Well done to get the tones and bits of interest in such a monotone scheme. The decals are few but really make it 'pop'.
Jim
Looking great. You certainly did a good job of construction/filling/sanding. No room for error on such a smooth angular plane. Paint job is first class. Well done to get the tones and bits of interest in such a monotone scheme. The decals are few but really make it 'pop'.
Jim
Thanks Ian
Thanks Chris, standby for the completed thread
Cheers Andrew, the varnishes definitely darkened it, glad you can see what tonal variation there is left
I'll always find a way Jakko :smiling3:
Thanks Tim
Cheers Jim, glad you like it so far
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