I’ve always had a soft spot for the F-117, and I’ve been reading Skunk Works lately, which probably had something to do with this showing up.
I actually built the old Monogram F-117 about 30 years ago. I was getting ready for a contest and, for reasons that probably made sense at the time, built the entire thing in one 24-hour marathon. Painted it black, finished it, took it to the show—and somehow came home with third place.
I think I’m going to approach this one a little differently.
This is the original 1998 Tamiya 1/48 kit. The box and decals definitely show their age, but the plastic looks complete and in good shape. I’ve already picked up a set of modern decals, and the plan is to build this as one of the F-117s that are still flying today rather than as a Desert Storm-era aircraft.
I’m thinking canopy open with the boarding ladder down, probably sitting on a simple tarmac base. The currently flying aircraft also show some interesting variation in their RAM coatings and surface finish, so I’m looking forward to researching that and trying to capture the look of a modern F-117 rather than simply painting the whole thing black like I did 30 years ago.
I may try one of these but want to wait until I have a bit more experience so I can do it justice. I worked on the F-117 when it was still a black project. My shop covered all the avionics from flight control computers to sensors, nav and displays. We were a small shop, because our task was to put the planes through acceptance tests after they were rolled off the C-5 and reassembled by Lockheed people. Also to support training of new pilots. This was at Groom Lake. It gives me the opportunity to create a pristine version of the model and it’d be historically accurate to my personal experience - no weathering, just perfect because the ones I saw at work were fresh from the Skunk Works and Lockheed. My dream build would be to present it the way I first saw one - in a hangar, floor painted a glossy gray, huge US flag hanging from the rafters directly overhead. That flat black jet, white gear and gear doors, gold canopy glass, with the flag overhead made an impression for sure.
Great story I could see your build vision vividly. As for your skills, you might be surprised; it is a fairly simple kit with only about 120 parts, I’m really looking forward to building it.
As I was reading your post, I was envisioning a diorama where the C-5 was disgorging the F-117 out of the cargo bay (did they come out the back or front?). Must have been quite a sight. That would be a cool diorama but unless they make a F-117 in 1/144th scale, it is unlikely to happen.
I love your diorama idea, I’ve seen photos of that hanger with the giant flag, quite inspirational.
They could use the front or back ramps, and they’d have wings and vertical tail removed and the fuselage secured to a cradle. The C-5 crew would have a certain level of clearance too since they’d be picking up the “articles” from Burbank and transporting them direct to Area 51. I don’t think they knew exactly what the purpose of their cargo was but they could probably guess.
I still have a framed flag that was carried on the first flight - they put a bunch of flags around 1’ x 2’ in size on that flight and they’d frame them and give them to people when they left the program to move on to some other assignment…probably too big for a display of this type though! I also have uniform patches from 4450th Tactical Group and the Baja Scorpions stuck in a drawer - maybe something to try to incorporate.
Wow! Those are great stories and I agree, something to be incorporated into a build for sure. You make me want to do something similar, though mine would be based on your story and you would get to actually build from memory which is way better.
I guess three boxes of landing mat qualify as today’s exciting new arrival.
These are ICM’s 1/48 M8A1 US Landing Mats, and they’re destined for the B-26K project I’ve been planning. And for anybody who’s been curious about what you actually get in one of these boxes, here you go. I sure was—I wasn’t entirely sure what I was ordering until they arrived.
The second photo gives you an idea of where I’m headed with this. I want to recreate that Vietnam-era scene as closely as I reasonably can rather than simply putting the finished airplane on a generic base.
The B-26 will also be one of the projects for a new modeling/history YouTube channel I’m planning, so there’s a little more behind this one than just building the airplane.
Apparently I’ve now reached the stage of the hobby where I’m buying three model kits and none of them contain an airplane.
More on all of that once I get a little closer to starting the B-26.
Well, the airplane hasn’t arrived yet, but the decals have!
I recently watched a documentary about the F-100F Wild Weasels in Vietnam and was really intrigued by the story. That was all it took to inspire another project. I’ve got the Trumpeter 1/48 F-100F on the way, and I’m going to build 58-1226, one of the early Wild Weasel I aircraft.
One of the lesser-known things that fascinated me about those early Wild Weasel missions was just how dangerous the job was. They initially didn’t have a reliable anti-radiation missile to simply fire at the radar from a safe distance. The crew had to locate the SAM site electronically, get close enough to visually identify it, and attack it with conventional weapons—often taking them directly over or very close to the site they were deliberately trying to get to shoot at them.
In honor of those early Wild Weasel crews and the incredible risks they took, I want to build this kit.
These are the Caracal Models F-100D/F in Vietnam decals I picked up for the project. Nine different Vietnam-era options, printed by Cartograf, and they look fantastic.
The kit is coming from China and is still somewhere between there and here, but at least the decals beat it across the Pacific.
I’ve wanted to add an F-100 to the collection for a while, and learning the story of those first Wild Weasel crews gave me the perfect excuse.
Now I just need the airplane to show up!
I know that’s a lot of history for a post about a detail sheet arriving in the mail, but I thought you guys might find the story behind this particular build interesting too.
Got this when I saw it on sale. It is so well engineered I’m really looking forward to building it. I actually spent time in Toyohashi where Finemolds is based. Wish I had got by there.
I just recently finished a 1/72 version of what you’re planning. Posted some pix elsewhere on this forum. The 1/72 Carcal decals are great so you should be in good shape. If you google wild weasel you can find photos and stuff on those first weasels and their modifications.
Nice! I’ve heard really good things about FineMolds kits, but I’ve never built one myself. I’m just finishing up the less well-engineered Hasegawa 1/48 F-4, so I’ll be interested to see what you think of the FineMolds 1/72 version once you get started.
And that’s pretty cool that you’ve actually spent time in Toyohashi. Too bad you didn’t know then that someday you’d be sitting at home building a model made there.
After a few months, my foot is finally healed so I got medical clearance to go back to work. First trip was Tokyo this past weekend and I never come back empty handed.
What a great store, they had some of everything.
Just downstairs from there I found a place called Hobby-Off, they buy and sell previously owned hobby stuff. Lots of rare and cool items, I just didn’t have the space to bring it all home.
I think I’d have to bring a whole separate suitcase just to get everything home! That looks like a great haul. I especially like those ammo box kits. Those are really cool.
Those look great! I’ve just been reorganizing my own hobby room, so I can definitely appreciate finally getting all the paint bottles organized and where you can actually see what you’ve got.
But you can’t just casually throw in “something very special coming later in the week” and leave it at that.
Probably not a great deal of help for scale modelling and all of the beautiful smellies and solvents it requires, but a way to spend some “craft time” with the good lady. Plan is to paint Warhammer Minis with water-based acrylics on the couch while she crochets or does whatever unaromatic hobby takes her fancy of an evening
