Working on Tamiya’s 1/48 Nighthawk. Helluva kit; nobody’s lying when they say it’s a joy to build. My question revolves around the (relative) ease of painting this kit. It would seem (by studying the instructions) that it would be most practical to assemble the main fuselage/wings after painting it (since the gear bays and weapons bay are completely separate from the lower fuselage and would not require masking) then attach all the smaller (already painted) parts like doors. But…
…since it’s obviously going to wind up flat black, what procedure would you experienced guys suggest?
A: Flat black enamel → gloss clear enamel or lacquer → assembly & decaling → flat clear enamel or lacquer. B: Gloss black enamel → assembly & decaling → flat clear enamel or lacquer.
What I’m trying to get at is that if painting is done before assembly, this kit will be handled during installation of the bays, cockpit, doors, elevons, rudders, etc. What is the most finger-friendly (flat paint with gloss clear, or gloss paint only), given a 7- to 10-day curing time? Should I consider using rubber (or latex or soft cloth) gloves to prevent fingerprints and blemishes on the surface (has anybody done this)?
I guess, more than anything, my question is what do you guys do when assembling a kit’s body after painting it?
On a sidenote, has anybody tried “dusting” their F-117 with a dark grey (Gunship or Euro I Gray) after the black to give a lighter (and scaled) “patchy” effect?
Not having built this kit, but I would go with you A option. Gloss enamel tends to take a very long time, (many days, if not longer) to cure hard. I would probably use flat black Tamiya acrylic as this is very smooth when airbrushed, it doesn’t have very much tooth, and so will lend itself well to a gloss acrylic (ie Future/Jonsons) coat, then finish the whole thing off with a clear flat of your choice. The flattest matt I have found is Humbrol enamel, but you need to be carefull and test it on a scrap of painted plastic before hand. It can turn white and milky every so often!
I have built this kit. I painted mine with a gloss black and then decaled and flat coated. This was all done after assembly. For a good gloss black that cures quickly, try Tamiya gloss black in the spray can.
Johnny, Make sure the flat black is not too dark. The actual aircraft is a very dark gray, not black. In scale, a good flat black may look right though. Just wanted to let you know that.
I just got this kit from Hobby Lobby for $23. What a deal!! Now I am wondering if I should fill the panel details because they seem to be too big for scale. The panels don’t seem to be very evident in photos. I am also thinking of post-shadowing the filled panels with flat black (the a/c will be really dark gray or slightly lightened flat black). Suggestions, Anyone?
markuz, What scale is it? Most likely, you will not see the panels when the model is that small, so filling it would be okay. The surface needs to be as smooth as possible (on the real plane) or the stealth characteristics will be compromised.
It’s the Tamiya 1/48. i read somewhere that most of the panels were actually covered (filled) with RAM (radar absorbent material) for added effeciency in radar-protection. I think this is the reason why there is a dark patchy appearance on the craft especially around the panels. Does anyone have anything to say about this?
Whaz up Johnny D,
From what I have seen in my ref’s material/photos and the actual a/c, it is definetly BLACK.
All operational 117s were in a black scheme. I believe the only gray ones were from the FSD(Full Scale Development) YF-117A’s which were out of Groom Lake and Edwards (AFFTC). “The over all Light Gray color scheme proved effective in the air and on the ground; however, the USAF directed all Nighthawks were to be overallblack for night operations(Ref Walk Around F-117 pg73)”.
The tones that you see could be meany things but most of it comes from either natural weathering or ground crew maintenance.
For scale effect still use a black but give it a lil pinch of light gray or white.
Ref: F-117 Walk Around No.26 Lockheed Horizon - F-117A “Cockroach”
Yessiree, Butz is right. The Goblins are black. Having seen more than a few of these up close with my own Mk.I Eyeballs, I can say uncategorically that they are not gray, but black. The only ones to have carried any sort of gray at all seem to be FSD aircraft.
As with all aircraft, there will be a bit of tonal variance here and there due to several factors; including weather and maintenance. Speaking of maintenance…
A year or two back I was at the Falls Airshow when an F-117 landed and taxied into the display area. At first, as usual, you couldn’t get too close to the thing. But about an hour later you could all but walk right up to the jet and touch it. (Cordon ropes and guys with guns! [:p])
Anyhoo, I had noticed earlier that when they were shutting down and the wrench monkeys were crawling all over the thing, that they were applying what looked like duct tape and black Krylon spray paint. I had occasion to ask one of the ground crew if that, indeed, was what they were doing. He said yes and gave the following reason; quite often, some of the RAM will chip off the aircraft and, being all black, the color of the underlying material will stick out like a sore thumb.
He said that when they do an airshow and the aircraft is to be on public display, they “touch up” these spots of chipped RAM with the tape and paint so that the bird “looks good” for the show. Apparently, aesthetics really is the only reason for this. Then, when back home, the offending areas will be re-sprayed with RAM for funtionality’s sake.
Just thought that this was a neat story, and it certainly seems to be a partial explanation for some of the patch-work appearance on Nighthawks.
Whaz up Johnny D,,
This is how I go about the building/painting process of my models. I do all the pre assembling that I can. Sometimes its easier done than said[:p] 1. Assemble and paint all the major parts that are going to be internal ex: Cockpit inter, wheel wells and components of the burner cans and the like(this also depends on what kind of a/c your doing so it may be a lil different steps). 2. Small parts can be left off at this time until the completion of the model(pito tubes, small antennas/mast so they will not break off during the overall painting process). 3. Once you have painted the wheel wells and glued them into position, you can use non porous sergical tape to cover the wells when painting the a/c. 4. I always attach the wings and elevators to the fuselage before I do the final painting. This is good so I can clean up any access glue,redo panel/wing root lines ect(basically everything will look uniform). Also if there is any necassary filling inbetween the wing and fuselage, I can fix it then so I dont have to worry about ruining the finish later(sound confusing??) 5. Afterwards I use a dark grey or black as my primer(highlights any flaws or seams that may be still not covered). This will also help me creat “natural shadows” when I go to apply the paint. 6. The final stage when the a/c is in its final scheme, I use Future/polly scale gloss to put a good seal on the paint also this makes a better suface for my decaling. Once this is all done I put a final coat of flat on. Then Tada its finished.
Hopefully Johnny D this helped you out. Would like to see some picks of your Goblin.
Flaps up,Mike