Author Topic: F-23A photo recon version  (Read 21389 times)

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #25 on: March 02, 2019, 02:05:05 PM »
Some more progress! Let the PSR begin in full force!


Offline andonio64

  • Fio Piccolo's understudy
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #26 on: March 03, 2019, 01:56:57 AM »
Hmmmm really interesting, Kerick...

Antonio

Offline Robomog

  • ...had a very bad experience with [an] orange...
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Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #27 on: March 03, 2019, 09:53:07 AM »
Nice use of found objects on the inlets and expertly shaped looking forward to the end result

Mog
>^-.-^<
Mostly Harmless...............

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #28 on: March 04, 2019, 12:23:07 PM »
I sanded down the Bondo Putty and added a layer of Perfect Plastic Putty to fill minor imperfections. Not much to show for now, just lots of dust. For the fuselage section I'm going to try covering as much as possible with sheet plastic to cut down on PSR. I'm considering cutting out the flaps, ailerons and slats and re-positioning them. I've found some pics of YF-23s on the ground with these surfaces dropped.
Thanks for the encouraging comments!

Offline Aeroplanedriver

  • Newly Joined - Welcome me!
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #29 on: March 04, 2019, 12:39:34 PM »
This is coming along great!   Loved the F-23 and can't wait to see this one done. 

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #30 on: March 09, 2019, 09:30:55 AM »
More cutting and more PSR!





Glued the two halves together and cut out the control surfaces. The joint between the surfaces and the wing looks really tight in pics I've seen. No hinges or spaces to be seen. Makes sense in a stealth aircraft. It will make my job easier cleaning it up and gluing them back on.

A little putty where I cut too far.





Exhaust is painted a metallic black for now. I'm going to try making some decals to make the surfaces look like this.....

yf-23_13_of_51

Also on the decal sheet will be different color shapes to represent different antenna etc.

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #31 on: March 09, 2019, 01:50:53 PM »
A little more progress.



Planking the gap.



Back to looking like an aircraft again!

Offline finsrin

  • The Dr Frankenstein of the modelling world...when not hiding from SBA
  • Finds part glues it on, finds part glues it on....
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #32 on: March 09, 2019, 04:17:34 PM »
Yes,,, this is great.  Top notch concept (per my way of concepts) coming together.
Fine work.  Awaiting more progress pictures.
Black world has/had F-23 variant.  Oops - nuff said on that.

Offline andonio64

  • Fio Piccolo's understudy
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #33 on: March 09, 2019, 05:23:05 PM »
Wow, it's getting more and more interesting!

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #34 on: March 10, 2019, 12:05:44 AM »
Going to work on closing up the underside today. It's mostly flat so less planking involved. I'm thinking of changing the story to it being a CIA asset. I read an article on the SR-71 that made the point that if the SR-71 was CIA funded it would have flown for a much longer time. So this will be the replacement but under CIA control. I'll have to look over my decal options again.

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #35 on: March 10, 2019, 11:59:37 AM »
Not sure if the tiles are related to the ones on the shuttle but they could be.

Got the underside planked.



More putty today.





Putty palozza! I'm giving it lots of time to dry before sanding. Working on the control surfaces in the mean time.

Offline finsrin

  • The Dr Frankenstein of the modelling world...when not hiding from SBA
  • Finds part glues it on, finds part glues it on....
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #36 on: March 10, 2019, 01:30:05 PM »
Appreciate progress pictures.  :smiley:

Offline Old Wombat

  • "We'll see when I've finished whether I'm showing off or simply embarrassing myself."
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Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #37 on: March 11, 2019, 04:27:41 PM »
 :smiley:
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #38 on: March 14, 2019, 12:35:14 PM »
Part 1 of putty palooza has been sanded down. Part 2 has been applied. I've been using plain old nail files/ermory boards to shape the putty and plastic. Course to cut through all the material and with a flat backing to make sure I don't cut away the putty and leave plastic high spots. I clean it up with 400 grit and will go over the whole thing with 600 before I paint. I have to watch out in areas where I applied a lot of glue as it seems to be affecting the putty. I've noticed a couple of cracks in the putty even after it was dried and sanded down. There could be traces of vapor finding its way out yet.





I had to add some plastic to build out the chines. I should have done that in the first place but oh well.



I've test fitted the stabilizers and the fit is terrible. Very little effort was made to provide a strong anchor for the pieces. I'll have to do a lot of sanding and fitting to get a tight fit as the butt joint will be the only thing holding them. I see these breaking off repeatedly in the future. Plus trying to get the angle right. Might be time to build a lego jig.

Offline elmayerle

  • Its about time there was an Avatar shown here...
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Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #39 on: March 15, 2019, 02:07:42 AM »
FWIW, the Italieri/Testors/Revell/Tamiya YF-23 is definitely the best 1/72 YF-23 kit out there (I have samples of all and have compared them with a Northrop 1/72 display model that was sold by their company store 'back in the day").  Still needs, as you point out, work, though.

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #40 on: March 15, 2019, 04:52:18 AM »
That's some top-shelf styrene surgery there!

The rare times I get mods looking that clean it makes me almost want to dance.

Looks sharp and smooth as silk!

Brian da Basher

Offline apophenia

  • Perversely enjoys removing backgrounds.
  • Patterns? What patterns?
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #41 on: March 15, 2019, 05:47:25 AM »
That's some top-shelf styrene surgery there!

Gotta agreed with the 'Basher there! Impressive work on an excellent concept :smiley:
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline tankmodeler

  • Wisely picking parts of the real universe 2 ignore
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #42 on: March 15, 2019, 08:14:33 AM »
Not sure if the tiles are related to the ones on the shuttle but they could be.
They're not. Both are ceramic based, but that's as far as it goes. The solid ceramic aircraft tiles are far more durable than the foamed ceramic from the Shuttle.
Quote
I have to watch out in areas where I applied a lot of glue as it seems to be affecting the putty. I've noticed a couple of cracks in the putty even after it was dried and sanded down. There could be traces of vapor finding its way out yet.
The small cracks are a result of the residual amounts of solvent in the putty continuing to dry even after it appears nice and solid causing the putty to shrink and then crack. For places where the spot and glaze type putty is more than a .020-.030" thick, this will continue to happen for quite a while. Weeks. Months, in some cases. The only real way to avoid it is to apply in very thin layers (like .010" per layer) and let dry for week or so between layers after sanding.

For this reason, for any areas where I am doing any real shape changes, like you are doing here, I use 2 part epoxy putty, like Miliput or Aves (prefer Aves). These do not dry, but cure. There is no releasing of solvent so no shrinking. They have their own issues, but shrinking and cracking isn't one of them.

Paul

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #43 on: March 15, 2019, 10:21:49 AM »
You are quite right. I have to practice getting Aves in a thin layer. I know it involves wetting the tools with water, just have to use it a few times.

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #44 on: March 16, 2019, 05:47:18 AM »
Round two of putty palooza has been sanded down. I'm waiting to apply round three to allow more solvent to escape. Plus RW stuff to attend to anyway. The chines are giving me trouble but I'll get them in shape soon.

Offline kitnut617

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Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #45 on: March 16, 2019, 06:02:31 AM »
I tend to use more styrene than putty when I do my projects. I've learnt that pre-bending styrene with a heat gun to the approximate size/bend (usually a little bigger) I can sand it down to what I want. Any little defects I find afterwards then gets a swipe of putty but is usually very minimal..

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #46 on: March 16, 2019, 09:07:11 PM »
I tend to use more styrene than putty when I do my projects. I've learnt that pre-bending styrene with a heat gun to the approximate size/bend (usually a little bigger) I can sand it down to what I want. Any little defects I find afterwards then gets a swipe of putty but is usually very minimal..

Sure beat my "light a candle and curse the (stretched) sprue" method.

Thanks for sharing those tips, Robert!

Brian da Basher

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #47 on: April 04, 2019, 07:59:42 AM »
I got back from vacation in Bahamas and Disney World. Had to go and give a bunch of my money to the mouse! Actually my wife and best friend conspired to force me to celebrate my 60th birthday. Magnificent time but still recovering from the sunburn.
So I finally sanded down the last layer of putty. Came out pretty good so I brushed on some paint as primer. A couple of spots showed up but nothing I can't deal with. Not much to take pics of right now but it looks like I better figure out a paint scheme real quick.

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #48 on: April 19, 2019, 12:51:36 PM »
I hand painted on some grey as a primer and puttied a couple of small spots. Real life is pretty busy these days so progress has been slow. Now that the weather is warming up I might be able to bring out the airbrush in the garage and do some decent painting.

Offline kitnut617

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Re: F-23A photo recon version
« Reply #49 on: April 19, 2019, 10:55:41 PM »
Real life is pretty busy these days so progress has been slow.

Happens every time you get back from vacation   ;D ;D ;D