F-19: Testor's Fake Stealth Jet that Fooled Everyone

[@morganb6717]

*F-35 Lightning II the 'Thunderbolt' designation belongs to the U.S. Air Force's iconic ground attack platform known the world over as the 'Warthog', but officially as the A-10 Thunderbolt II

[@Sublight_Drive]

Ah hell I definitely beefed that one. I blame the USAF for naming so many iconic planes after weather phenomena

[@Northern_Shrike]

The F-35's "II" is from the fact that it's the legacy of the WW2 fighter-interceptor thing called the P-38 Lightning, while the A-10's "II" is based on the P-47 Thunderbolt.

[@KnightsWithoutATable]

@@Northern_Shrike Ah, yes, the P-47. When you attach wings to an engine and it becomes a plane through sheer power and nothing else. Damn thing could take off as 8 tons loaded when full of ammo, bombs, and fuel.

[@Plaprad]

@@KnightsWithoutATable My first squadron started off as a P-47 squadron. In the late 40's they had a P-47 coming in for a landing when the engine died a few miles out. It went straight into a cement factory IIRC. Sheared the wings off, and the prop was gone. After the crash, all the workers were fine and the pilot just got out and asked if everyone was ok. I didn't believe it until I was shown pictures and an old news article about it. Tough birds.

[@pondafarr]

I had the F-19, the Mig37B, AND the Stingbat, I was KING of the middle-school model world LOL

[@blackc1479]

Same for the goblin and the mig. (Id forgotten all about the chopper)I always thought the mig actually looked cooler. Even funnier that it was closer to the 117 than the 19 was. One of these days when that lotto ticket comes in I'm going hunting for all the kits I lost back when.

[@theothertonydutch]

Don't forget the "soviet attack helicopter" by Italeri. I love that janky cartoon of a helicopter.

[@densityduckk]

@@theothertonydutch And, more recently, the Dragon "Stealth UH-60 Operation Geromino", which was their half-fantasy take on the modified helicopters used in the Bin Laden assassination op.

[@jnievele]

I have two of the three 1:48 F-19s (Revell and Italeri, still looking for an affordable Monogram kit), and the LHX Stingbat. Mig-37 is still in my stash. The F-19s are much more fun in 1:48 ... It's a pity they never get re-released

[@Chef_PC]

Same here. I have the built (and heavily used) models somewhere.

[@miisuo]

Oh wow, new core memory unlocked. I had a die-cast version of this when I was a kid. That's neat

[@uropygid]

I found one in a trash can and still have it.

[@benjyss8594]

In the book Skunk Works by Ben Rich (director of the Lockheed Skunk Works division during the F-117's development), there is a part about the trouble the F-19 caused at Lockheed. Someone who didn't work at Skunk Works thought that their secret stealth plane project had leaked, the company C.E.O. (who knew it didn't leak) wanted to sue, and you can imagine how much the engineers who were making the F-177 absolutely hated the F-19. Although in a sense it might have actually helped with the secrecy of the F-117 by fooling the public with what a stealth fighter could look like.

[@Sublight_Drive]

That’s awesome! I really didn’t do much digging into the response from the military/skunkworks side of things, but I gotta imagine they were in a bit of a bind, and saying nothing only made it seem all the more mysterious! A few news articles I read mentioned Lockheed employees were banned from buying the kit, lol. It probably didn’t help that only a vanishingly few people in the company actually knew what it looked like.

[@erichammond9308]

The F-19 was a planned distraction from the F-117. As was featuring the F-19 in Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising".

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

Suing _could_ have helped them further, to sell the subterfuge of it all, as that would've made it seem like the leaks were real and the models to be legitimately the design. Hell, to further sell it, they could file the suit, but then immediately retract it... just so that there was paperwork, but not to harm the model company (since they were legitimately innocent). 😁

[@boobah5643]

@@DUKE_of_RAMBLE They couldn't sue because they knew that it wasn't their design, and claiming otherwise would be a crime. Yes, it was a better time with a better class of lawyers.

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

@@boobah5643 That's fair!

[@theak1910]

I do want to issue a slight correction, the F-21 Viper is a marketing term used by Lockheed Martin and isn't official. The real F-21 designation belongs to the Israeli Kfir, which was loaned to the USN/USMC for DACT between '85 and '89. Other than that, great video! The F-19 is a very interesting piece of American fighter lore, and the model looks great.

[@kipjebo9142]

I got one of the Testors kits back in the day. I used it as an aerospace fighter for my large scale 1st ed. Battletech games where we used the anime designed mech kits.

[@Sublight_Drive]

Dude sick. F-19s definitely fit in a battletech setting.

[@Kasperl88]

It'd actually be a pretty good stand in for a Thrush.

[@MacrossLoversAgain]

Always nice to run into other battletech enthusiasts. 😊

[@doc_sav]

That is a fun idea

[@j.f.fisher5318]

To be fair, this is pretty much what everyone thought the F-19 would look like, back when everyone thought the stealth fighter would be called the F-19.

[@imperialpresence1173]

this was based on the drawing the DOD gave testors..imagine the billions the soviets pissed away trying to make this work

[@larrybremer4930]

This is what Tom Clancy describes as the stealth fighter in Red Storm Rising in the chapter where the air war starts in Europe.

[@pihermoso11]

1988 GiJoe toy had something called the Phantom X19 which was based off the 'F19' , and the Cobra Night Raven was also based off the SR71

[@pcenero]

did people watch the video I feel like I'm being gaslit

[@afriendofafriend5766]

Including Tom Clancy in Red Storm Rising.

[@alexhajnal107]

The original kits were the rounded American one and a purported Soviet one with flat, angular surfaces. The blurb on the box stated this was because the Soviet tech wasn't as advanced as the US tech. A few years later the actual US F-117 was revealed and had... flat, angular surfaces. I got a chuckle out of that one. Their "Soviet" model was much closer to the real thing. Fun fact: the maths that allowed the development of stealth were actually originally published in a Soviet mathematical journal.

[@goofyleo3869]

My man; you beat me to exactly the same points. I had both 1/48th Testors kits as a kid. Still have the F-19 in a box packed in styrofoam peanuts somewhere in my basement.

[@keithskelhorne3993]

I remember F-19 Stealth Fighter from Microprose in 1988/89 ish for the Commodore,,,, then theF-117 on the Amiga :) lol

[@wabbit234]

Those Microprose games kicked ass.

[@HavocHerseim]

still available on steam and I still play it.

[@privateinformation2960]

@@wabbit234 Microprose Lucasarts and Papyrus absolutely owned the late 80s to mid to late 90s.

[@wabbit234]

@@privateinformation2960 Strongly agree.

[@karlm9584]

I had them all on PC including a weird YF-22 game I ripped off a kid at school and then beat the copy protection using DOS debug.

[@Vortagh]

Oh look, it's "Duke" Ellington's Frisbee!

[@crazypetec-130fe7]

There was another kit that looked a lot more like Clancy's description. Can't remember who made it.

[@StsFiveOneLima]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIfNlXl4j6iFh8U

[@afriendofafriend5766]

My first thought too

[@philtkaswahl2124]

Ah, Red Storm Rising. My first Clancy book.

[@Wingsfanacc]

Missed that song

[@glennpeterson1357]

This was the same aircraft design that was used in the flight simulator “F-19 Stealth Fighter “ by MicroProse back around 1988. I used to love its advanced wireframe graphics 😂

[@awdrcdrifter8421]

Pressing Shift F10 back then was fun 🤭

[@glennpeterson1357]

@@awdrcdrifter8421 I don’t have my handy cardboard keyboard overlay anymore… what did F10 do?

[@awdrcdrifter8421]

@@glennpeterson1357 eject/bail out... was it alt f10 or shift f10, I kinda forgot.

[@glennpeterson1357]

@@awdrcdrifter8421 great you remember! I used to love MicroProse. They had some really great stuff

[@guy_autordie]

The F-19 as a middle ground between a F-117 and SR-71 is a great design. Also the F-117 is more like a B-class than a A-class.

[@captbloodbeard]

Since the F-117 is a small bomber, I thought A class suited it, like the A-6, which had no guns and a relatively small payload.

[@guy_autordie]

@@captbloodbeard you make a good point. I don't know which to choose then.

[@hoilst265]

More fun facts: the "Hopeless Diamond"-style jagged-angle stealth, as seen on the F-117 (the Wobblin' Goblin!), wasn't an American idea. It was a Russian one, cooked up by a guy called Pyotr Umfimtsev, in his "Method of Edge Waves in the Physical Theory of Diffraction"...which he got to publish because the Soviet higher-ups took one look at it, said "Awww, that's nice, dear. Yes, you can publish it if you want, sweetie!" And so he did, the USAF translated it into English in 71, and some blokes called Kelly Johnson and Ben R. Rich got their mits on it.

[@fonesrphunny7242]

AFAIK he laid the ground work for calculating radar reflections. Lockheed just used angled surfaces, because they didn't have the computational power to do rounded shapes

[@cestall1]

The Soviet MiG-37 was sick looking. I had that, and the "floppy" version of the F-19.

[@monostripeexplosiveexplora2374]

I loved F-19 stealth fighter the microprose game.. and it made me by the Revell kit decades ago.

[@Nangleator22]

The game was great. Really kicked off the steal game genre.

[@TheJosep70]

I still have my boxed copy and my A1200. Not gonna play it again, though.

[@razorfett147]

I had a Matchbox style diecast toy of this aircraft back when i was a kid. I had forgotten all about it, along with the fact that it never materialized in real life 😂

[@dersan7522]

Same! Haha Still got it somewhere probably…. 🤔

[@Melody_Raventress]

Me too! My favorite toy jet. I loved how it looks.

[@Flomotion8000]

This video finally explained some childhood memory I had and could not quite make sense of. I had that very model as a kid and always had a vague memory of its shape. Back then i did not care, it was just a cool looking plane. But today with that image still in the back of my head I always wanted to figure out what plane I had build as a kid, because it did not seem to be real and I was already wondering if my memory had failed me and I never actually had such a model. Seeing this thumbnail got me thrilled to finally put that thought to rest. Thanks so much for that!

[@theadamtron]

Thankyou for this video. I used to play the f-19 game and assumed it was a real plane. The story behind the kit and the design was fascinating. Thanks for the research and time you put into this.

[@MrAvenger1975]

While I was stationed overseas in the 90s, I picked up both versions of the F-19 (Monogram and Testors) and the coveted Aurora. Used to have them hanging up in my barracks room, along with a ton of Hasegawa models. The Air War over Misawa, I called it.

[@glitch9211]

Had this kit in 1/48 as a kid. Hung from my ceiling next to my 1/48 SR-71 until I left home. No idea where it went.

[@IvorMektin1701]

My mom threw it out after she trashed mine

[@glitch9211]

@IvorMektin1701 Probably what happened to mine too. I don't blame them.

[@IvorMektin1701]

@@glitch9211 I do, my mother was evil. Yesterday I surpassed her in longevity too.

[@Tube_America]

I had a 1/72!

[@doc_sav]

It's hanging from the ceiling of your dad's room

[@tommcandries7483]

I built the 1/48th scale Testor kit when it came out and it is still on my shelf. I have another one along with a couple of Mig-37s in my stash. I'll have to pull them out. Thanks for the memories.

[@noahberg101]

my dad had the GIJoe version at my grandparents house and i loved it i never knew what it was but even still i knew it was a stealth plane it's so cool knowing a part of my love for planes stems from this design.

[@Melody_Raventress]

I didn't have a kit, but my favorite toy jet was in the shape of the F-19 or Aurora or whatever. Just such a cool distinct design.

[@notatallheng]

I had the MiG-37 kit as a kid. Being a dumb kid, I screwed up big time when building it (please don't ask for details). But the really interesting thing about it was that it very closely resembled what real stealth fighters would look like, being essentially a machine with the angled panels of the F-117 but the basic outline of the YF-23.

[@Nlcup]

cool remember building that when i was a kid course model was brand new then

[@jernejfunkl8300]

I still have this model. I made it in the late 80s. It was the first version of Revell's release... Nostalgia :)

[@gaveintothedarkness]

Really liked this format, loved seeing the build with the cool story to accompany it.

[@floydii9726]

This.

[@Robert-nz2qw]

Great storytelling of a story that I, like you, have been deeply fascinated by since the reveal of the F-117.

[@thegrandinquisitor8239]

Man, this takes me back. I had the G.I. Joe version you showed and I still have the Ertl die-cast version of it.

[@jessejamesbell2386]

Great Job , thanks for the model painting tips, and my 21.3 years in the USAF and Navy Aviation, The F-119 /F-19 was a Pre INGAD Test Model platform ! The best-kept secret the US has ever had, I have pictures of it in the Bone Yard next to some F-14's now removed due to all the attention it's getting !

[@MikeBabsBC]

WOW, here's a blast from the past. I built this exact kit back in the 1990s, glad to see it's still in production! If you really want to appreciate this plane, people need to go and find/play that DOS F-19 Stealth Fighter game. 👍

[@fishypirhana246]

I really liked the storytelling layered over the build. Great format!

[@crucial0072]

I remember having that one. I used to conduct my own air wars and sorties. Man, life as a kid was amazing.

[@MacrossLoversAgain]

A cool model with a cool story. I remember building this and the russian ferret. I really liked them because they have this space fighter vibe to them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[@erebus1964]

I remember buying a similar kit in 1/48 from Italeri in the mid/late eighties (Italeri Kit #819). We didn't know much about the upcoming stealth technology as young modelers here in Germany, but the plane looked interesting. And that was simply the reason to buy it. I never built it, the parts are still somewhere in my stash. At that time we were in somewhat of a Post-Star-Wars-Kitbashing-Mood, but since we were young and inexperienced, we never got far. Very interesting story behind that model. Thank you!

[@Lacquerhead-TX]

I had the 1:48 kit. Even as a college kid I *knew* that design wasn't the actual aircraft but I bought the kit anyhow. At least they got the inward canted vertical stabs consistent with Have Blue.

[@Trashbash_Creations]

Great build! and the history behind the model was wonderful to hear. Well done Sir!

[@TheMorteReport]

I made an F-19 kit in the 80's. The one odd thing I remember about it was that it came with two canopy options, a rounded bubble one and an angular one that was closer to the actual F -117. I used the bubble one because it fit the rounded aesthetic of the rest of the model.

[@feynthefallen]

I had that kit in 1:48 as a kid. I picked it for its cool, futuristic look. Never suspected it wasn't real until I read and subsequently researched the F-19 after I read about it in Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

[@genom27]

The sustain on those Aria’s was sick. Cliff made a wise choice for his playing style 🤘

[@davidferrara1105]

are you lost

[@AZREDFERN]

I swear I had a GI Joe plane that looked JUST like this

[@liquidleopard4495]

Yes, I remember seeing it in ads and on shelves.

[@djolds1]

The speculative Testors MiG-37B was actually pretty close to the real world F-117. Eighties Americans just couldn't imagine the Pentagon's state of the art was that BAD.

[@sim.frischh9781]

Had that exact model as well... MANY years ago...damn, we´re talking nearly 30 years by now... i´m old...

[@rvboyett]

I remember building this kit when I was in High School. It and and F117 model are still hanging in my old AFJROTC classroom.

[@khublieoldschoolgamer5737]

That model design was used as the plane in the c64 flight Sim F19 STEALTH FIGHTER, The exact model. It's on the Art box and you flew it in the Sim based in the first gulf war.

[@martyrodgers1808]

When I was a kid, I had a metal diecast jet like this. They also made the F-16 1514 all the good ones but I remember having wood just like this and had room for two plastic missiles in a bay in the middle of the plane

[@creepycymru1905]

Such wonderful nostalgia! As a child of the 80's I remember seeing this aircraft everywhere! This or the SR-71. Never saw the Foxbat get any attention though. Have you ever seen an 80's kids show called Ring Raiders? Around 86 matchbox brought out micro machine style jets, tiny little wonderful plastic sculpts that clipped to a toy ring to be worn on the hand. Imagine a child their hand up to the sky, pertending as if their hand was an aircraft. Well, kids would have fingers full of these tiny Ring Raider aircraft in all sorts of shapes and styles. I remember the F-19 was extremely popular on that show. As always another excellent video! I like the scratch build stuff more, but this is very good. Great job! Keep 'em coming!

[@RobertBreckenridge13]

I totally forgot about this kit. I was probably 11 or 12 when it came out, and I had a small collection of models of my favorite planes, the F-16 and F-14, SR-71 and such. I wanted one so badly, so when it was officially announced by the Air Force, I could show my friends that I had known all about it beforehand with my model. Damn you, Lockheed and Testor, playing with my emotions!

[@donnthesovereigncitizen1577]

I used to have the Ertl die cast toy "F-19" in addition to the model kit when I was a kid, right next to my SR-71 Blackbird, and EF-111A Raven models.

[@duncanmcgee13]

I had one. Loved it. Mine was all metal tho.

[@killroy255]

I would love to see more old kits like this one, especially if you find the old big scale battletech stuff!

[@BradiKal61]

I had the computer game F-19 Stealth Fighter(1987) by Microprose and that game used THIS design for the F-19. I think later you could get the graphics files for the correct design that we all now know as the F19

[@scythelord]

I remember this, but as a small metal toy and not as one you built. Never had even thought about it being real or not despite being highly interested in the real stealth planes. Just the simple fact that I hadn't seen one other than the toy, it was easy to assume it didn't exist.

[@joshmapes4311]

Holy shit. I had this little airplane- it was a die cast model. Beautiful. It was old when I inherited it from my big brother. What a treat! Thanks for putting this up!

[@gingermany6223]

I remember building the 1:48 version of this kit while watching the 1985 super bowl!

[@dwerenat1]

Neat little bit of model lore. Thanks.

[@DeathInTheSnow]

I would love to see a side-by-side comparison of all the different interpretations of the F-19 model kits and toys, like the pull-back toy planes and even the Ring Raiders toys from the cartoon. The leader of the good guys even flew it, so the F-19 has even been professionally animated!

[@tachyon8317]

I had a die-cast figure (matchbox, or one of those companies) of it when I was a kid. Looked like the pic in the thumbnail, minus the front canard looking nubbins

[@michaelmoore7975]

You can se the original concept by Robert Hallion in the January 1981 issue of National Geographic Page 103.

[@jollyjohnthepirate3168]

I remember Microprose had a video game called F 19 Project Stealth Fighter.

[@paulsmodels]

I built the Revell/Monogram version of this kit a few years back. It was a larger scale, and very, very simple to make. The canards on it are way different than this Testors version.

[@paulsmodels]

I Think it was a Monogram kit?

[@rickmaldoo4205]

I used to see this plane in cast metal and remember loving the design was so cool

[@egmccann]

The F-21 was actually the designation for the IAI Kfir for a while, while the Marines were using them as aggressors. And ... yep, I built that kit (1/48) when it came out, too. And the soviet version (which I've built again and have around currently.) As far as Testors killing off its model division? I don't recall if that happened pre or post Rustoleum purchase, but.. .Testors was in a *weird* place, modelwise. Old 1950s Hawk releases, some new(ish) tools, sometimes the *only* place to get certain kits (*nobody* else did a 1/48 YF-12, and they were pretty much the only game for 1/48 SR-71s, they had the prototype F/A-18s out which you could *switch the canopy and cockpit* to build a single or two seat - though they weren't exactly *accurate,* these were prototypes, and still the only game in town if you want fairly early, short-aileron prototype F-18s... which I did, built a lot about two years ago.) They had interesting subjects, mixed with old kits the molds were getting worn out on... and, really, hobby shops started vanishing in the 90s-2000s, and department stores didn't really carry them any longer.Which, itself, is a shame.

[@keirfarnum6811]

That “Roswell UFO” looks extremely similar to the drawing of one of the two UFOs witnessed by Kelly Johnson; the one which influenced the design of the A12/SR71. Which makes sense with the inward canted vertical stabs.

[@philtkaswahl2124]

It will always amuse how some modern days stealth aircraft concepts do sorta resemble it. As far as guesswork goes, it turned out to be a pretty good one.

[@erikliljenwall8185]

I remember seeing this kit on the shelf In a store back when it was new. I was like “that’s not what it looks like” and I forgot about it until now.

[@MrGpse]

Great job, you've correctly identified the "tic-tac"!

[@andrewhofmann5453]

I had that kit in '89. Still think it looks cool.

[@Amon26]

Man I built this thing a couple times as a kid and as I got older the more curious I got about the story of its design and who came up with it and how. Super satisfying vid to my aviation junkie brain.

[@jopalo31675]

Great story. The first time I’ve seen an F-117, was in a UFO book published around 1980. It wasn’t until the invasion of Panama, where the 117 became common knowledge( especially on the news ).

[@martyschrader]

Ahh, yes -- the F19 Frisbee. I still have that kit somewhere in a box downstairs. Don't ask me which one.

[@JeronimoStilton14]

Generally speaking I think it’s impossible for “not show up at all” in terms of radars and stealth technology. What it can do however is he such a weak return that it hides in the noise floor of the radar, which is effectively the same thing

[@rieger.design]

Good to know. I built this kit in the late 80s. With the up facing canards. Back then I thought it was based on a real thing

[@modelchili]

Awesome build! I have such fond memories of this kit, and playing the F-19 game on the old Amiga 1200.

[@jeremyweaver7689]

I’m from Bakersfield and the F-117 crash was not the only stealth connection we have. It’s been documented that there was a clandestine manufacturing plant for the U-2 near the airport where they would build the components and then fly them out to Area 51.

[@Sublight_Drive]

That’s dope. Also yeah I didn’t know how to weave it into the story but it goes without saying that Area 51 was where all this was going down lol.

[@mr.pavone9719]

I remember seeing these on the shelves at our local kayBee Toys. They usually had snap-tites and larger, more detailed kits by Testors. Even as a kid I wondered how the Air Force would allow Testors to make a model of their super-secret stealth fighter. Man, they even put the model on the cover of the National Enquirer with big headlines.

[@pyronuke4768]

The original F-21 were about 25 IAI Kifr fighters leased to Top Gun in the 80's for agressor role in training. The Navy and Marines offically dubbed them F-21A Lion for the four years they operated them. An additional six Kfirs are also used by the US firm Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), a civilian defense contractor that provides tactical adversary aircraft services to the US military, who still have them in inventory today. The other F-21 (the modified Indian Viper one) is as far as I can tell a marketing stunt and it's not entirely clear if the F-21 designation is actually official.

[@garyowen9044]

I remember when this came out, my friend built one. Soviet personnel bought several kits of it at a Washington area hobby shop (Wheaton Plaza). Its faux realism also made it into a Tom Clancy novel as “The Frisbee”.

[@nicholasmazzarella2720]

I remember building this kit when u was a kid, of course it didn't look nearly as awesome as the one you just build. Really cool video.

[@amkessel2014]

This is so funny. I remember having one of these as a Micromachine, and wondering where the heck it came from.

[@TooLateForIeago]

I wish these models were still being made.

[@CharlesFlahertyB]

I have a distinct memory of seeing the Testors kit in a KB toys in the late 80s

[@Sublight_Drive]

Sounds about right - Between the Testors kits, and re-releases under different labels, and copycats, there must've been a literal million F-19 kits out there in the world for a while

[@goofyleo3869]

I found my 1/48th Testors kit at a K-mart, of all places.🙄

[@Salty_Balls]

I remember having a diecast toy of this as a kid, back before the Gulf War made the F117 famous. Years later I associated the toy as the design language Clancy used in RSR. I think that diecast toy was eventually lost after I buried in the garden after an unfortunate "crash".

[@seancrandall1291]

Oh man! I had this Testor kit on elementary school. I thought this aircraft was so cool.

[@atam3977]

I had F-19 (Ravel), but 1:72 scale some 25 years ago. It looked a bit different in details. A nice kit to assemble.

[@WhiskyCanuck]

I remember reading about F-19 speculation in magazines like Popular Science & that's where I first saw this concept. The other popular concept for the F-19 (that was more "T" shaped with the curved droopy wing) was also available as a model, apparently from Monogram. There was a GI Joe plane that looked broadly like this Testor's version too.

[@KRW628]

They used F-21 twice. The Navy leased 25 Israeli Kfir planes (designated F-21A) as adversary aircraft. Andrews did get one thing right His design and the Have Blue prototype both have inward slanting vertical stabilizers.

[@eclectipunk]

Loved the build AND the storytelling!

[@gearhead682010]

I had a F-19 Phantom model “jet” kit as a kid, this particular plane reminded me a lot of the F-14 that came out just a little later

[@joeshmoe9978]

It's interesting that Testors' MiG-37 concepet was closer to actual stealth, with it's flat panels. 🤔

[@liquidleopard4495]

Someone in the DoD even said so, a little while before the USAF admitted to having the F-117.

[@cyclone4-225]

I had a die-cast model of this as a kid and oh yeah that was the stelth... at least to me untill the Gulf War. I remember when they released the videos of the 117. I was both mortified and extremely excited that we had officially unveiled our stealth. Very cool 😎

[@wentzr]

There was a testers kit that was larger. I remember building it with my brother when we weren’t playing F-19 stealth fighter on the PC in 1988

[@andrewszigeti2174]

I built both the F-19 and MiG-37B kits as a young teen. Good days...

[@galexeqe]

I distinctly remember a school friend buying this kit at the time of its release and how excited he was building it He was in the Air Cadets at the time and later in the RAAF as a quotemaster

[@cameraman655]

I seem to recall when this model was all over the news back in the 80s and the Pentagon was supposedly freaking out that the Testors model company had marketed a kit model that had a striking resemblance to one of their Stealth projects.

[@kennethfharkin]

There were a couple F-19 kits out at the time. The coolest looking to me was the one by Monogram. Revell and Testors were very close to each other with the canards being the most obvious difference. When the F-117 was finally revealed everyone collectively scratched their heads as it was very different from the concepts.

[@TheBroz]

Algorithm got me here. Great video, thank you for making it. I was a fighter jet nerd in the 80s and 90s and was fascinated by the F-19, mostly as a result of the game. Love this story.

[@bobjoatmon1993]

I built the 'History of Combat Aviation' during the 80's, everything from the Wright Brothers (yes I know it wasn't a combat aircraft but it just fit to start there) with WWI planes hanging in a dogfight in one corner of the living room, then the planes that evolved during the wars in the clockwise corner then the WWII planesin the third corner all the way up to that F-19 (1:48 kit) in the "Modern" corner. Hundreds of hours spent building them. Then I suddenly got a couple year overseas job contract and had to leave quickly.... So asked my mom to pack up. Worst mistake of my life. She had so crazy dream that I was never coming back so she gave all my collections away (a THIRD GENERATION STAMP COLLECTION worth $16K back then!!!) my museum grade sea shell collection, too many books that I treasured, all my high quality backpacking n camping equipment and of course she gave the neighbor kids the models to throw and break. I never spoke to her about it, why bother, it wouldn't fix anything but I made sure for the rest of her life not to ever let her make any choices or decisions for me. And I haven't thought about any of that in a dozen years but sure remember now how I enjoyed the look of that F-19 build.

[@CitroenGS]

My condolences, bro...

[@KalijahAnderson]

I had a larger version of this kit when I was a kid. It was a snap together model I think, but it was far more detailed than this one.

[@BudoReflex]

Really loved hearing your story while you built. Excellent concept.

[@shadowhenge7118]

Funnily enough, there were riffs on this in some die cast makers like matchbox, and in micro machines in the 80's. I loved the general shape and always hoped they actually had it.

[@Flint_Westwood]

I had the original kit back in the day. The canards on mine were different to the model in your video. I too at the time thought it was the real deal 😅

[@jnievele]

Sounds like you had the Italeri/Testors version - that had slanted canards but otherwise was very similar to the Revell

[@Flint_Westwood]

@@jnievele Italeri was indeed the brand. Totally forgotten that! 👍