The Revell F-117A Nighthawk in 1/72 scale is a pretty EASY kit to build! Build & Review

[@thomaswoodman6332]

The models that are created on this channel are always built and painted to a superb standard , you are a great modeller.

[@ModelMinutes]

Thank you so much 😀 I'm glad you like them :D

[@bk109]

Next time you decide to paint a warplane component that's matte black (ie a radome), you may want to try Anthracite (very, very dark grey that can be further darkened with a drop or two of flat black) as those compnents/planes are never actually black (partly by design, since flat black stands out against the night sky, partly because of normal wear and tear). Alternatively, after painting, some white/grey pigment can also work

[@ModelMinutes]

That’s an excellent suggestion 😊

[@modelkitboi3925]

I remember when my dad said that he built one of these kits when he was younger (I think it was an Italeri kit) and he also said that he just left it the molding colour

[@ModelMinutes]

yeah, that's not a bad idea

[@evelynreyes4325]

Thank you so much for your videos, you inspired me to build model kits, you are the best , thank you

[@ModelMinutes]

Happy to hear that!

[@chrisdoney8578]

I built this about 2 years ago and watching your vid was like going back in time! Yes it's a quick build but not bad I thought for a 1991 Revell tooling. Bought mine from Fleabay for around a tenner i think. Not a bad representation of a F-117A in 1/72 for the money. Quite a large aircraft as well when placed next to another 1/72 fighter bomber. Thanks for the vid 👍

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks! Yes, this is quite a large model, think i've got some 1/48 scale kits which are smaller haha

[@willm5032]

Really need to make one of these, loved the shape of the nighthawk since I played Air Combat (yes, the 1995 original) on the Playstation as a kid

[@ModelMinutes]

very cool!

[@beskimo2]

I remember building a version of a kit when I was a kid in the 90s. I think mostly since it was one of the first kits I had paints to add to it and then trying to figure out how to remove white figure print paint from the body. Enjoy your videos!

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks!

[@xenokarasu]

I was planning on building this soon, what a coincidence!

[@ModelMinutes]

awesome!

[@Deano084]

Looks pretty good for what it is. Good job

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks very much!

[@JB-sv2uc]

Great video thanks. I appreciate that you always cover the basics as I'm getting back into the hobby.

[@ModelMinutes]

Glad to help :D

[@petermerz2704]

Looks great! I guess price is subjective to you area. Prices tend to be more expensive here in Canada. Thanks for sharing. Happy days and model on! 😎🇨🇦

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks for watching!

[@PCcardboard1354]

I made a paper model f-117, and I am glad I did!!! Its a beautiful plane, Great job!!!

[@ModelMinutes]

That sounds really interesting!

[@docbrown_88]

Thanks Matt! Ive wondered whether this is the f-117 kit for me, so this is a great to see. Keep up the good work :)

[@ModelMinutes]

Glad I could help!

[@sos_legio_primus]

Vallejo paints mix awesomely with tap water, even if you super-dilute them for filters. They never dry streaky. I would not waste money on Acrylic thinners for Vallejo paints. Even their metals produce a fine metallic finish when they are diluted with water. You have a great finish on this kit. Painting something predominantly black and making it not bland, but looking realistic is quite an achievement sir! Well done! It's great to see your skills grow with every video.

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks very much! I do use water on occasion but I just feel as though the thinners provide a sligtly better finish, possibly just personal preference

[@a.c.198]

Great result!

[@ModelMinutes]

Thank you!

[@xiaole950]

def one of the best looking models you have made so far. paint does look a little grainy up close for a spray paint but still superb

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks! Yes, i think that could be down to the "cheap" spray paints I used

[@billiamandthebilliams205]

You’ve inspired me to go out and get a nighthawk! Nice vid

[@ModelMinutes]

Go for it!

[@LightingSparks82]

beautiful build nice to see it being built 👌

[@ModelMinutes]

I'm glad you like it :D

[@BansheeNT-D]

Again, your painting is amazing. ❤❤ And this looks very good for a Revell kit! 😮

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks!

[@EurofighterTyphoon-_-]

Thank you so much Matt 😀

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks for watching!

[@maxbrandt6]

I was stationed at Holloman AFB from 2000 to 2004, I used to see Nighthawks all the time, even saw one up close once. You did a decent job but the pilot figure looks like a British pilot, which is kinda odd and the canopy is clear. Given the age and scale of the kit, that's understandable. The laser-guided bombs seem to be lacking the yellow (hot) or blue (inert) banding and warning stencils, sometimes the pilot or ground crew would scrawl a big snarky message on the side of the bomb but that was usually in combat situations for morale. Happy modeling!

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks for the info! It's interesting all these details that revell neglect to mention in their instructions

[@epicforger12345]

I remember as a kid coming back from duxford with this kit

[@ModelMinutes]

nice!

[@foreverplastickits138]

*Very good result, this Nighthawk is really nice at this scale!*

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks a lot!

[@travisrassel9978]

I want one! So cool.

[@ModelMinutes]

:D

[@Boppinabe]

The Monogram Snap-Tite version(paid $5.00 for mine in 1992) on which this seems to be based had the undercarriage and bomb bays closed.

[@ModelMinutes]

that is interesting, perhap they added some extra parts for this one

[@jillpowell7272]

Build the Avro Anson It’s a really good kit by Airfix

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks for the suggestion!

[@MOS6510Models]

I have the italeri version ofthis in the stash.. its not a click build though.. great video again matey

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks! I'm sure the Italeri version has better detail :D

[@julianmhall]

Great model Matt :) Maybe just a matt varnish would be all that's needed, to take down the shiny plastic look of the original, and save painting :)

[@ModelMinutes]

yeah, maybe that was all it needed

[@briantracy5529]

Great model for an assembler.

[@ModelMinutes]

Assembler?

[@lpjmodels]

@@ModelMinutes assembler is a derogatory term coined by those who " bUiLd PrOpEr MoDeLz" usually covering them in future and complaining that there is too much detail on modern kits.

[@ModelMinutes]

@@lpjmodels yeah, thought so. At least it makes it easier to spot the gatekeepers

[@lpjmodels]

@@ModelMinutes there's room for everyone in this hobby. Not a select elitist few.

[@ModelMinutes]

@@lpjmodels 100%

[@mtfgamma6257]

Gonna say, you could've kept it grey, there were some units of F-117's called the Grey Ghosts. Neat airframes.

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks for the info

[@GarudaHobby]

I think it was easy for you because you omitted to putty the joints of the wings with the fuselage and some areas of the fuselage need to close better and sand the joints, the paint could have been given a more realistic touch with gray paint effects, anyway it's nice the plane, greetings.

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks! Yes, i didn't bother to fill in those gaps so that others could spot them and identify areas that they could improve on if they chose to build the kit themselves

[@lawrencetimothylauzon6499]

What size of the masking tape of the f-117 including the nose camera

[@ModelMinutes]

No specific size, it was just cut to shape

[@foabmoab]

Its strange how few kits there are of the F-117, especially in recent years. Given how iconic an aircraft it is, you'd think there would be more. I thought the same for the A-10 until I spotted a new tool one from Hobbyboss(?), but before that they seemed to be rare as well. I've got an old 1/72 Airfix F-117 sitting on the shelf above me that very much shows my poor skills as a kid, hah.

[@ModelMinutes]

Perhaps model companies struggle to get licences to make them, and without access to certain information (as i imagine stuff about this aircraft is classified) it would be a "guess" on the designers part rather than a truly accurate model

[@Evan38018]

what model glue do you recommend and how do I get good at painting and applying decals?

[@ModelMinutes]

There are different glues depending on what you want to do - i normally use tamiya extra thin cement, but also precision glues for certain parts. As for painting and decals - take a look at more modelling videos and practice the techniques to find what works for you

[@hauptmann1391]

Despite otherwise a very good build, i can't unsee these huge gaps around the wings, on fuselage. Don't know if the ones on the wing-fuselage joint are supposed to be that too.

[@ModelMinutes]

it's a result of the "snap fit" design. I could have filled them in with putty or something but thought that for the purpose of review, best leave them so that others can see areas they would improve on if they were building the model

[@hauptmann1391]

@@ModelMinutes makes sense, but if it was me, i still would've tried to at least hide them. Anyways, keep up the good work!

[@theepicbirb7154]

I would love to see you try an airliner model kit from Eastern express! Amazing modelling!

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks for the suggestion

[@the_bigdaddy420]

could you show some cool ways to display these? I've ran out of room on my ceiling and the string is distracting and a whole bunch of other issues

[@ModelMinutes]

Good suggestion, I'll have to have a think about that

[@BobMuir100]

I really enjoyed this video many many aspects of which are helpful to me in both general learning (Newbie) and building kits. So thanks very much, one area that I didn’t understand was that the bombs overhung the bomb bay? Beautiful bombs by the way. The £20 didn’t seem too bad to me however I am still very unsure what to expect for my money so will accept the advice offered in the video and shall now be firm when negotiating!! Lol I would refer to this as a modern plane and therefore kit. Kindest Bob England

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks Bob! yes, I believe that when the bomb bay opens (on the real aircraft) the bombs are lowered and swung forwards on their racks before release. I'm guessing that it is to allow the munitions to fall free and possibly not be forced back up into the underside of the fuselage due to airflow - if they were to fall straight out of the bay. There are some videos online of munitions being dropped and then "bouncing" back up into the aircraft, but like I said, just a guess

[@SullysScaleModels]

Enjoyed this one dude! Wiredly I now actually feel like getting a F117 lol

[@ModelMinutes]

you should!

[@SullysScaleModels]

@@ModelMinutes I think I might!

[@neilhaas]

I like this model aircraft plane. Nice model stealth aircraft. 👍🤗😊😀😇🤩🇺🇲🇺🇸⭐🌟🌠

[@ModelMinutes]

Many thanks!

[@bossogg6915]

I totally agree with you about the cost, the fact that it's marked as a skill level 3 and is really an easy build model is a bit miss leading (shame on you Revell!).

[@ModelMinutes]

Revell's skill levels are nothing more of an indication of how many parts there are in the kit these days . . it doesn't really mean anything

[@julianmhall]

The copyright notice being outside is probably a relic of it originally being a snap together kit as novices probably aren't as exacting in detail as more experienced modellers who use glue. It's certainly /not/ a Level 3 kit in anyone's book, and that I think is misleading, and may have influenced the price. I'd say Level 1, about £7-£10 would be right.

[@ModelMinutes]

I've noticed quite a few of the older revell toolings have copyright stamps on outside components, not really sure why they thought it was a good idea

[@lucasfromgreenland3980]

How much Weight did you put on the nose?

[@ModelMinutes]

I used those coins, I don’t know how much they physically weigh 🤷‍♂️

[@lucasfromgreenland3980]

Do i have to put nose weight on the model?

[@ModelMinutes]

@@lucasfromgreenland3980 only if you want it to sit on its wheels properly

[@lucasfromgreenland3980]

@@ModelMinutes ok

[@stuartsteel1]

The Tamiya f-117 is a super kit, but it's not easy to get hold of. Trumpeter do a 1/32.

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks for the info!

[@warbirdgamer]

how come youndidnt use your airbrush

[@ModelMinutes]

I used my airbrush to apply the matt varnish near the end - but tbh, i didn't see much point in using my airbrush for the black and white when I had spray cans which would do the exact same job without requiring the cleanup that an airbrush needs between colours

[@Payne2view]

Its a fair review. That kit is not £20 worth. No 31 year old tooling should be £20. It needs some filler at the wing roots and the seat looks like it is by the US armchair company "LazyBoy". Having said that, it is a lot better than the only F-117 I've made, which was just when they were being made public and had very wrong air intake areas, which looked like a garden trellace, rather than a grill mesh.

[@ModelMinutes]

Yeah, there are a few models out there which are based on "prototype" drawings and things which are wildly different to the actual vehicle :P

[@b.vhidalgo4817]

Couldn't agree more. The clear parts are not well designed and there is a little gap once installed. I would like to assemble a Hasegawa or Tamiya Nighthawk in the future

[@Payne2view]

@@b.vhidalgo4817 I'd be definately squeezing some PVA gule into those window gaps.

[@lpjmodels]

Great build man, shame about the decals !

[@ModelMinutes]

Thanks! Yeah, I think the base layer wasn’t as smooth as I thought it was 😂

[@mikefm4]

This is great! My favorite aircraft being built by a very talented model maker. 🙂🍿

[@ModelMinutes]

thanks very much :)

[@Maxtherocketguy]

Where is your airbrush

[@Maxtherocketguy]

For the black part

[@ModelMinutes]

I dont have to use an airbrush all the time lol

[@Maxtherocketguy]

@@ModelMinutes yes but it will look way better if you do black primer white preshading and a thin coat of black w airbrush it is more reslistic

[@ModelMinutes]

@@Maxtherocketguy maybe next time I’ll try something like that

[@twophan]

I recently bought this kit after feeling nostalgic. I have been building Gundams recently and wanted to see if I learned anything since then. I was shocked at the amount of flash and damage and the copyright text on the exterior and how dated the kit was. I hate that the kit is also misaligned. It feels really phoned in by Revell.

[@ModelMinutes]

yes, it isn't the best model out there

[@fenomen1376]

nice toy but the prices are increasing day by day so i don't make the scales less than 60 cm minimum..

[@ModelMinutes]

fair enough

[@adamg4336]

Just about to finish mine very soon. It's an easy kit but the quality of the parts and the fitting is extremely poor.

[@ModelMinutes]

yeah, it isn't the best kit in the world

[@yorkshiremanmodels]

gotta agree its not worth £20 its a poor model pushed into a nice new box with new decals and revell could have made a new tooled version instead of a old snap together kit also airfix make some very nice snap together kits that are easy to build and look very good once finished nice build and i think your right with the decals silvering due to no gloss coat looking forward to your next build

[@ModelMinutes]

Yeah, the black spray paint looked more glossy than matt, but i guess it wasn't enough so I'll have to remember that for next time :)

[@christopher5723]

I'd feel ripped off paying much more than $10 for that.

[@ModelMinutes]

agreed

[@dwightgouin3889]

Great video and no I will not buy this kit as I don't see any challenge as Revell wants to hold your hand and if it was a new tooling then I would think about buying one as I would see where I can buy it cheaper than $20 as it's not even a weekend kit. Just a few days. Not worth the money sorry.

[@ModelMinutes]

I agree, it's not worth the price tag

[@tylergehring7879]

Its easy because its boxy as hell

[@ModelMinutes]

yeah boi

[@AlmirTaranis]

I have watched you building better than this 😑

[@ModelMinutes]

this was a quick build of a simple kit - my aim was to highlight how simple this model is and how few steps are required to get it finished as per the instructions. Also, I did build this kit over a year ago now so i've probably learnt a thing or two since then