Hey all,

I recently decided to build my first jet model and went with the YF-23. The YF-23 was designed by Northrop/McDonnell Douglas when the USAF began looking for a replacement for its fighter aircraft.

The USAF chose proposals from two companies Northrop and Lockheed. Northrop teamed with McDonnell Douglas to develop the YF-23, while Lockheed, Boeing, and General Dynamics developed the YF-22.

Ultimately the YF-22 was announced the winner and entered production as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

The box included a set of theoretical decals, and not what was actually used on the two test planes (PAV1/PAV2). To remedy this, I purchased a decal set from Caracal Models.

The cockpit came together fine and seemed to reflect from what I could tell the actual cockpit of the PAV1/PAV2

Cheers!

Great entry and ditto start, Keith @greenterrorz
That cockpit does look amazing.

Over the past week, I was able to get the hull together and the wings attached. This kits fit leaves much to be desired as apparent from the pictures below.

To remedy the large gaps, I utilized both Vallejo white putty as well as Tamiya grey putty. Afterwards, I masked the canopy and other areas I did not want over spray to get on.

Cheers!

That definitely needs some attention, Keith @greenterrorz
For sure you will tackle that with your skills.

Personally Keith, I think it looks perfect as is, and remember that a clear-coat (should you choose) will tone down the variation yet. Also, keep in mind that the YF-23 at the AFM is a restoration and has been repainted, then primarily kept inside. There are many photos of the restoration, but .ore relevant, look up photos of it in flight trials and you'll see it was far from mono-tonal.

The "fun" part will be reproducing the ceramic tiles around the exhausts. 😉 the Caracal sheet includes the intake tiles, so at least those are nothing to worry about.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

Looking perfect from here as well Keitz @greenterrorz
Nice paint work.

Thanks for the feedback @johnb, @fiveten.

@gblair - I was also surprised how large it was once I cracked the box open. It dwarfs the WW2 planes I have completed.

@pb_legend - The ceramic tiles are not totally accurate as you'll see in the below photos. HobbyBoss decided to make the tiles rectangular versus square. I could have used my scribing tool to change that specific detail, but had already gotten too much work on it done before realizing the discrepancy. I will end up changing the color of each individual tile with oil paints towards the end of the build. The area surrounding the tiles will also be painted with Alclad II Dark Aluminum.

Last night I was able to get the bottom painted (no pictures as of yet)

This morning I attached the landing gear and coated the top with Alclad Aqua Gloss in preparation of applying decals follow by a wash.

Cheers

Very nice progress, Keith @greenterrorz