Aires

1/72 F-117 Nighthawk Cockpit set For the Academy Kit

Stock Number: 7229

Reviewed By  Mike Hinderliter, IPMS# 45124

MSRP: $17.95 Website: www.aires.cz Aires now offers a resin cockpit set for the Academy F-117A Nighthawk. This set has very well detailed resin pieces as well as a small photo etch set. They are molded in the standard Aires grey resin and are flash and bubble free. They also include a 3 page, blue paper diagram, which is also a real help. I chose to use Academy kit #2107 "The Ghost of Baghdad" that features Col. Al Whitelys' plane # 813 "Toxic Avenger" from the 37th TFW. The resin pieces include a cockpit tub, ejection seat, control console and, the hydraulic lifts to hold the canopy in the open position. This last part is especially welcome because the kit doesn't come with the lifts and the model only shows it with a closed cockpit, and you really want to show this detail off! The photo etch is also exceptionally good, It comes with everything else you will need to detail this small work of art. I was checking some photos of Nighthawks and saw that the HUD that Aires has done is identical to the photos. Also not to be forgotten, there is a small acetate sheet for the gauges and the HUD. It appears that this set was very well researched. Putting this cockpit in is not to be taken lightly. As with most after market cockpits, if you want great detail then you are going to have to take your time to cut and test fit until it fits in just right. There is a lot that needs to be removed from the kit cockpit area. I recommend doing this with the tub well before you try to start working on the cockpit. Aires does provide a drawing that shows what needs to be removed. I painted the cockpit tub and associated parts with Vallejo black and dry brushed the detail with silver and some white to bring it out and then added some red and white on some of the controls. To break up the amount of black I painted the CRT screens with Model Master RAF Sky. After this is all done and fitted into the top of the fuselage half I had to check the fit again. This aircraft needs to have weight in the front half of the fuselage because it has a tricycle type wheel configuration and still have room for the cockpit tub. I thinned down the forward wheel well and some more of the resin cockpit tub until I finally got a really nice fit. After that I could see a little bit of light on the sides of the upper tub and forward of the control console. This was fixed with some Squadron green putty applied from the underside of the top fuselage. Painted it with a little flat black to blend it in and then put the halves together. Finally when the model was all complete, landing gear, doors, tails, I finally added the pieces that would get knocked off such as the HUD and hydraulic lifts. All in all I really enjoyed building this cockpit because it could be a model all by itself and really adds a high level of detail to an otherwise plain black aircraft. I highly recommend this set and remind you that this is not for the beginner because of all the cutting and fitting especially in this small scale. It took me a lot longer to do than the rest of the kit and was well worth the time and effort. Many thanks to Aires and IPMS USA for the opportunity to build this set. Keep up the great work, Aires.