Northrop RF-23A stealth recon

[kerick]

I just joined this fascinating forum and I decided to throw in my latest project. Its not related to any movie or such, just an idea I've had rolling around in my head for a while now. Once the USAF, in all its wisdom, retired the SR-71 I've thought about what could come close to its capability. While the YF-23 lost out to the F-22 to become the stealth fighter what if the YF-23 was redesigned to fly higher and faster? I started with the Italeri 1/72nd scale kit. I lengthened the fuselage to include some super secret, high speed recon gear and rebuilt the inlets to a shape described in this article.

This Is What A Northrop F-23A Would've Looked Like If It Had Beaten Lockheed's F-22

Many argue that the YF-23 should have been selected over the YF-22 and these exclusive renderings show what a production F-23 would have looked like.

www.thedrive.com

I've finally gotten the the primer paint stage so here's a pic.

I don't know why this is coming in sideways but you get the idea.
I also dropped the leading edge flaps, trailing edge flaps and the ailerons. The engine exhausts were improved also.

I also made the sensor port patterned after the F-35.

That's where I'm at so far. Ready for some serious painting but I just can't decide on a color scheme. All black like the SR-71 or two tone grey? What do you all think?

 

[DiggsBarklightr]

Definitely the SR-71 way, but it isn’t black, it’s a very dark blue. If you can pull that color off it will look killer. Nice build!

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Excellent start. I love me the Black Widow II, and that's an excellent role for it.

I don't like the F-22 at all, even though I understand why it was chosen. But I am tackling a massive conversion to build a conjectural Navy version (that saw life as the Gen2 Decepticon Hooligan):

This as successor to my beloved Tomcat, while Northrop Grumman took over for Lockheed with the high-speed, high-altitude recon plane you're doing (and I'm going to have to now, too, darn your eyes) is such a lovely counterpoint...

 

[kerick]

The swing wing stealth fighter is awesome looking! Go for it!
I’m going to make some decals with red lettering and a red hourglass for the underside if I go the SR-71 style.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Definitely the SR-71 way, but it isn’t black, it’s a very dark blue. If you can pull that color off it will look killer. Nice build!

Dark enough it might as well be black... I saw it pretty dang close and it did not look blue to me, even though I know it is. Technically.

 

[kerick]

I've heard the info about the super dark blue color before. I'm sure its correct but like you say, you can't tell the difference when you look at it. The idea of dark blue but not black sounds interesting. A person on a different website suggested using a dark color on the underside and a lighter color on the top as at high altitude the sky above is nearly black and below is much lighter, perhaps even white if you are over clouds. It would be the reverse of the usual arrangement. The SR-71 was all "black" not for camouflage but to shed heat at high Mach numbers.

 

[Analyzer]

Very cool!

Looking forward to how this turns out

 

[yuumi2891103]

Welcome, Ken-san
Looking very nice so far.

Gentlemen, this gentleman is a newcomer here but he has a great experience and inspiration about original model building.
I bet you will like his work.

Katsu

 

[kerick]

I'm working on a couple of under wing fuel tanks. I might try to make them a stealth shape instead of just round.

 

[yuumi2891103]

Good idea. I saw the pics of stealth bomb shell before. Something like that?

 

[thegnome]

Awesome beginnings!

 

[kerick]

This is the AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface Stand off Missile. I'll make the shape something like it.

 

[yuumi2891103]

Nice!!

 

[thegnome]

I like the plans a lot

 

[kerick]

Thanks for the kind words everyone!
Anyone have any ideas on how to mix colors to get a very dark blue other than just adding black? I stink at colors, just ask my wife. I'm thinking dark blue plus black with a little red.

 

[yuumi2891103]

I guess blue and little black and a few drip of white would be OK but try test paint.

 

[Duncanator]

I always thought the YF-23 was a much sexier design than the 22. I was really bummed when it didn't get the government contract.

I'm glad to see you resurrecting that design for another use.

 

[kerick]

I saw something about an FB-23 while searching for something else. Might be something to look into.
Katsu, I will have to test several different mixtures to get something the way I want it. I just have to remember to write it down in case I have to mix more!

 

[kerick]

Thunderstorms in the area today so no out door projects to distract me. I'm going to try building the stealth fuel tanks today.

 

[Analyzer]

Thanks for the kind words everyone!
Anyone have any ideas on how to mix colors to get a very dark blue other than just adding black? I stink at colors, just ask my wife. I'm thinking dark blue plus black with a little red.

You can mix some orange with your blue to get a darker blue, or you can also mix in purple

3 Ways to Mix Colors to Make Dark Blue - wikiHow

Creating a darker shade of blue can be achieved by simply mixing your current blue with another color. Learning to mix your colors will greatly expand the options you will have at your fingertips for any project. There are several colors...

www.wikihow.com

this demonstrates using "complimentary" colors )orange) as well as "analogous" (purple) colors to get dark blue

You can also try varying the recipe for "chromatic" black that shifts more towards blue. This is very useful when painting "black" so you can get a "highlight" color for an actual black base

How to Make Black by Mixing Colors: 5 Easy Methods

Whether you're using acrylics, oils, or watercolors, this guide's for youWhether you're painting the night sky, a dark shadow cast across a surface, or your portrait subject's pupils, sometimes you just need black paint. But what if you...

m.wikihow.com