F-23A photo recon version

[DogfighterZen]

I don't know if you wanted to make the intakes like the EMD F-23's would've been cause those are a bit different from what i saw in drawings.
When i get to it, i'm gonna be guiding my build by these:

https://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/2/0/7/3/1/2/a5110130-174-F-23A%20EMD%20dwg%201023.gif

[kerick]

That drawing is gorgeous! All I had was the art work from that article. The angles the aircraft was postitioned in made it hard to see the intake shape. This drawing really helps. I'll see if I want to redo what I have. I already see I need to change what I was going to use for the shock cone. Easy enough right now.

[DogfighterZen]

Glad to be of assistance! If you want, just google EMD F-23 and a few other images come up with these plans. 

[kerick]

Some more progress! Let the PSR begin in full force!

[DogfighterZen]

Looking good!

[scooter]

Drop tanks for cones?

[kerick]

Oh yes. Some old parts from an F-16 from way back when. Good thing plastic doesn't rot away or these would have been long gone.

[jalles]

This is looking excellent, I can't wait to see how the fuselage stretch turns out. 

[kerick]

I sanded down the Bondo Putty and added a layer of Perfect Plastic Putty to fill minor imperfections. Not much to show for now, just lots of dust. For the fuselage section I'm going to try covering as much as possible with sheet plastic to cut down on PSR. I'm considering cutting out the flaps, ailerons and slats and re-positioning them. I've found some pics of YF-23s on the ground with these surfaces dropped.
Thanks for the encouraging comments!

[kerick]

More cutting and more PSR!





Glued the two halves together and cut out the control surfaces. The joint between the surfaces and the wing looks really tight in pics I've seen. No hinges or spaces to be seen. Makes sense in a stealth aircraft. It will make my job easier cleaning it up and gluing them back on.

A little putty where I cut too far.





Exhaust is painted a metallic black for now. I'm going to try making some decals to make the surfaces look like this.....

yf-23_13_of_51

Also on the decal sheet will be different color shapes to represent different antenna etc.

[kerick]

A little more progress.



Planking the gap.



Back to looking like an aircraft again!

[NARSES2]

Impressive amount of work going on 

[kerick]

I have to work on closing up the underside today. That's mostly flat so less planking.

[zenrat]

...yf-23_13_of_51...

I presume those are thermal tiles similar to what were on the shuttle.

[Captain Canada]

Looking good so far, and you're sure putting a lot of work into her eh ? Great what-if article as well. Love the comparison sizewise with the original p-61