Airfix 1/72 YF-22 Lightning II

AIRFIX 1:72 YF-22 LIGHTNING II

Reviewer: Myself (smakr@bigpond.com)
Kit Review Built and submitted: January 2000

Aircraft:
The YF-22 was the winning contender design for the 1981 Advance Tactical Fighter (ATF) requirement. It is intended to provide the USAF with a replacement for the F-15 Eagle and will enter service as the F-22 Raptor in the next few years. The YF-22 competed against the larger and arguably more attractive McDonnell Douglas/Northrop YF-23 design and once it was determined that the F-15 and F-16 could fulfil low-level tactical roles for many years to come the conventional YF-22 was given the nod as the ATF in the air-superiority role. The YF-22 incorporates stealth technology involving the use of radar absorbent materials and faceted surfaces for the external airframe. The ATF also required a sustainable speed of at least Mach 1.5 without the use of afterburners which the YF-22 is reputed to fulfil 'easily'. Two YF-22A demonstration aircraft were built incorporating the latest technology in avionics systems, including fly-by-wire systems and advanced cockpit displays. For weapons the aircraft is reputed to be able to carry up to 8 air-to-air missiles in an internal missile bay.

The Kit:
The kit comes in rather a large box for a fighter aircraft and all the sprues - as usual with Airfix - are loose inside, allowing parts to become detached easily and the canopy to get scratched, and mine was scratched a little. There are 48 light grey injection molded parts with raised panel lines and etched control surfaces on four sprues. The plastic is crisp but could also be considered a little brittle. The box contains some information on the kit such as dimensions and the Humbrol paint numbers used to complete the project.

Instructions:
This comes in the form of an 8-page A4 sized booklet packed with info and assembly diagrams. A short history is provided in about a dozen different languages, symbols for assembly then half a dozen assembly steps that are in the usual Airfix "adequate" standard but with a few ambigous points on positioning. Two full pages are then devoted to four-view colour and marking diagrams for the two demonstration aircraft. Painting for individual parts and overall external schemes are quoted in Humbrol numbers only. A cross-reference chart (see the reference section on my web site) will need to be consulted if you use another paint's range.

Construction:
Firstly be wary of removing parts from the sprue, the soft plastic will gouge easily.

The cockpit is comprised of a realistic looking two-piece ejection seat, thankfully the alignment pins help with affixing the halves together, a tub with sidewall panels (no detail) and molded rudder pedals, and main instrument panel with colour decal to be applied as the console. The bonus is a throttle and joystick supplied in the kit to be attached to the sidewall. Interior was given a very dark grey wash with black panels, olive drab seat cover and painted on harness in brass. The cockpit tub is then placed in the upper fuselage half - from the outside (if that makes sense) - and I strongly recommend dry fit testing this as the area needs a touch clean up. A small clear piece is provided as the HUD to be attached to the upper dashboard but I felt it was located a little too forward. The canopy can also be fitted at this point but I chose to leave mine off til later (a 'good' habit of mine).

Fuselage halves are split horizontally and in the bottom half you go to work to construct the air intakes and rear exhaust assembly. Be a bit careful, because the plastic in the bottom half is quite flimsy where the cockpit would meet the main body (best described as the "neck" area) and care should to be taken to ensure you don't bend or otherwise warp it. The intakes were quite problematic and did not fit very well, the instructions would make you believe that the alignment holes/pins will ease the process, they don't. There is hardly anything of them and are not really worth it, so you are probably best advised to shave off the pins and butt-join the components, as I did with better results. Filler was needed on the port intake where it meets the outer fuselage. The interior backing bulkhead (ie: the back wall) also was a poor fit and more filler was required (thankfully not really noticeable). The engine nozzles and exhausts are placed in the bottom fuselage half and the instructions are of little assistance in relation to positioning of the parts both to each other and to the aircraft. You really have to dry fit test the parts using all different combinations so you can determine the way it's supposed to be affixed. On the rear of the exhaust nozzles (part 20) there are two small slits, but one is larger than the other and the instructions indicates the larger is at the bottom. This is correct, as dry fitting the other way around will show a slight misalignment. On the exhaust tubes (parts 42) which are affixed to the back of the nozzles, one side is slightly 'slantier' than the other, this side goes on the bottom (repeat - dry fit test first!). Fuselage halves went together well but needed careful positioning.

Wings are horizontally split and go together very well. They are affixed to the fuselage via a large gap in the side with alignment tab to go into. This resulted in a nasty gap on both sides which required liberal amounts of filler and subsequent sanding. In fact, I needed a couple of goes to smooth it out correctly. Likewise tailplanes, they did have a better fit but the rear left gaps requiring putty. The Dorsal fins are butt-joined to the top of fuselage and they are not molded in a way to be slanted correctly. You need to have a front view of the aircraft in front of you so you can get the correct lean. Be very careful, it is extremely easy to have one side leaning more than the other. Hasegawa - where are you?!

Undercarriage went together well and testing it to being affixed under the aircraft revealed no real problems although they are little basic and inaccurate compared to reference photos. For those who build wheels up models - forget it! These are officially the worst fitting gear doors I have encountered on an Airfix kit!! They are absolute shockers. I trimmed them and filed them down so they at least fitted with some semblance over the bay. Then I used plenty of filler and started some forceful filing and sanding to try and blend the doors into the aircraft's body and after a lot of work I succeeded. However, the port side has a very small but noticeable 'bump' - I will have to convince the aircraft novices that's it is a fairing of some sort ;)

After taking one look at the nose pitot tube I thought better of attaching it until the last possible moment. The small antenna that are on the upper and lower parts of the pitot tube look as if they will break if you so much as breathe on them, a slight touch and I managed to snap one off, so be wary. But it looks good if you succeed.

Versions & Decals:
The kit allows for either the first or second demonstration aircraft to be reproduced in identical Light Grey/Dark Grey overall scheme. Register of the decal sheet is excellent in most parts with only the small insignia badges a bit blurry, most likely as a result of having to be reproduced in this scale. There's a fair bit of stencilling provided and the two prototype demonstration aircraft are catered for ostensibly. The decals were thin, in satin finish and conformed to the surface very well with decalfix. Only the slight blurriness and a little bit of bleed through on a couple of the insignias were a let down, otherwise very nice. In comparing to reference photos of the second demonstration aircraft that I chose to build I could not determine whether the stencilling etc was incorrect other than the absence of the pilot name under the canopy (see picture below).

Airfix suggest that the distinctive light and dark grey scheme is matched by Humbrol paint numbers 125 Dark Grey and 126 US Medium Grey. These are good matches (and also correspond with Hasegawa instructions on painting the same scheme on an F-16) but I have seen other reliable modelling sources state that correct matches are FS 36251 (light) and FS 36176 (Dark). Since Humbrol have nothing to match these or offer suggestions for a paint mix, I stuck with the suggested scheme which looks realistic.

Accuracy:
Airfix have reproduced a convincing replica of the YF-22 and is fairly spot on in most profile departments (especially the canopy) although is lacking in external detail. Quotations on length have me a touch confused, whether these include the nose pitot tube, since if they do then the model is about 3cm overscale in model form I feel it can't be, because without the probe the model is spot on, and span is also spot on, and the model certainly doesn't look out of proportion!

Overall:
A bit of a frustrating build at times and definitely not shake the box and out comes the kit type of project in any modeller's language. I'd say it is still comfortably within the scopes of intermediate skill and up. With patience and perseverance one is rewarded with quite a decent replica of the YF-22 Lightning II. The more advanced modeller will be required to put in the extra effort to rescribe panel lines and it is also better suited as a wheels down model due to the shockingly poor fit of the gear doors. But overall I would still recommend this kit and it is one of the better offerings on the market.

Related Reviews:-

Photo Credit: Assume USAF?

This is the first Demonstration aircraft, one which is replicated by the kit. One noteable discrepancy is the absence of pilot name under the canopy in the photo above (the kit says to put it here), although the light on the photo may restrict one from seeing it, check other reference sources.

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