1/72 Revell YF-22

This kit is the old Revell YF-22 kit that was issued around the time that the YF-22 and YF-23 were undergoing testing in the USAF's ATF competition.   The model is Copyright 1993 to Revell, and is kit number 4461.  It is a basic injection molded kit in light grey, with a clear canopy and waterslide-type decals.  The HUD is molded into the canopy, and needs to be painted to give the effect of being a separate piece.  There aren't many goodies in this kit: no photoetched parts or colour molding grace this relatively inexpensive model.

This particular aircraft is the lesser-seen and known Serial No. N22YX,  powered by the PW YF-119s which won the engine portion of the competition.  This aircraft is NOT the one at the USAF Museum in Dayton.  However, -YX was the aircraft that went into oscillations during a low pass at Edwards AFB in April 1992 and proceeded to slide 8000 feet along the runway.  The airplane did not return to the air, and was used to test aerial placement for the F-22A (Courtesy World Air Power Journal).

As a kit, there is very little complicated about this offering from Revell.  As is typical with most American airplane kits, there is not a very large part count. Part of this is because when the kit was made, a lot of the details about the YF-22 were not available.  The instructions are clear and easy to follow, as is the painting guide.  The order of assembly is also quite simple, and there aren't a lot of parts that need to be masked off.

There is some cockpit detail, but not much, and the canopy cannot be built in the open position.  This is the most irksome part of the kit, because the canopy does come molded in a neat goldy-greenish shade that is supposed to represent the anti-radiation coating, and it would have been nice to have it open and look in.  However, it simply snaps on to the kit with two prongs, similar in execution to the way G.I. Joe toys of the 1980s were constructed.

All the major subassemblies fit together surprisingly well, and the sanding that has to be done occurs mostly along the edges of the fuselage, where the angle changes.  The kit comes with two open weapons bays: an AIM-9 bay on the port side and an AIM-120 bay on the starboard side of the belly.  Each bay comes with an extended launch rail and a missile.  Detail inside the bays and on the rails is low, and the actual configuration is incorrect, again because of the then-secret nature of these details.

None of the control surfaces or engine vectoring nozzles move, so 'posing' this aircraft is more or less out of the question.  The decals included in the kit are, for the most part, quite good, although the clear backing shows through quite a bit.  I should have used some decal sealer for this, I think.  Surface detail is minimal because of the stealth nature of the plane, but what's there is good. I painted the kit using Testors Model Master Acrylics, the light part being Light Ghost Grey and the dark being Gunship Grey.  Flat white was used for the bays, although it was gloss coated to protect against yellowing (which didn't really seem to help).  No putty was needed for the kit, amazingly.  Overall, the kit is an excellent one for beginners, and was a good deal for the peanuts I paid for it ($3.00 US 6 years ago).  As with most of my kits, it was built straight out of the box with no aftermarket decals or parts.