If they had built it instead, today we'd be admiring the YF-22 you just made!

Amazing job. I always liked the YF-23 more than the YF-22. It just had a more futuristic look that I found appealing.

It’s hard to believe that both the YF-23 and YF-22 (now F-22) began their lives as concepts IN THE 80’s! Great build once again. Can’t wait for the Bismarck!

I admire very much your attention to all the little details when your building the kits. When i were a lad i was an avid model builder mainly Airfix kits always loved making them from armoured vehicles to aircraft and ships. Unfortunately i never had the artistic bent one needs to decorate the kits, only basic paint jobs. That's why nowadays i get so much pleasure from watching you complete a kit. Thanks for Posting all your Videos.

Enjoyed the build. Always enjoy the facts you add during construction. Thanks for sharing!

You make it look easy,like your information that is fact based and very nice to hear about the aircraft you are building.Great work and nice build.

Great to see the effects of black primer and white marbling. Every time again very useful vids!

your painting technique works really well for this big aircraft.

Thanks for the vid, its been a long time comin'. I have 2 of this kit wanting to do both aircraft, but like other kits of this jet, the decals are in complete! Just now ordered a set from caracalmodels! Thanks again!

I really like your videos. Gives me a lot of inspiration! They're also very pedagogical and I've learnt a lot of useful techniques from you. Keep it up!

Your videos are the best ones I have ever seen. I’m just starting to get back into modeling and your videos are a great help!!!

Great work.Fantastic painting technique. Congratulations!

Why am I not surprised? Stunning work as usual!!!

Stunning build. I like that the decal manufactures had what if's in mind.

Excellent build and I learned some stuff too, thank you! Love the drum practice pad stand.

Super nice build, that YF23 is a great looking aircraft, thanks for sharing!...Bill

Relaxing to watch and super-informative as always. Thanks.

Yes, finally! So happy that you built this rather unknown subject max, thanks

I was in the Air Guard when the YF-22 and YF-23 were having their fly off. I still remember having this strong connection with the YF-23. I was sure it would be the winner, it seemed so much more futuristic. Few people understand why the YF-23 sacrificed something as cool as thrust vectoring for a big improvement in infrared stealth, but for real-world uses I'm not sure we're better off with the F-22. In a nutshell, the F-23 was about stealth and the F-22 was about maneuverability (they can both fly at speeds that negate their max turning ability.) The F-22 looks great at an air show, I'm just not convinced it's going to be able to do a tail stand in combat.

Stellar build! My first time seeing a build of this unconventional subject.

Simply amazing!! Been a fan of your work sir.

I just got this kit, I am really suprised for 1/48th scale kit this looks huge. As big as my 1/48 flanker but for some reason it looks even bigger than what it actually is! :D Amazing build as always!

HI Max , this is such a beautiful plane ,and a massive one in 1:48 . the looks of it grow on you ...........aaaah well . Wales Uk

Great work with the paint job!

Thanks for posting your build of this kit and the music. I will be trying to find this kit.

That is excellent work, really fascinating to watch.

I just got this kit, glad to see it on your channel!

Very nice piece of work you built there! Quite the aircraft!

So therapeutic, an absolute joy to watch with my favorite plane! Noticed the ceramic tiles on the engines exhausts weren't charcoal grey/black enough and the flaps need to be recessed in.. Apart from that this is perfection! Subbed!!!

Absolutely awesome. I guess I'll be watching this before bed. Glad I checked my sub feed! ❤

Superb! Great build of an unusual subject.

I would love to see you do a B-52 or maybe a B-1 lancer

Man I’ve never clicked so fast...and I’ve never smiled so fast. Great vid.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been playing Ace Combat 7 and my phone is always listening to what’s happening or what, but this popped up in my KZfaq feed and you’ve got a new subscriber. I remember when the fly off was happening my high school friends and I were watched with eagerness to see which would be picked. We debated the pros and cons of each design as only teenagers could. Since I was in GA the Raptor was heavily favored, but looking back this one is just so aesthetically pleasing. I’m looking forward to going through your video catalog.

Great build,my friend!

That is one of my all time favourite aircraft for sure. I built Dragons 1/72 kit a while back and I Will definately build it again. As usual, a very informative video and a beautiful build.

I love the YF-23 blackwidow tbh the YF-23 looks more advanced than the actual F-22

Beautiful Work!

Super cool! Always liked the YF23! This video turned up in my recommendations, so I thought I'd come over and check it out. Liked what I saw and subbed! Lots of cool stuff!

Have always loved the looks of these airplanes. I saw this model in my local shop, I think next time I am there and have the money I will pick it up.

I love this plane and have been fortunate enough to see both prototypes. One is at the USAF Museum in Dayton Ohio, the other at the Western Museum of Flight in Torrance CA. I believe it is the most gorgeous plane ever made along with the SR-71 and Me262.

Great video I made my son watch it to get some pointers. Great Job!

I like the way scrapping the paint on the cockpit panels.

Beautiful job on the most beautiful fighter since the Spitfire.

Beautiful job. I am inspired to try one myself. It'll never look as good as this but I think the YF-23 is a beautiful aircraft.

Hi buddy , how are you all ? Wow, yet another masterpiece !! The video is excellent, full of info again too ! I saw this kit and I think a couple of weird Ruskie Yaks too that Hobbyboss do !! Looking forward to your next masterpiece !! Oh wow it's the Bismarck !! Another one of my kits I'd love to get !! I have two floaty things in the stash and want to do one this year !!! Anyway, stay safe my friend

No wonder people were asking for it, it's one beautiful aircraft :) I have one on the shelf as well, it's a 1:72 Italeri, since it is my scale. Built many years ago, when the actual ATF competition was still on. BTW, the main gear is very prone to breaking, because of its unusual configuration. I fixed mine by replacing whole section of it with one made from steel wire and shaped with putty.

Some argue that this aircraft actually won the competition with the YF-22. One of my fav prototypes. Great vid.

I've never really been into modeling before, even though as a youngster I did try a few, however you are bringing out the kid and adult out in me as I was hardly ever allowed because of money issues to get the cool toys other kids were being able to have...I'm watching with a big strong vodka and OJ in my hand and flying around my new Millennium Falcon complete with sound effects and laser cannon sounds...lol

nice work!

Beautifully made example of a beautiful aircraft.

Nice looking build mate.

This is my favourite fighter!!

I love your videos. Thank you sir!

This is such a beautiful aircraft...What a shame it was never put into production.

If only there were a 72nd scale version of this! Then there would be one for me!

hi tom, thanks for another clear concise build. luv your work. question, what filler did you use on yf-23, and what did you use to swab away excess filler ? looking forward to another of your builds..

As the real airplane, your kit is a pure beauty.

Hello Watching your videos. I really like your technique. Very beautiful models turn out.

Master Model Builder looks real.

great job man, videos always very interesting even under the historical profile, sorry for my english ..

very nice model!

Love this plane, any plans for a forward swept wing aircraft like the X29 or Su47?.

Great work. Sad it never went into production.

awesome model mate looking Ford two seeing the Bismarck

I love the sinister look of this fighting machine. It’s my favorite.

Great model! Perhaps a mirrored stand so you can see the bottom details?

I enjoy your videos. I remember when this aircraft was up against the F-22 for contracts . I wanted the YF-23 to win just because I liked the look. I wonder if it would have been as good as the F-22 turned out to be. Ha...now I'm going to search for "RC YF-23" Thanks.

For the next project, i would suggest the Hasegawa 1/48 F-16F Bloc 60 because there are not many videos or reviews around

Got this kit in my stash too

👏👏👏👏👏👍👍 excelente trabajo.

Just got the HobbyBoss YF23 & the Hasegawa's F-22 kits for my ‘winter quarantine’ entertainment. That is how I just discovered your videos - Thank you for sharing the tips for kit assembly and painting! Also saw plenty of misguided but rather predictable arm-chair comments about these two 5th generation planes in your comment section, and thought of contributing my proverbial two cents: Firstly, some still find YF23 shape more advanced. Well, a “distributed fuselage” design was not novel in 1980’s, as both Russian SU-27 and MiG 29 families of aircraft separated cabin pod and engine pods that are held together by a wing ‘cartilage’… Having said that, a traditional fuselage of F22 harks back much further - to the very beginnings of aviation, so, indeed, it could be argued that the overall 4th gen shape of YF23 was more novel than YF22 design… Also, it is important to remember that YF-22 and F-22 are two VERY different aircraft! - For starters, all of the proportions in the F22 has changed during the design development phase - the fuselage length and shape, position and shape of cabin & its faring, wings location and their overall shape in both plan and section, tails location, their canting geometry and their overall shape, as well as position of engines within the plane. Thinking of it, I actually do not know what was kept unchanged from YF22! In the end, F-22 ended up absorbing “lessons learned” from the entire ATF program, i.e. some little ideas from YF23 percolated down to an F22 as well! So, while a comparison between an YF23 & an YF22 is apt, it is not really possible to compare an under-cooked ‘concept-plane’ YF23 to a fully developed serial-production F22. Now, it would be great to see a comparison of finished 1/48 models of YF22 and F22 side-by-side, to observe the differences, so, perhaps you’d consider tackling a YF22 as your next project?? Keep up the good work! Cheers!

of course this is just my opinion without facts to base it upon but i believe that this plane would have been a force to reckon with. as always you do great work. thanks for posting!

Great Video!!! I'll be honest, as far as my particular tastes go, airplanes peaked in 1943-44 ish lol and the further we get from there the less I care. This is no slight to the engineering, performance, etc.., Just what gets me going. So, the fact that you took this flying bowl of grey nachos and made a video I enjoyed IMMENSELY is a credit to you, sir. I learned a lot, both about the plane and from your techniques, and as always, watched it a couple of times with a huge smile on my face. As an aside, I've heard that the ATF winner was a largely financial/political decision, and have read opinions from people who flew these planes that if it was up to a pilot, it would be the YF-23. That's second hand internet knowledge though, so take it with a pinch of salt, it's not my area of expertise by a long shot. I love what you achieved with this paint job, btw - and the just right weathering. Kudos.

Nice one, Max :D

One of your comets about how fast it went is the same as the TSR2 it out paced a English Electric Lightning, The TSR 2 had reheat only on one engine the lightning had both on. Again a plane that should have gone into service.

Wonderful model , yes , What If ????? so futuristic Wales UK.

Hey Max can you perhaps go into a bit of detail on how you cleanup glue residue that happens during the build process. I use the tamiya extra thin cement myself and sometime's it leaks out of a crack and gets on your finger and boom there goes a fingerprint. I also run into a problem when doing decals with micro set/sol that leaves almost like a water stain after the decals dry. I haven't found a way to get rid of the spots that micro set leaves.

The better plane didn't win. YF -23 was always my favorite. Built the Collect Aire kit about 16 years ago.(resin, and company out of business). If the top and bottom fuselage pieces had fit, it would have been a better kit. Bubbles and resin blotches in many places also(leading /trailing edges positionable) Looked forward to this kit since it is so much less labor intensive, but the detail on this kit is actually lacking compared to the Collect Air kit, other than the gear bays.

Hey Max_afterburner, I love your content, very informative and educational, something I feel we are losing with these models. One question though, I am in the middle of building the yf-23, but don’t want to use the provided decals, I can’t find anywhere that has the the Caracal 48048, wondering if you know someone w/ extra copies. Thanks for the vids!

I saw an actual YF-23 and let me tell you the engines are so fricking big I could just crawl inside and live there it’s like a cave

U can get the full view of the f23a on some sites. That's the one I'll get. Been building this for 30yrs. now

That bird is special.

Hopefully, you'll do also a JASDF F-15J, AH-1S, AH-64D or Su-57 as your next project

Do you thin the tamiya flat clear? I just picked up a bottle and have yet to use it. Also excellent build as always!

I like your models and your videos are well edited! Can i ask how many P.S.I do you use to paint with the air brush? I think i use too much pressure =\

Stunning aircraft. Can I ask about how long such a build takes you? Thanks!

Nicely done again Max, GJ. What happened to the A-6? PS: do you also get rough surfaces when spraying paint with your Iwata? Mine turns out that way and I have to polish my planes after painting n before the varnish :-/

Just subbed, nice channel looking and doing my first plane soon

Looking good! I'm curious to know why you don't prime first?

Great video. I would love to see you build the Kitty Hawk Su-35.

I like this aircraft but had read somewhere that the kit was a pig so never bought one when I saw them on shelves some years ago. This has changed my mind (although the kit reflects its age) and I'll have to hunt one down so thanks.

Der Gabbelschwanz Teufel Bitte! In English please do a P38 Lightning! Also very nice job on this model I really like seeing it. And the door slamming part in the museum made me about jump out of my skin. XD

For a clear coat that will never tarnish, try mixing testors window cement with water. Recommend a 2 to 1 or 6 to 3 cement to water ratio. In general the glue is us main part you need. But it's a little thick. So I add only a little water to thin it out a bit. Once applied, it will better preserve your finish and won't ever rub off fade or tarnish.

Amazing looking YF-23 build! I've been wanting to get this kit for a while now... hopefully soon. If I may, what type of Airbrush are you using? Looks like it sprays very evenly.

I really enjoy these videos, i wouldce preferred the YF-23 being built over the 22 as it performed better, but as always the govt went with the cheaper option, im sure the relationship lockheed also helped as well. Ive recently got my favorite aircraft of all time to build the MiG-25 PD Foxbat by ICM, but have placed it in storage as my health has been declining considerably recently. Im hoping to finish it eventually 😔

The museum background noise at the end is a great touch. Did you record it yourself?

Sweet ass build bruh!

Awesome.. like something you find in a Clint Eastwood movie. 👍

"Otherworldly"? Maybe, but I prefer to think "A step too far beyond conventional aircraft design for certain mossbacks in the military". A question about technique- you use scraping to achieve e. g. cockpit detail where many modelers go with dry brushing in a contrasting color. Why? Just preference or do you feel scraping gives better results? Nice build in any case. One of my favorite aircraft. It just looks like it's hungry for supper.