Pete Fleischmann

Fantastic! You are starting with the apex predator of kits- this will be cool to watch. cheers Pete

I am 100% biased.

That is just stupid good! I love it- P

Awesome Frank!! That is a huge accomplishment!! Great job!! very psyched for you! cheers Pete

Yep- you are on the right track. the lightweight gear had different wheels BTW. also, the inboard LEF attach point needs 1 less finger. Wing stiffeners over the fuel tank area and stiffener around the teardrop RHAW blisters on the nose. look at the link to my block30 I posted earlier and do that- or see if you can find this issue of FSM - full build details in there cheers P

Thanks MARU- its pretty satisfying to see the metal go down after so many years in progress- thanks for hanging in there with me for 12 years! maybe I can get it done for the IPMS ‘24 in Madison WI..just up the road from God’s county in Iowa. best P

Take That Spitfire and Mustang!

Hey Ade- I’ll try to pull a list together for you for the block 30’s- heres a link to a block 30 I did long ago Arctic Aggressor cheers P

83-0159 is a block 25. Production of the block 30/32 started in January 1986. The easiest way to visually ID this jet as a block 25 F-16C is the fact that it lacks the scoop on the leading edge of the fin base..no ASPJ either on the fin base. So the changes to make the block 50 kit into this block 25: Smallmouth NSI Intake Pratt 200/220 exhaust lightweight gear and doors wing root stiffeners Only 2 fingers on the LEF inboard attach hinges nose gear scissor link is narrower If you use the Aires main wheel bay, the battery has since been changed (look for photos of the red one) no aft facing scoop below the cockpit right side should be only one ALE-40 chaff/flare dispenser per side late missile rails are good for stations 1/2/8/9 landing/taxi lights moved to nose gear door; so your ok there Not sure on the seat pitot probes- would need to see a pic of the cockpit for this particular jet..should be ok with the fixed probes main wheels are different with the lightweight gear thats the big stuff, and will get you 99% there cheers P

Show me a pic of the jet you want to build and I’ll tell you what you need. cheers Pete

Thanks Matt- appreciate the kind words my friend-

Hi Jay- pretty sure it’s a big hunk of steel. It’s necessary because the AT-38B has a fixed centerline pylon; and frequently hung either a 7.62 mini gun or SUU-20 bomb dispenser. The ballast is to correct the center of gravity when stores are carried on the centerline.. but even without the stores the weight was never removed..giving it a slightly aft CG, which was not bad for air to air training. heres the basic shape of the ballast counterweight - just need to true up the corners a bit..and reduce its width..it’s pooching the sides of the container out- cheers P

Engine instruments on the nacelles. How cool is that? P

Hey all- here is the ballast fairing unique to the AT-38B. Typical of scratch building, there are three not perfect/destroyed ones at the trash end of my bench- The basic shape was built up with sheet styrene and then skinned- cheers P

Awesome Jay! Timmy! just gave me a copy of Mustang in my Workshop- Man I’d recommend taking a look at that! most of what I know about this scratch building thing I’ve learned from Timmy! He is probably overall, considering all of the modeling skill sets, the most talented modeler in the world..and I mean that with all sincerity. Timmy’s Tech The two Scratchbuilt books by John Alcorn are a must as well.. and if you are hanging out with Peter from Airscale, you are on the right path! and yes, I flew the F-16 with the USAF for about 12 years. I miss it every day. Your Corsair is also an inspiration, and I hawk your thread every time I sign on to LSP. VERY precise and beautiful work you are doing! I am enjoying it, and will be sad when it’s finished because no more updates! cheers Pete

Thanks brother- hopefully my 1/16th scale Pilot doesn’t have to eject- Re the ejection seat issue- it’s actually a Martin Baker problem. The Cartridge Activated Device (CAD) is faulty across multiple airframes in the USAF, USN, and USMC. T-38, F-5, T-6, T-45, Legacy Hornet, not-so Super Hornet, and Growler… cheers Pete

A little more this a:m

Hi Matt- those are embossed from the backside of the aluminum sheet- cheers P

I agree Guy- gonna be fun! Looking forward to giving it a shot- cheers P

The T-38 has some very tight, smooth panels (wings, vertical tail, etc) and some that really flex and oil can. This photo is pretty telling- The gloss paint really highlights the waves in the paneling. pretty cool- P

A little more-

Werner wings has a conversion and decals- Click here Jack cheers P

Here’s a before and after- This is what it looked like in Japan when I bought it And where we are now- pretty cool- P

Thanks Pete no leveling kit- that’s just the way it sits P

Thanks! they are OEM..but I had the chrome stripped and then powder coated white. kinda retro- took a while to find them. I have the same ones on my FJ40. cheers Pete