RichieB

As an aggressor, these F-16s were not usually loaded with the range of weaponry often seen on F-16 models. This version is going to be from a time before AMRAAM so the earlier wing pylons are required. Although they are included in this version of the Tamiya kit, Kopecky has done some very nice resin renditions which clearly I had to have. The Tamiya kit doesn't however have any weapons so ResKit to the rescue for some Aim-9Ms, which again are superb. Strictly speaking these should be training rounds with the rollerons on the rear fins removed. However, I much prefer the look of a fully capable missile so artistic licence will prevail. I will however add training decals as live weapons would be a no-no on a air combat training exercise! As the Kopecky rails are so nice I have added magnets to them and the Aim-9s so they can be attached and removed easily. Not sure what I'm going to do about the ACMI pod as not seen any of these on the aftermarket sites. That and baggage pods are sorely missing from resin heaven.
 

 
And what would an aggressor be without a jamming pod, in this case the ALQ-188. Aires and Wolfpack both do a 1/32 version but the Wolfpack version seems too small to me so I went with the Aires one. The transmission horns will be added later as they look like a carpet monster appetiser. As before I added magnets so it could be replaced with the centreline drop tank for variety. Of note, the Tamiya Thunderbirds kit does not have any of the Bomb Release Units for their pylons. As I was creating the possibility of a naked Pylon I needed a replacement BRU. Step up, Leatherneck pylons for the F/A-18 which have spare BRUs (which look similar enough). Again very nicely done and with a spot of pylon side wall thinning slotted in easily. I should add that Kopecky now do an F-16 centreline pylon which surpasses my efforts.
 

 
I've also made up the kit's fuel tanks, which are OK and will be removeable via Tamiya's rubber plug method. Again, Kopecky have now done some replacement fuel tanks which look far better - tempting! 
 

 
Might get onto the cockpit eventually.

Interesting - I look forward to this build!

Fun fun fun!!! Looking great and I totally appreciate all the added info on the timeframe vs ordnance and add-ons. You’ve inspired me to add lights to my build now so I’m watching with serious interest 

As an aggressor, these F-16s were not usually loaded with the range of weaponry often seen on F-16 models. This version is going to be from a time before AMRAAM so the earlier wing pylons are required. Although they are included in this version of the Tamiya kit, Kopecky has done some very nice resin renditions which clearly I had to have. The Tamiya kit doesn't however have any weapons so ResKit to the rescue for some Aim-9Ms, which again are superb. Strictly speaking these should be training rounds with the rollerons on the rear fins removed. However, I much prefer the look of a fully capable missile so artistic licence will prevail. I will however add training decals as live weapons would be a no-no on a air combat training exercise! As the Kopecky rails are so nice I have added magnets to them and the Aim-9s so they can be attached and removed easily. Not sure what I'm going to do about the ACMI pod as not seen any of these on the aftermarket sites. That and baggage pods are sorely missing from resin heaven.
 

 
And what would an aggressor be without a jamming pod, in this case the ALQ-188. Aires and Wolfpack both do a 1/32 version but the Wolfpack version seems too small to me so I went with the Aires one. The transmission horns will be added later as they look like a carpet monster appetiser. As before I added magnets so it could be replaced with the centreline drop tank for variety. Of note, the Tamiya Thunderbirds kit does not have any of the Bomb Release Units for their pylons. As I was creating the possibility of a naked Pylon I needed a replacement BRU. Step up, Leatherneck pylons for the F/A-18 which have spare BRUs (which look similar enough). Again very nicely done and with a spot of pylon side wall thinning slotted in easily. I should add that Kopecky now do an F-16 centreline pylon which surpasses my efforts.
 

 
I've also made up the kit's fuel tanks, which are OK and will be removeable via Tamiya's rubber plug method. Again, Kopecky have now done some replacement fuel tanks which look far better - tempting! 
 

 
Might get onto the cockpit eventually.

As an aggressor, these F-16s were not usually loaded with the range of weaponry often seen on F-16 models. This version is going to be from a time before AMRAAM so the earlier wing pylons are required. Although they are included in this version of the Tamiya kit, Kopecky has done some very nice resin renditions which clearly I had to have. The Tamiya kit doesn't however have any weapons so ResKit to the rescue for some Aim-9Ms, which again are superb. Strictly speaking these should be training rounds with the rollerons on the rear fins removed. However, I much prefer the look of a fully capable missile so artistic licence will prevail. I will however add training decals as live weapons would be a no-no on a air combat training exercise! As the Kopecky rails are so nice I have added magnets to them and the Aim-9s so they can be attached and removed easily. Not sure what I'm going to do about the ACMI pod as not seen any of these on the aftermarket sites. That and baggage pods are sorely missing from resin heaven.
 

 
And what would an aggressor be without a jamming pod, in this case the ALQ-188. Aires and Wolfpack both do a 1/32 version but the Wolfpack version seems too small to me so I went with the Aires one. The transmission horns will be added later as they look like a carpet monster appetiser. As before I added magnets so it could be replaced with the centreline drop tank for variety. Of note, the Tamiya Thunderbirds kit does not have any of the Bomb Release Units for their pylons. As I was creating the possibility of a naked Pylon I needed a replacement BRU. Step up, Leatherneck pylons for the F/A-18 which have spare BRUs (which look similar enough). Again very nicely done and with a spot of pylon side wall thinning slotted in easily. I should add that Kopecky now do an F-16 centreline pylon which surpasses my efforts.
 

 
I've also made up the kit's fuel tanks, which are OK and will be removeable via Tamiya's rubber plug method. Again, Kopecky have now done some replacement fuel tanks which look far better - tempting! 
 

 
Might get onto the cockpit eventually.

As an aggressor, these F-16s were not usually loaded with the range of weaponry often seen on F-16 models. This version is going to be from a time before AMRAAM so the earlier wing pylons are required. Although they are included in this version of the Tamiya kit, Kopecky has done some very nice resin renditions which clearly I had to have. The Tamiya kit doesn't however have any weapons so ResKit to the rescue for some Aim-9Ms, which again are superb. Strictly speaking these should be training rounds with the rollerons on the rear fins removed. However, I much prefer the look of a fully capable missile so artistic licence will prevail. I will however add training decals as live weapons would be a no-no on a air combat training exercise! As the Kopecky rails are so nice I have added magnets to them and the Aim-9s so they can be attached and removed easily. Not sure what I'm going to do about the ACMI pod as not seen any of these on the aftermarket sites. That and baggage pods are sorely missing from resin heaven.
 

 
And what would an aggressor be without a jamming pod, in this case the ALQ-188. Aires and Wolfpack both do a 1/32 version but the Wolfpack version seems too small to me so I went with the Aires one. The transmission horns will be added later as they look like a carpet monster appetiser. As before I added magnets so it could be replaced with the centreline drop tank for variety. Of note, the Tamiya Thunderbirds kit does not have any of the Bomb Release Units for their pylons. As I was creating the possibility of a naked Pylon I needed a replacement BRU. Step up, Leatherneck pylons for the F/A-18 which have spare BRUs (which look similar enough). Again very nicely done and with a spot of pylon side wall thinning slotted in easily. I should add that Kopecky now do an F-16 centreline pylon which surpasses my efforts.
 

 
I've also made up the kit's fuel tanks, which are OK and will be removeable via Tamiya's rubber plug method. Again, Kopecky have now done some replacement fuel tanks which look far better - tempting! 
 

 
Might get onto the cockpit eventually.

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

As an aggressor, these F-16s were not usually loaded with the range of weaponry often seen on F-16 models. This version is going to be from a time before AMRAAM so the earlier wing pylons are required. Although they are included in this version of the Tamiya kit, Kopecky has done some very nice resin renditions which clearly I had to have. The Tamiya kit doesn't however have any weapons so ResKit to the rescue for some Aim-9Ms, which again are superb. Strictly speaking these should be training rounds with the rollerons on the rear fins removed. However, I much prefer the look of a fully capable missile so artistic licence will prevail. I will however add training decals as live weapons would be a no-no on a air combat training exercise! As the Kopecky rails are so nice I have added magnets to them and the Aim-9s so they can be attached and removed easily. Not sure what I'm going to do about the ACMI pod as not seen any of these on the aftermarket sites. That and baggage pods are sorely missing from resin heaven.
 

 
And what would an aggressor be without a jamming pod, in this case the ALQ-188. Aires and Wolfpack both do a 1/32 version but the Wolfpack version seems too small to me so I went with the Aires one. The transmission horns will be added later as they look like a carpet monster appetiser. As before I added magnets so it could be replaced with the centreline drop tank for variety. Of note, the Tamiya Thunderbirds kit does not have any of the Bomb Release Units for their pylons. As I was creating the possibility of a naked Pylon I needed a replacement BRU. Step up, Leatherneck pylons for the F/A-18 which have spare BRUs (which look similar enough). Again very nicely done and with a spot of pylon side wall thinning slotted in easily. I should add that Kopecky now do an F-16 centreline pylon which surpasses my efforts.
 

 
I've also made up the kit's fuel tanks, which are OK and will be removeable via Tamiya's rubber plug method. Again, Kopecky have now done some replacement fuel tanks which look far better - tempting! 
 

 
Might get onto the cockpit eventually.

As an aggressor, these F-16s were not usually loaded with the range of weaponry often seen on F-16 models. This version is going to be from a time before AMRAAM so the earlier wing pylons are required. Although they are included in this version of the Tamiya kit, Kopecky has done some very nice resin renditions which clearly I had to have. The Tamiya kit doesn't however have any weapons so ResKit to the rescue for some Aim-9Ms, which again are superb. Strictly speaking these should be training rounds with the rollerons on the rear fins removed. However, I much prefer the look of a fully capable missile so artistic licence will prevail. I will however add training decals as live weapons would be a no-no on a air combat training exercise! As the Kopecky rails are so nice I have added magnets to them and the Aim-9s so they can be attached and removed easily. Not sure what I'm going to do about the ACMI pod as not seen any of these on the aftermarket sites. That and baggage pods are sorely missing from resin heaven.
 

 
And what would an aggressor be without a jamming pod, in this case the ALQ-188. Aires and Wolfpack both do a 1/32 version but the Wolfpack version seems too small to me so I went with the Aires one. The transmission horns will be added later as they look like a carpet monster appetiser. As before I added magnets so it could be replaced with the centreline drop tank for variety. Of note, the Tamiya Thunderbirds kit does not have any of the Bomb Release Units for their pylons. As I was creating the possibility of a naked Pylon I needed a replacement BRU. Step up, Leatherneck pylons for the F/A-18 which have spare BRUs (which look similar enough). Again very nicely done and with a spot of pylon side wall thinning slotted in easily. I should add that Kopecky now do an F-16 centreline pylon which surpasses my efforts.
 

 
I've also made up the kit's fuel tanks, which are OK and will be removeable via Tamiya's rubber plug method. Again, Kopecky have now done some replacement fuel tanks which look far better - tempting! 
 

 
Might get onto the cockpit eventually.

Hi, all.  I'm trying to clear my shelf of doom as much as possible before the end of the year and this was my 2nd candidate - an A6M2 Zero being my first.  This represents a VMSB-233 SBD-3 Dauntless at Guadalcanal.  Beat up, tired, but holding the line against the Imperial Japanese fleet.  
 
Paints are MRP, weathering is a combination of oils, enamels, airbrushing, and sponge chipping.
 
Hope you enjoy!
 
 

 

 


















































 
 

So here we have the final pics of my mammoth HK models 1:32 Lancaster Mk. B.I Special build.
The finished aircraft looks spectacular from a sheer size perspective, as you can see from the picture with the 1' rule for scale. 
The inaccuracies for a kit costing over £300 are well documented and the fixes I've employed are far too numerous to list fully here. But a few have been:
 
Complete rebuild of pilot's plinth and replacement of seat
Removal of erroneous dinghy hatch on port wing
Lengthening of Navigators table to match specs
Addition of accurate instrumentation for a BI not the Mk. X 
Fit a B.I Flight Engineer's seat as opposed to a Mk. X
Fit swivel navigator's seat as opposed to fixed one supplied
Install "washing line" canvas sunscreens in canopy
Remove erroneous wooden slatting from upkeep mine
Built and fit hydraulic submarine motor to spin up mine.
Move trailing radio aerial from starboard to port side.
I've tried to take a few pics of the iconic shots from 1943 prior to the mission and I've included these as a bit of fun. 
It's now on its way to a new owner, which is just as well as, with a 1m wingspan, the wife would kill me if I said I was keeping it.
Thanks to:
Peter at Airscale for his always immaculate cockpit upgrades
Top Notch for the insignia masks
Thanks for looking as ever.
 
For those interested, the link to the build is HERE
 








 

I might have an easy but useful idea for you, I am working on the Tamiya F-15E and purchased your cockpit set, will be ordering more, just buying a few bits at a time as I go.  Anyway most load outs for real F-15Es did not use all the weapons pylons, and Tamiya designed the pylons so you could add the empty weapons shackle.  So how about 3d printed weapons shackles for any stations that are empty.  It may be a slight variation on parts you have already designed and as such might be easy, if so why not.  Your weapons shackles on the ones you have done are so beautifully detailed, might was well have them for all empty stations.  
 
Also how about 3d printed lantern pods.  
 
Anyway I intend to start my build soon and will post some photos on this forum as I build up the cockpit.

Nice subject - and lights too!  I've got the Blizzard scheme decals that I'd like to get after on a future build.  It'll be awesome to see how the lights come along on this.
 
Cheers.

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end. 
 

Well here we go again, this time I'm indulging in a Tamiya kit. Much as I like the challenge of upgrading the delights of Revell's offerings, sometimes you just want something a little less demanding. Such as the Tamiya F-16C which judging by all the accounts I've read, is a superb kit. Squirrelled away in my stash is the Thunderbirds offering which allows an earlier Blk32 aircraft which differs from the mainstream Blk50 kit by having the P&W engine, normal (small) shock inlet, lightweight gear with the original wheels and flat MLG doors. However, as it is the Thunderbirds kit it also does not come with weapons and some of the pylon details which I will need for my chosen subject.
 

 
I've always liked aggressor schemes (who doesn't!), in fact anything that gets away from monotone (grey) colour schemes and there is no doubting that the 64AGRS based out of Nellis has some of the most interesting schemes around. I'm pretty much a fan of all the schemes but for this one I've plumbed for the 'Flogger' scheme as pictured on the lead aircraft below. Crucially, the Thunderbirds kit comes with early sidewinder rails which is right for the era I'm looking at i.e. pre-AMRAAM.
 

(USAF)
Now I don't want to make it too easy so this will be an in-flight display and I will be adding lights to this one as well but most of the kit will be out of the box. Except for the engine exhaust which comes courtesy of ResKit (love their stuff). Oh and some ResKit winders, will probably need an ALQ-188 and ACMI pod as well. Maybe some cockpit enhancements from Quinta and might treat myself to some goodies from Kopecky who does loads of goodies for the F-16. Yeah, pretty much out of the box.
 
Right, so where do we start.
 
With the intake of course. That's the thing with adding lights, you can't build it in the order Tamiya would like you to. Because you need to add things like wires and batteries you also need to plan the layout of how you will connect it altogether noting that once you close a section up, that's it - no more access. The F-16 has some nav lights on each side of the intake. These can be added by drilling out a small hole and adding a very small LED. To avoid light overspill (a real problem with bright LEDs) a silver foil backing is used. The outside will be first painted black to kill light overspill. Luckily the actual intake has a small enough gap for the wires to go past and feed back into the fuselage.
 

 
Another tight spot for lighting is the tail where the F-16 has a large anti-col beacon at the top and a smaller light at the base. Again, a small white LED was used with silver foil to limit overspill. The clear part sits on top of the LED and the wires run down the back of the rudder. I had to do this as this was a second hand kit and the tail had already been glued together.
 

 
In addition, the started kit had also had the base of the fin cut off in anticipation of reworking to an F-16A by the previous owner. I therefore needed to reinstate the original base using a thick piece of card as a strut to provide some strength. In addition to the wire, a thin fibre optic wire was run from the LED light down the base of the rudder and out of the base of the tail.
 

 
Interestingly, I'm pretty sure Tamiya had plans to add their own lighting kit to this model. The wing tip photo below shows a groove carved into the inside of the wing which leads to the point where the wing nav lights are and the design of that clear part is definitely with lighting in mind. I know because I was going to do the same to fit the lighting I had in mind. Thank you Tamiya for making that part of the kit construction slightly easier!
 

 
Well its a start. I should point out that progress is inversely proportional to the many demands of family and life in general so please be patient. We will get there in the end.