Juggernut

Wow! Eye-popping finish! Very well done sir!

I certainly won't. I'll put that one on the list of paints NOT to buy. But having said that, I usually just mix my own interior green using yellow zinc and black in a 4 or 5:1 ratio yellow to black. I can't tell you the last time I bought a dedicated "interior green" from any paint manufacturer.

Tamiya AS-12 to the rescue! I'm taking notes. I have one of these kits and will EVENTUALLY get around to building it. Mine will be a Mediterranean scheme though, most likely 417 Sq. RCAF.

From the build I saw on Britmodeler, and another at Finescale Modeler, the canopy on this particular kit is a malformed or there's another issue someplace. The photos do show a little misfit of the clear part but nothing like shown above. If that kit is still in production (and I think it is), I'd give the Bronco folks a jingle asking for a replacement part for this kit. I went to the Bronco Models website and it seems a little sketchy to me so I didn't click any further than to see that the kit is still listed. Oh, and there's no Google translate available from Chinese to English.

Well, in my opinion and to honestly answer your question, the Tamiya F-16 Block 32 "Thunderbirds" kit would be the best place to start for an F-16N. I believe the F-16N's were Normal Shock Inlet (NSI [small mouth]) P&W equipped Block 30 air frames. That kit comes with the NSI intake and correct exhaust. The only real option for a TF-16N would be the Academy F-16I with some swapping or omitting some of the kit parts to create an appropriate USN air frame. I believe the kit comes with some of the parts needed to create such an aircraft but I may be mistaken. The F-16I also comes with the NSI intake and correct P&W GE exhaust. You'd probably have to source lightweight landing gear (wheels and main gear doors) for the TF-16N as I believe the Academy kit provides only the heavyweight landing gear applicable to Block 40 aircraft and above. The instrument panels would most likely need to be backdated as well but I'm not exactly sure exactly what needs to be done to them. Our resident F-16 x-pert (Pete) will most likely be along at some point in the near future and will most likely be able to tell you exactly what you need. EDIT: After reading Zola25's post below, he is correct that F-16N's and TF-16N's used the GE-F110 engines with the NSI intakes. My apologies for the error; I plead temporary insanity because I knew that bit of information. If you do use the F-16CJ from Tamiya, you'll have to remove the four "bumps" from the wing upper and lower surfaces but that's not hard. What would be more dififcult (but not beyond the realm of an experienced modeler) is to change the leading edge inboard flap hinge fingers... I may be wrong (again) but I believe the Block 30 aircraft had two leading edge inboard flap hinge fingers vs. the Block 50's three fingers that the Tamiya kit represents. You'll also have to fill in a couple (aft two sets?) of the chaff/flare dispenser locations on the underside of the fuselage. These weren't added until later (FY 1987?) air frames. Not sure if you'd need to add the wing/fuselage reinforcing plates that were added to most, if not all USAF Block 30-42 air frames. The Navy may have retired their F-16's before that mod came about but I just don't know.

Hey Tom, Nice start. I just finished the 1/48 Tamiya kit in those very markings. I cut masks for the majority of the markings but did end up using the "VI" (under the windscreen) and the "TH" from the decal sheet. For some reason or another, the white outline "T" just would not cut consistently, it just kept cutting at varying widths no matter what I did. Strange as I've never had that happen before.... Anyway, Here's a few points that I noticed during my build of that kit (and one comment about that profile): First: The aircraft is an He219A-2. One of the later A2's with the nacelle fuel tanks apparently. Second: I discovered from reading my source (see below) that when the FuG 220 SN-2 radar was installed, the FuG-12 ( I think it was called the FuG-12) set was removed. That amounts to, on your cockpit, the box with the scope cover is no longer installed and a scope cover is installed over the box next to it instead. Will anyone know? Probably not. I left mine in. When I discovered the FuG-12 was removed, it was too late and I had already installed the cockpit in the aircraft Third: That profile looks a little suspect, specifically the paint demarcation lines on the nacelles. In the photo below you can see that the underwing demarcation line is at an angle and not just straight down from the leading edge of the wing although the shadow makes it a little less than obvious. It's not apparent in the photograph but the "G9" forward of the fuselage balkenkreuz may or may not be there. I chose not to add it but since most of the NJG1 aircraft in that particular unit used it, I should think it would on this aircraft as well.. The "VI" under the windscreen is missing; you can clearly see it in the photograph just behind the stag antler dipole mount. It's also missing the tail radar dipole for the SN-2. It's probably part of the kit but as long as you know to install it, you're good. REFERENCE: Ferguson, R. F. (2020). Heinkel he219, an illustrated history of the third reich's dedicated home-defense nightfighter, Air Research, England. (p. 201 -photo).

MRP RLM 83 - Dunkelgrun

Also, if you're in the United States, Tom Anyz won't ship here any longer or so I've been told.

They exist in 1/48 scale, Bullseye Decals does a set of decals and provides the markings in reverse camouflage for some, as appropriate. In 1/32 though, I've only ever seen the Aero Masks for splinter camouflage F-16's. Some of those come with decals (called out by a red * on the Aero Masks website). See Chuck's F-16 build here for a glimpse of what he did. So, to get reverse camouflage markings, you'll either need to create custom masks for your intended markings and/or find a long out of production set (as Chuck did) and use as much of those as you can.

Yeah, that happens, even to us who write for a living.... Even our QA/Editor's miss things.

No word yet on the Facebook page and he's shutting down for the Summer (according to the LFD Facebook page) so I'm thinking it will be Fall at the earliest. Laminar Flow Design Closing For Summer Facebook Announcement

I’m game…. Hotel bar (if there is one)?

Found it, thankx!

Hmmm....I must not have it. I'm using a Cameo 4 with the Designer Edition + 4.5.815 software and I haven't been notified of an update yet. I don't see a cut settings box unless I'm just dense and it's in a menu/submenu someplace.

I notice that they have zero air-to-air capability loaded (no AIM 7's, 9's, 120's or the Israeli specific AIMs). If they're Fence In (Iran?), that means they've got total air supremacy. They're free to engage as they please (barring ground-based air defenses). With the GBU-31 JDAMs loaded, they really don't need a targeting pod and the terrain following radar pod isn't needed since they're not going in NOE or low level. It also seems that with CFTs, internal fuel, and three gas bags, they may be goin deep.

Thanks for the information. Mentioning the Glossy Sea Blue drawings jarred an idea into my feeble mind. I logged onto Aircorps Library and found the Vought drawing VS-37990, Rev. E (looks to be dated 3-26-46) for the Vought, Goodyear, and Brewster F4U-1 series. On the face of the drawing, ZN 9E reads: Interior Cowling to Air Seal and Interior Cowl Flaps Gloss Sea Blue, Non-Specular or Semi-Gloss Sea Blue. There is a note A3 on that text but it does not change the extant callout in any way. So, I shall paint the interior of the cowls accordingly. For future reference in case I want to build another F4U-1D: Is it possible that subcontractors may have been producing these components? If so (as outlined in your Corsair volume two for landing gear colors), could these producers have had excess inventory of light grey or intermediate blue on hand when the changes came over leading to mixes of different painted interior cowl colors...mostly an assumption on my part and you could tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree on that. As a note, I also see where it says to paint the landing gear legs (and tail wheel strut) a non-specular light grey with aluminum and gloss sea blue as alternate colors.

I’ll be there.

The Tamiya instructions call out XF-24 Dark Grey. My question is what color are the insides of the F4U-1D cowls? I’m pretty sure they weren’t zinc chromate.

Not hate, just opting for the better of the two. Ta152H-0 and Ta152H-1 Comparison.

Well, the H-0 is a bear to build correctly. It’s very easy to mis-glue something out of place and only find out about it when you attempt to fit something else to the model and it doesn’t fit…. Then comes the sinking feeling that you dun screwed up and you do your best to fix it; most times without success. It’s my understanding that the H-1 is very similar to build.

Not me. Been there, seen it, prefer the H-0 having built it. Neither is a box shaker but the H-0 is better.

See the next post, somehow I screwed this up.

Their H-0 kit is better than their H-1. The tooling is better resulting in crisper, more defined details. Had they the H-0 on sale, I'd spring for that one.

Nice zeke. One point I may make for future reference.... The flight controls on the A6M aircraft were fabric covered and as such, would not chip. The Japanese did not use silver dope on their control surfaces to the best of my knowledge.

Splatman812, the initial issue of the Tamiya A6M5 (kit no. 60309) did not come with the metal 20mm barrels, a metal pitot tube, or an extra marking option. That kit has been discontinued. The replacement, kit no. 60318, does come with the metal 20mm cannon barrels and one additional set of markings. If you look on the instruction booklet, I believe it will still say 60309 in the upper R/H corner of the title page. There should be an addendum with the 60318 kit for the metal barrels. metal pitot tube, and the additional marking option. Battletweety, a word of caution regarding the "operating" landing gear. You indicated that you don't plan on raising the gear and to that I say, "Good on you." If you do ever get tempted, be VERY careful as the landing gear are securely installed, don't rotate easily and if you try and do it more than a couple of times or are not careful, you'll twist the engagement pin (on the main gear) where the tool fits, completely off. Ask me how I know. Your version of aotake is within the realm of possibility since it could range anywhere from almost clear blue to a dark, translucent green. Your underside color looks very good too; XF12 surprises me.... it looks very similar to the Mitsubishi version of J3SP. Couple of last bits of information and take them for what they're worth. Most, if not all, aviation reciprocating engines have two spark plugs per cylinder; not sure if you knew that or not. Your engine only shows one. No big deal as not a lot of it will show with the cowls on. Cowl wear looks nicely done. Don't paint the inside of the cowls aotake (if you haven't yet); It should be the same color as the outside of the cowl. I cannot tell from your photos whether or not you've painted it black (or blue-black) or not. If you followed the Tamiya instructions then you painted them the correct color. I'll also leave this here with you in case you're interested: Tamiya A6M5 Tweak List by Ryan Toews HTH