Piero

Hello,
 
the wrap-around camouflage Europe 1 is done!
 
 
 
 
And then after a thin layer of Clear Gloss Tamiya X22 and AK Panel Liner applied.
 
 
 
 
The area around the cockpit is painted with black and details piched up with some dark grey.
Now is ready for the decals.
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Great to see a new project from you Piero. Really interesting choice of scheme for the Falcon, this should be fun
 
 
 
Matt 

Very exciting to see this build Piero!
 
Watching the progress!

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, I decided to build a rather particular F-16, which was probably one of the few if not the only case of “unsuccess” of this phenomenal and innovative multi-role aircraft.
 
In the second half of the 80s the USAF was looking for a replacement for the A-10 and so they thought of using a version of the F-16 equipped with ground attack devices, such as a FLIR, a laser tracker and a big cannon in an external pod derived from that of the A-10.
Another aspect that certainly makes the subject unique is the camouflage, the Europe 1 or so called "Charcoal Lizard", also derived from the A-10.
 
For the test phase, 7 F-16C Block-25 and a B two-seater were chosen. Before these there were some other tests with a couple of F-16As if I remember correctly.
The test did not go well, in particular the cannon hanging from the ventral pylon when it fired caused various problems, both structural to the airframe and to the avionics of the jet, in addition to the fact that the strong vibrations made it decidedly miss the target: anyway, USAF is still waiting for a replacement for the A-10 (...).
 
So, F-16 elegant shape + Europe 1 camouflage + external heavy weapon load has made this jet just spectacular and irresistible for me
For this project, I'm going to use the Tamiya 1/32 F-16C "Thunderbird" kit.
This kit contains the parts to make a Block-32 and with a few small adjustments it can be converted into a Block-25.
I decided to use few aftermarket for this because the kit parts are really good just adding some details.
 
The cockpit received instruments and consoles from Quinta Studio 3D set.
Other than this, all the other parts are from the kit, including the ACES II ejection seat.
 
 
 
Some electrical cables has been added on the back of the tube area.
 
The undercarriage wheel bays are from the kit after, to my unpleasant surprise, I discovered that the resin parts of the Aires set are definitely too short to fit the plastic parts of the fuselage.
 
 
 
Cables and pipes were added with some other small details.
 
 
 
Since I had decided from the beginning that I would put a FOD cover in the main air intake, I saved myself from having build and fit the air intake duct: the FOD cover has a yellow head of a falcon drawn in the center.
 
 
 
At that time these Block-25 F-16C didn't have the bulges above and below the wing roots and the "beer cans" RWR at the slats. These parts has to be removed from the plastic parts.
Same for the 2 extra chaff&flare box dispensers under the left side.
 
CIAO!
Piero
 

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, I decided to build a rather particular F-16, which was probably one of the few if not the only case of “unsuccess” of this phenomenal and innovative multi-role aircraft.
 
In the second half of the 80s the USAF was looking for a replacement for the A-10 and so they thought of using a version of the F-16 equipped with ground attack devices, such as a FLIR, a laser tracker and a big cannon in an external pod derived from that of the A-10.
Another aspect that certainly makes the subject unique is the camouflage, the Europe 1 or so called "Charcoal Lizard", also derived from the A-10.
 
For the test phase, 7 F-16C Block-25 and a B two-seater were chosen. Before these there were some other tests with a couple of F-16As if I remember correctly.
The test did not go well, in particular the cannon hanging from the ventral pylon when it fired caused various problems, both structural to the airframe and to the avionics of the jet, in addition to the fact that the strong vibrations made it decidedly miss the target: anyway, USAF is still waiting for a replacement for the A-10 (...).
 
So, F-16 elegant shape + Europe 1 camouflage + external heavy weapon load has made this jet just spectacular and irresistible for me
For this project, I'm going to use the Tamiya 1/32 F-16C "Thunderbird" kit.
This kit contains the parts to make a Block-32 and with a few small adjustments it can be converted into a Block-25.
I decided to use few aftermarket for this because the kit parts are really good just adding some details.
 
The cockpit received instruments and consoles from Quinta Studio 3D set.
Other than this, all the other parts are from the kit, including the ACES II ejection seat.
 
 
 
Some electrical cables has been added on the back of the tube area.
 
The undercarriage wheel bays are from the kit after, to my unpleasant surprise, I discovered that the resin parts of the Aires set are definitely too short to fit the plastic parts of the fuselage.
 
 
 
Cables and pipes were added with some other small details.
 
 
 
Since I had decided from the beginning that I would put a FOD cover in the main air intake, I saved myself from having build and fit the air intake duct: the FOD cover has a yellow head of a falcon drawn in the center.
 
 
 
At that time these Block-25 F-16C didn't have the bulges above and below the wing roots and the "beer cans" RWR at the slats. These parts has to be removed from the plastic parts.
Same for the 2 extra chaff&flare box dispensers under the left side.
 
CIAO!
Piero
 

Frighteningly spectacular... dear George 
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, I decided to build a rather particular F-16, which was probably one of the few if not the only case of “unsuccess” of this phenomenal and innovative multi-role aircraft.
 
In the second half of the 80s the USAF was looking for a replacement for the A-10 and so they thought of using a version of the F-16 equipped with ground attack devices, such as a FLIR, a laser tracker and a big cannon in an external pod derived from that of the A-10.
Another aspect that certainly makes the subject unique is the camouflage, the Europe 1 or so called "Charcoal Lizard", also derived from the A-10.
 
For the test phase, 7 F-16C Block-25 and a B two-seater were chosen. Before these there were some other tests with a couple of F-16As if I remember correctly.
The test did not go well, in particular the cannon hanging from the ventral pylon when it fired caused various problems, both structural to the airframe and to the avionics of the jet, in addition to the fact that the strong vibrations made it decidedly miss the target: anyway, USAF is still waiting for a replacement for the A-10 (...).
 
So, F-16 elegant shape + Europe 1 camouflage + external heavy weapon load has made this jet just spectacular and irresistible for me
For this project, I'm going to use the Tamiya 1/32 F-16C "Thunderbird" kit.
This kit contains the parts to make a Block-32 and with a few small adjustments it can be converted into a Block-25.
I decided to use few aftermarket for this because the kit parts are really good just adding some details.
 
The cockpit received instruments and consoles from Quinta Studio 3D set.
Other than this, all the other parts are from the kit, including the ACES II ejection seat.
 
 
 
Some electrical cables has been added on the back of the tube area.
 
The undercarriage wheel bays are from the kit after, to my unpleasant surprise, I discovered that the resin parts of the Aires set are definitely too short to fit the plastic parts of the fuselage.
 
 
 
Cables and pipes were added with some other small details.
 
 
 
Since I had decided from the beginning that I would put a FOD cover in the main air intake, I saved myself from having build and fit the air intake duct: the FOD cover has a yellow head of a falcon drawn in the center.
 
 
 
At that time these Block-25 F-16C didn't have the bulges above and below the wing roots and the "beer cans" RWR at the slats. These parts has to be removed from the plastic parts.
Same for the 2 extra chaff&flare box dispensers under the left side.
 
CIAO!
Piero
 

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, I decided to build a rather particular F-16, which was probably one of the few if not the only case of “unsuccess” of this phenomenal and innovative multi-role aircraft.
 
In the second half of the 80s the USAF was looking for a replacement for the A-10 and so they thought of using a version of the F-16 equipped with ground attack devices, such as a FLIR, a laser tracker and a big cannon in an external pod derived from that of the A-10.
Another aspect that certainly makes the subject unique is the camouflage, the Europe 1 or so called "Charcoal Lizard", also derived from the A-10.
 
For the test phase, 7 F-16C Block-25 and a B two-seater were chosen. Before these there were some other tests with a couple of F-16As if I remember correctly.
The test did not go well, in particular the cannon hanging from the ventral pylon when it fired caused various problems, both structural to the airframe and to the avionics of the jet, in addition to the fact that the strong vibrations made it decidedly miss the target: anyway, USAF is still waiting for a replacement for the A-10 (...).
 
So, F-16 elegant shape + Europe 1 camouflage + external heavy weapon load has made this jet just spectacular and irresistible for me
For this project, I'm going to use the Tamiya 1/32 F-16C "Thunderbird" kit.
This kit contains the parts to make a Block-32 and with a few small adjustments it can be converted into a Block-25.
I decided to use few aftermarket for this because the kit parts are really good just adding some details.
 
The cockpit received instruments and consoles from Quinta Studio 3D set.
Other than this, all the other parts are from the kit, including the ACES II ejection seat.
 
 
 
Some electrical cables has been added on the back of the tube area.
 
The undercarriage wheel bays are from the kit after, to my unpleasant surprise, I discovered that the resin parts of the Aires set are definitely too short to fit the plastic parts of the fuselage.
 
 
 
Cables and pipes were added with some other small details.
 
 
 
Since I had decided from the beginning that I would put a FOD cover in the main air intake, I saved myself from having build and fit the air intake duct: the FOD cover has a yellow head of a falcon drawn in the center.
 
 
 
At that time these Block-25 F-16C didn't have the bulges above and below the wing roots and the "beer cans" RWR at the slats. These parts has to be removed from the plastic parts.
Same for the 2 extra chaff&flare box dispensers under the left side.
 
CIAO!
Piero
 

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Hello,
 
to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, I decided to build a rather particular F-16, which was probably one of the few if not the only case of “unsuccess” of this phenomenal and innovative multi-role aircraft.
 
In the second half of the 80s the USAF was looking for a replacement for the A-10 and so they thought of using a version of the F-16 equipped with ground attack devices, such as a FLIR, a laser tracker and a big cannon in an external pod derived from that of the A-10.
Another aspect that certainly makes the subject unique is the camouflage, the Europe 1 or so called "Charcoal Lizard", also derived from the A-10.
 
For the test phase, 7 F-16C Block-25 and a B two-seater were chosen. Before these there were some other tests with a couple of F-16As if I remember correctly.
The test did not go well, in particular the cannon hanging from the ventral pylon when it fired caused various problems, both structural to the airframe and to the avionics of the jet, in addition to the fact that the strong vibrations made it decidedly miss the target: anyway, USAF is still waiting for a replacement for the A-10 (...).
 
So, F-16 elegant shape + Europe 1 camouflage + external heavy weapon load has made this jet just spectacular and irresistible for me
For this project, I'm going to use the Tamiya 1/32 F-16C "Thunderbird" kit.
This kit contains the parts to make a Block-32 and with a few small adjustments it can be converted into a Block-25.
I decided to use few aftermarket for this because the kit parts are really good just adding some details.
 
The cockpit received instruments and consoles from Quinta Studio 3D set.
Other than this, all the other parts are from the kit, including the ACES II ejection seat.
 
 
 
Some electrical cables has been added on the back of the tube area.
 
The undercarriage wheel bays are from the kit after, to my unpleasant surprise, I discovered that the resin parts of the Aires set are definitely too short to fit the plastic parts of the fuselage.
 
 
 
Cables and pipes were added with some other small details.
 
 
 
Since I had decided from the beginning that I would put a FOD cover in the main air intake, I saved myself from having build and fit the air intake duct: the FOD cover has a yellow head of a falcon drawn in the center.
 
 
 
At that time these Block-25 F-16C didn't have the bulges above and below the wing roots and the "beer cans" RWR at the slats. These parts has to be removed from the plastic parts.
Same for the 2 extra chaff&flare box dispensers under the left side.
 
CIAO!
Piero
 

Hello,
 
some progress on the CAS Viper.
The ejection seat is now completed but will be installed only at the end.
 

 
The main fuselage has been assembled with the undercarriage bays and cockpit tube inside.
 

 
As you can barely seen due the white plastic, on the Block-25 the inner slat attachment point has 2 "finger" instead of 3 that you can find on Block-40/50.
 

 
Some progress also on the external weapon load.
The GPU-5/A gun pod came from the Revell's F-15E kit.
The plastic parts has been modified to obtain a good replica of the gun pod used under the F-16C.
At the same time, I made almost from scratch the Pave Penny laser tracker pod that will be installed on the right side of the main air intake.
You can also see a "black" undercarriage wheel with the correct design.
 

 
Here a first try of the Europe One 3-colors on an horizontal stabilator.
 

 
Colors are:
 
 - 36081 Extra Dark Grey Gunze H301 with some drops of Blue-Grey.
 - 34092 Forest Green Gunze H302
 - 34102 Medium Green Gunze H303
 
CIAO!
Piero

Thanks Everyone!  Much appreciated.
 
 
Thanks Peter.  Here's one more pic of them to see the exhaust staining better from the rear.  The staining turned out a bit better than my current exhaust, but after 3 attempts, I'm done!
 

 
Similar angle and lighting...
 

 
Cheers,
Chuck

Thanks Guy!  I ordered some decal material that might work for those “No Push” stencils instead.  I prefer decals to painting them, because if I don’t like them or screw up, I can just remove them.  With paint, I’d have to repaint them all over again and I’m not doing that again!
 
April 4/24
 
One of the interesting features of these PW100 engines is the color of the shroud around the engine just back of the nozzle, which I’ll just call the engine collar.  The Pratt and Whitney collar is quite different than the GE110 collar, which is shallow and always dull titanium grey.  The PW100 collar is fairly wide, irregularly shaped, shiny and is often blue, presumably due to heat.  I say “often”, because it’s not always blue and the intensity of the blue color is all over the place.  After looking at dozens of PW100 collars, here are some examples of what I'm talking about:
 
Intense Blue and evenly colored, which is fairly rare.  I think if I painted my model like this, it would look unrealistic, despite the fact it can be real.
 

 
No blue at all.  Again, sort of rare, but they exist.
 

 
And a few examples of what I think is more common, which is more interesting to my eye.  The blue is there, but it’s mottled due to weathering and other factors, like type of engine and maintenance.
 
Note that some of the bands are not blue. 
 

 
Blue almost everywhere, but blotchy.
 

 
I decided to paint the model engine collar right now for a bunch of reasons:
 
-        Since it’s metallic, I want a super smooth surface with no other paint underneath, like a regular primer or paint from adjacent areas.
-        This collar is situated in an area between the speed brakes that will be difficult to paint later
-        I just want to!
 
The first step like I always do with Alclad metallic paint, is to start with a primer coat of Tamiya Gloss Black Lacquer from a rattle can decanted into a bottle.  I’ve tried the relatively new LP line of Tamiya lacquers in a bottle like LP-1, but I don’t find it as glossy as good 'ol TS-14.
 

 
The collar is predominantly a relatively shiny metallic color, so I started with Alclad Stainless Steel.  Unlike the “High Shine” Alclad colors like Chrome, this one is tough and can be masked without lifting.
 

 
To create a mottled look, I applied liquid mask with a sponge.  Salt would work just as well, but it’s messy.
 

 
I then sprayed Alclad Hotmetal Blue followed by more liquid mask and Alclad White Aluminum in an iterative sequence of light mist coats.  2 of the rings were masked off so that they would not pick up as much of the blue.  Everything was then sealed with clear coat of Tamiya Semi-Gloss lacquer to knock down the shine a bit.
 

 
The results.  This is tough to photograph to see the real colors and relative shine.
 

 
Parked on the model fuselage with the nozzle attached, it starts to look more natural and you can see that it's much shinier than the exhaust, as it should be.  I used a screw at the top through the alignment holes to hold things in place, since this assembly isn’t glued in yet.
 

 
The small gap between nozzle and collar will be much tighter with glue.

 
Of course I had to show off the exhaust staining again.      I’m pretty happy with how things turned out, because now I have the “blue look” of the collar, without it looking too pristine and unrealistic.
 

 

 
With the engine collar now painted and sealed, I can then mask it off and assemble the entire engine as described earlier.
 

 
It now just slides into place
 

 
And is now securely glued to the fuselage.
 

 
Last peek at the afterburner face before I fill this engine cavity with foam and mask it off.
 

That’s it for now and thanks for your continued interest and “like” responses, which I appreciate very much.
 
Cheers,
Chuck

Hello,
 
to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, I decided to build a rather particular F-16, which was probably one of the few if not the only case of “unsuccess” of this phenomenal and innovative multi-role aircraft.
 
In the second half of the 80s the USAF was looking for a replacement for the A-10 and so they thought of using a version of the F-16 equipped with ground attack devices, such as a FLIR, a laser tracker and a big cannon in an external pod derived from that of the A-10.
Another aspect that certainly makes the subject unique is the camouflage, the Europe 1 or so called "Charcoal Lizard", also derived from the A-10.
 
For the test phase, 7 F-16C Block-25 and a B two-seater were chosen. Before these there were some other tests with a couple of F-16As if I remember correctly.
The test did not go well, in particular the cannon hanging from the ventral pylon when it fired caused various problems, both structural to the airframe and to the avionics of the jet, in addition to the fact that the strong vibrations made it decidedly miss the target: anyway, USAF is still waiting for a replacement for the A-10 (...).
 
So, F-16 elegant shape + Europe 1 camouflage + external heavy weapon load has made this jet just spectacular and irresistible for me
For this project, I'm going to use the Tamiya 1/32 F-16C "Thunderbird" kit.
This kit contains the parts to make a Block-32 and with a few small adjustments it can be converted into a Block-25.
I decided to use few aftermarket for this because the kit parts are really good just adding some details.
 
The cockpit received instruments and consoles from Quinta Studio 3D set.
Other than this, all the other parts are from the kit, including the ACES II ejection seat.
 
 
 
Some electrical cables has been added on the back of the tube area.
 
The undercarriage wheel bays are from the kit after, to my unpleasant surprise, I discovered that the resin parts of the Aires set are definitely too short to fit the plastic parts of the fuselage.
 
 
 
Cables and pipes were added with some other small details.
 
 
 
Since I had decided from the beginning that I would put a FOD cover in the main air intake, I saved myself from having build and fit the air intake duct: the FOD cover has a yellow head of a falcon drawn in the center.
 
 
 
At that time these Block-25 F-16C didn't have the bulges above and below the wing roots and the "beer cans" RWR at the slats. These parts has to be removed from the plastic parts.
Same for the 2 extra chaff&flare box dispensers under the left side.
 
CIAO!
Piero