SteveV22FE

Eric, I think I did have a thread going of my X-1 a few years ago. Here is the link over at Zone-Five: http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=19765&highlight=stevee671 Yours looks really good. The camera has a way of changing what we see with our eyes. When I was researching mine, I noticed that they seemed to get pretty dirty and the panels were noticeable in some photos. Personally, if it looks right to you, I wouldn't change it.

Wow!That looks almost as good as mine! Excellent Work!

Began adding various stiffing plates, scoops, etc... look for the white styrene

Dry fitted the Academy pylons and tanks after drilling new location holes.

Hey Mike, I thought about lowering the leading edge slats, I am hesitant to do it because I usually muck that kind of stuff up! I put those rings on and then took them off. I have been checking my references and noticed that Academy put those weld lines on the tanks. If you scaled those up, they would be HUGE! The hasegawa tanks have migrated to another F-16 project I am working on. I have a nice shot of a Tulsa Viper underside in flight, that has been my primary reference on the bottom side of the aircraft during this build. I probably should have used the Tamiya kit, but I picked up this kit for $15.00 at a show and it seemed perfect for this project. I do have the Academy kit in the stash, but given it's inaccuracies, the Hasegawa kit was a better choice, both in price and accuracy.

Well, my first contest of the season is over and now the F-16 is back on the bench... Glued on the intake and closed up the main wheel wells using the bulged gear doors from the Academy kit. A must of you want to do a Block 40 or later jet. I cleaned up and painted the exhaust nozzle. These jets now have composite turkey feather and they look black. With the right weathering, it is be less bold as in this pic. As you may see in the above pic, I closed the holes for mounting the inboard wing pylon. The Hasegawa tanks are being used in another F-16 project and I like the looks of the Academy tanks better. New holes will be drilled in the plugs to permit a better fit of the Academy pylons. Overall shot showing the base and the "Tulsa Vipers" patches.

Finally go some paint on an external part of this jet...

One thing that has been well documented about the Hasegawa kit is the nasty mold line down the center of the canopy. It's nothing a little sandpaper can't fix. I started with 600 and worked down to 2000. I then polished the canopy with "BLUE MAGIC Plastic and Plexiglass Cleaner and Light Scratch Remover". You can see the end result. (It also works great on motorcycle windshields.) According to the instructions, the stabilators are designed to go in when the fuselage is closed. Well, I didn't want to do that. The requires some modification the stabilator mounting post. I enlarged the mounting hole and inserted an aluminum tube. I will probably drill out the mounting point in the stabilator and replace it with a metal post. While the kit does provide for the wing mounted RWR antennas, they are not entirely accurate in missing the upper fairing that is above the leading edge. This was added with sheet styrene.

Wings attached, some fuel tank work, added additional scoops to the tail base and the right side under the cockpit. Dry Fitted the tanks and pylons to the wings.

Fixed the Wing tip launch rails and added the leading edge sensors.

Closed up the fuselage... Finished Cockpit

Painted the glare shield and the inside of the canopy. Found an ACES II seat.

Added the LITENING pod pylon to the right side of the intake. LITENING pod test fitted to the pylon...

I like the the look of F-16A Block 1 - 78-0016. I like the Black Nose, Natural metal nose wheel, and the Blue Flash on the tail. This picture is posted under "Fair Use" Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.

Worked on the intake. This is the first time that I tried the fill and flush method of painting the intake. I used Kilz2 Latex, first try..not so good! Second try, worked like a champ. Did some more cockpit work...