F-16 MLU Tiger 2011 - Hard to be humble

[Red Dog]

Unlike what my previous models show, I am a F-16 freak

I have a huge collection of F-16 in the stash in multiple scale, but there is one particular project that I want to do since I saw it flying throughout the airshow season in 2011

 

The aircraft is FA-87 and I have thought about this project on and off for quite a long time. Luckily I took a lot of pictures back then in that very rich european airshow season

 

 

The base aircraft will be the Tamiya F-16, converted to MLU. A while ago I was lucky to get a package from Stokey Pete with a started F-16 meant to be built as an aggressor with the small intake, the lightweight doors and a PW resin engine.
That's halfway there, remains the tail, the carapace system, the bird slicers, the strengthening plates, etc 
Most of those will be designed and printed in 3D

 

The real challenge will be the painting which will be custom made with masks and my own decals where necessary

That's where I intend to have the most fun with this build.

 

I also want to have this in-flight. I sourced the Tamiya Thunderbird stand and will make replicates for the parts inside the engine and the intake fans to accomodate the stand that goes through the exhaust.

 

The painting will be outside my comfort zone, but If I fail, it can easily be converted to a standard Belgian airforce F-16  and pretend it did not happen 

 

Edited June 16 by Red Dog

[geedubelyer]

What an epic scheme.

 

Good luck 

 

[crobinsonh]

Sitting down to watch this one.

[Zola25]

Oh wow - Will follow closely 😉 

 

/Niels

[Red Dog]

This is what I got from Pete: So this is going to be my starting point.

 

 

 

First order of business, is to reopen the fuselage to access the back end of the intake fan to adapt the internals for the in-flight stand

I also need to consolidate the internal gear bay to ensure the in-flight stand remains stable and strong inside the fuselage.
So the doors have to be reopened. Flaps and slats are also detached as these will be positionned for slow flight.

 

 

 

First thing was to get into the scrap box and get old parts from the Academy Sufa I build as the Orange Jumper with a resin gear bay and reused the academy parts to stabilize the intake duct and the gear doors. 

 

To adapt the Tamiya in-flight stand, I need to replicate a few Thunderbirds F-16 parts. This was easily done in 3D. 

Took only half a day to design the simple parts, create STL, send them to the slicers and print them with the elegoo saturn 3.
I really am flabbergasted at how this changed my hobby flow.

 

 

I might design a different in-flight stand as now I can adapt any F-16 internal for the same in-flight stand. 

 

[Zola25]

Did you scan the Tamiya parts or did you draw then yourself?

[Red Dog]

I draw them, The plan is to be able to use the in-flight stand on either Tamiyas CJ but also the academy ones and even some other airframes like te Mirage 2000 which is my next project. That's also why I will probably design a similar stand. From there I can adapt hopefully to many single engine jets

[Red Dog]

Next up, the office.

 

Most of it is OOB except for the seat. Tbh The Tamiya seat would suit the project very well but let's face it resin seats are unavoidable
I noticed a few differences though between the Tamiya and the CJ cockpit and like most of the time, there is one important part missing.

 

The MLU cockpit is black with only the rear bulkhead and the front where the rudder stand still painted grey. I used Nato black and cockpit grey from MRP. The details were then brush painted with the ATOM paint. I recently switched from 40 years of Humbrol use and I am not turning back. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The CJ kit does not have decals for the IP, whereas the Thunderbird kit has. Luckily I have many of extra decal sheet for the Tamiya thunderbird.

Some details on the side walls are missing. Nothing critical but they do add a nice splash of colours in a very black cockpit, so I added them. Mostly the CRU mount, the
T handle for canopy jettison, some placards and the most visible of all: the yellow canopy spider that's not yet visible in the above picture.
The spider is a guard for the canopy switch and is open when the canopy is open and also prevents the throttle to be moved forward in the afterburner zone in such a configuration. 

Other minor modifications was to place the throttle in buster and the gear handle up.
The stick lacks a few details and is suprisingly flat on the visible side, so a few knobs and paddles were added. 

The cockpit is great but lacks decals for the instrument, so I used the reheat and airscale instrument decals where necessary

The seat is a MCC (Mini Craft) replacement and it is gorgeous. More on that later. 
 

 

[Red Dog]

One last picture before i close the fuselage

That RWR is way oversize  but that will be quite less visible when the glareshield are in place

Instrument flags shouldn't be visible in flight but they were on the decals. I'd love to have unflagged decals for IP for in-flights displays

[scvrobeson]

That's an awesome looking Falcon! Great start!

 

 

Matt 

[Zola25]

On 4/24/2026 at 8:06 AM, red Dog said:

I draw them, The plan is to be able to use the in-flight stand on either Tamiyas CJ but also the academy ones and even some other airframes like te Mirage 2000 which is my next project. That's also why I will probably design a similar stand. From there I can adapt hopefully to many single engine jets

Nice.. if you are willing to sell a couple for the Academy kit I would be quite interested. I have been looking for a way to display the two-seater in-flight.

 

Niels 

[Red Dog]

it shouln't be a big issue, the innards of the academy is quite similar to the Tamiya. With two stand support possible. The back of the intake fan and the rear part of the exhaust that can be either opened in its centre or replaced with a suitable 3D part whiuch I will most certainly design. 
The length of the in-flight stand might be adapted. Feasibility will depend if I am able to print my own in flight stand. 
The first part test was a failure

 

 

So more design work required. Will keep you posted

[Red Dog]

I salvaged the failed print to press with the proof of concept.
 

 

I then printed the stand in two version.
One with the thin support stick and one without. I am not convinced the 5mm diameter resin can hold a 1/32 model.
I will replace it with a Carbon 5mm stick I usually use for in-flight models. That one is fool proof.

 

 

The stand is attached to the base with 2 M3 allen screws
The base is quite smaller than the tamiya base but that's because of the limitation of the print plate
Still many issues to solve with that print such as having better support and fixing the antialiasing issues I have

 

[Red Dog]

Happy with the result.

 

That's the all resin stand which I'm not going to use as I am sure this will bend with the weight of the 1/32 model
that still leave me with 2 possibilities for this project, either the homemade in-flight stand with the carbon stick or the stock Tamiya stand.

 

The way I am mounting this F-16 is not standard as It uses a Brassin PW exhaust and it differs quite a lot from the Tamiya parts or even the Reskit exhausts.
So I have to harden the support stand inside the fuselage as it is not connected to the exhaust funnel. I don't want that important part to come loose as I insert or remove the support stick.
When mounting reskits or stock Tamiya parts, that won't be a problem as the holed part is attached to the exhaust which makes it much more solid

 

I'm now ready to (re)close the fuselage

 

Edited May 3 by red Dog

[F`s are my favs]

Carbon rod should be much safer than resin or even plastic, considering they are of the same thickness.