ruzlkampf Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Whoakay, last entry in my Norwegian trio. Can't even remember where/when I bought this,....only that it cost $45 shipped to my door. I believe it's a re-boxing of another kit, but I dunno. I was just happy to find an 'A' version of an F-16! Kit comes with a curious mixture of raised/recessed panel lines, and looks like it was made from 3 different companies. Has the small original elevators (that I'll be changing), and I don't know what for an IP. After piecing this together a bit, I pronounced it un-buildable. Won't hear that from me very often! Now that I'm older, more decrepid, and much wiser (snicker) I think I'll give this one a go. About the only addition will be the elevators and Masterdetails pilot. Uuuuuhm, guess I'd better include some spiffy 'Russ-special decals' also for the national insignia 'n such. Here's what I'll be starting out with. Another Kangnam (re-boxing?) kit that I haven't seen another one since getting this one. I'm feeling up for a challenge, and this should be just the ticket! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Got the cockpit glued together, along with the wing/tail 1/2's and such. I think I'm going to have to acquire some clamps to get this one together, as everything is just 'off' enough to warrant them. Never-the-less, I am going to pound this one into submission.....somehow. I'm going to scratch some new elevators, and enlarge the housing at the base of the fin for the parachute these had. Not sure of the load-out (depends on which year I make it,...probably mid 80's?) yet but it will be air-air. Here's the kit sorta taped together with most of the parts I have glued together. Oooooh, it looks so benign sitting there, but it's looking at me with satanic red eyes. A real 'devil-kit'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Here's some pics of what I'll be going for. Norway paints their Vipers one color grey overall, and they've been modified thru the years with various upgrades. Most of these pics are of the latest markings and fin-flash. I went gah-gah over this top pic, as it shows a norwegian F-16 that has travelled all the way to Nellis AFB in Nevada for a Red-Flag meet. COOOOOOL! Awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Closer view of the extended parachute housing. I think I might have a Norwegian flag painted on the visor of the pilots helmet? Dunno yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Anywho, this is the general idea of what I'm going for. Not sure which of these 3 planes I'll whomp on first, but with 6 months of build time I believe I'll finally get a chance to get these built! So my foray into building a fledgling Norwegian air force begins. Pics as things progress! Later, Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbetty Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 nice set of birds, russ cant even imagine you having unfinished builds. admit it, the neighbourhood kid gave these to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Heh heh, I'll probably end up giving this to one of those neighbor kids Karl! This one won't have a bit of detail, except whatever it comes with. Egads; it's going to be tough enough just getting what I have together in a semi-believable fashion. I have yet to have even one piece fit! That's OK, for the price....I don't mind doing some grinding and filling. I'm gonna use Texas' battle-cry of; "Just get er done"! Enlarged some plans to see if this was even a reasonable facsimile of an F-16A, and was wildly surprised to see it conform very well to the outlines. Whoohooo, now if I can just carve all the individual pieces to fit inside the lines I'll be ecstatic. Girded my sword to start attacking this, and didn't get any further than starting on the gun-bay doors before my eyes rolled back in my head. Oooooh, I'll get them to fit alright, after I finish tweaking on them with a pair of needle-nose pliers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 After twisting on those for awhile, and shaving edges to get them where they'll actually sit sorta flush with the fuse.....I decided to look at the elevators I'll need to enlarge. The kit pieces actually fit over the plans for the earlier versions really well, but I think I'll do those later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Another mod I'll be doing is extending the parachute housing at the base of the tail. Quick check to see if the fin is basically correct in outline. Not too bad, I can work with this! I'll put that on the back-burner too, as I'm out looking for trouble and the place to find it is usually around any kind of intake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Didn't have to look too far before I found more flash/sink marks/and miss-aligned locator pins than I could shake my boney fist at. I'm not into bashing kits, or making anything look bad....so I'm not going to show any 'before' pics. This is about an hour and a half of Dremeling/sanding/whittling and a zillion test fits to get to this stage. I had to section out about 2-3mm from the upper/lower 1/2's to get the diameter down enough to fit the inlet compressor blades on one end....and the intake mouth on the other. This is still roughed out for test fitting into the fuse, which highlighted a number of other fit problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 This is the backside of the intake trunk. I had to re-sculpt/re-drill/and re-build every one of those formers, as none of them fit. It was at this point I had the epiphany that this kit is much like a very limited-run kinda build that appears very clunky, but is basically all there if you throw the directions away and just carve everything to fit. That 'keel' running thru the landing gear bay originally stood about 3-4mm proud of the bottom of the fuse and had a corresponding gap between it and the engine housing. Yikes! Careful shaping brought everything to where (I think) it should be. Hmmmmm,...wonder if my landing gear oleos will fit now? Meh, one hurdle at a time.....and just "get er done" for now. I don't have a single book on the F-16 (and don't want to know) if these formers are correct looking or not. This is definitely one of those models where 'ignorance is bliss'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Taking 2-3mm's section out of the intake, along with some careful carving and shaping allowed me to actually slide the intake mouth over the end of the intake trunk finally without any protruding lips or unsightly huge gaps. I'm within a small amount of putty, and pouring white latex housepaint to smooth things out to have a smooth intake now. Whuf, I cannot believe the original Hasegawa boxing of this kit was this far off,.....but the original kit is pretty old and maybe that's just how it was? Dunno. OK, major accomplishment getting the intake lip in place, and actually being able to fit that circular compressor face onto the back of this assembly! Landing gear bay actually fits inside the fuse now,...sooo it's time to glue all this together and start smoothing things out. Wait until you see how this assembly slides into the fuse, and the rest of the outside intake housing go together. After many dry-fits and twisting with my needle-nose pliers....I think I have a 'sequence of events' for assembling this conglomeration with a minimal of filler? More pics as things progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbetty Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 nice start. this seems to be a hasegawa rebox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harv Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 nice start. this seems to be a hasegawa rebox ...Sadly (well, maybe not for Hasegawa), the Kangman is NOT a Hasegawa re-box, but rather a 'knock-off'. I've heard it referred-to as one of those 'unbuildibles' due to poor fit and bad moldings. The Fit and accuracy of the 1/32 Hase F-16s may not be up to the standard of Tamiya's latest big Vipers (which are exquisite examples of model engineering and fit), but are pretty good for kits that are 20 some-odd years old. Regardless, as always, Russ you are beating it into submission! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancman Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Hey Russ I've got one of these baby's planned it's been in the stash waiting it's turn, it will be a tiger meet viper but I think I've taken the chicken route Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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