1/12 ESCI F-16 Cockpit

[Bill Cross]

Fabric looks real.

[Greg W]

Recently, a fellow LSP member took me up on my offer to supply him with a set of instruments for his newly acquired F-16 cockpit kit. I discussed with him via PM how I made the seatbelts and thought it might be a good idea to add that information here.

 

I used Johnson and Johnson cloth medical tape to simulate the seatbelt fabric.

 

 

I stuck a length of tape to a piece of glass and cut strips the appropriate width, using a metal straight edge and razor. The kit plastic buckles and hardware were added to the belts and then they were painted. My primary reference was the book, Verlinden Lock On No. 2 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. The pictures in the book showed that the seatbelts are a metallic grey color. So I picked out a grey that looked right to me, out of the paints I had on hand (sorry, I don't remember the specific color) and very lightly dry brushed the seatbelts with aluminum enamel paint. I over did it in some places and had to tone down the overly metalized sections with weak raw umber washes, which also added another layer of weathering. A little back and forth, some touch ups and I ended up with a vast improvement over what comes in the kit. The entire seat was airbrushed with a flat acrylic clear which also toned down the dry brushing and sealed/protected the belts and seat cushion prior to the wash. 

 

 

 

 

The belts have a slightly more metallic look to the naked eye than it seems in the photos, which looks just right to me but that is subjective. Not to long ago I sat in a car that had seatbelts with a metallic grey coloring to them and it made me think of trying to replicate that on this model. 

 

HTH, Greg

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by GDW

[Greg W]

Someone asked me to post more pictures of the modified throttle. 

 

I have to say, there is a little gizmology involved with the rendition of the cutoff release at the base of the handle. I used left over photo etch pieces to simulate it. Looking at it now, I give it a 7 out of 10. The handle was carved out of the original kit part. Plastic discs, made with a Waldron punch and die set, replicate the buttons and knobs.

 

Here are a few pics that I hope show the changes a little better.

 

Before:

 

 The control stick looks great but the throttle? Yeah, not the best effort...

 

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope that helps out,

 

Greg

Edited March 9, 2021 by GDW

[Pete Fleischmann]

Looks great! Nicely done!

I have one of these in the stash somewhere- my evil plan is to convert it to a “C” model cockpit.. block 25 or higher.

 

cheers

 

Pete

[Greg W]

 

On 3/11/2021 at 2:57 PM, Pete Fleischmann said:

Looks great! Nicely done!

I have one of these in the stash somewhere- my evil plan is to convert it to a “C” model cockpit.. block 25 or higher.

 

cheers

 

Pete

 

This kit is such a good starting point, I think you will have fun doing it. After seeing some of your work here, I know it will look terrific when finished. 

 

I have a little work cut out for me when I decide to do the F-104 cockpit, because I want to turn it into a U.S.A.F. version with the C-2 ejection seat. 

 

I look forward to seeing your F-16 pit, hopefully soon!  

 

Edited January 8 by Greg W