1/32 Tamiya F-16A

[Cheetah11]

I have a week of leave and we are visiting family of my wife. There is not much for me to do, so I was allowed to bring a model along. No, I could not believe it myself!! Maybe she is going soft on me at old age.

Anyway I jumped at the chance. Only problem l could not take along a compressor and paint. So what could I do with the time. A model l have in the stash which I knew was an easy and quick build was the F-16 from Tamiya. I had build this previously just as it was released and what a pleasant and quick build it  was. It was done in Chilean markings with the Two Bob decals.  As I had two more in the stash I decided to do one more. 
 

 
I had planned to do a F-16A all along, so l ordered the additional spruces of the Thunderbirds kit when that was released, and when Tamiya still had the spruces.

 

 

I will need to change the assembly order slightly as I can only paint when I get home. So lots of dry fitting needed but at least I can get the “ Donkey work” as my friend Joe calls it done.

 

So here goes an interesting almost OOB build.

 

Nick

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Cheetah11
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[alain11]

Hi Nick

only a week !!??? It’s a pleasant and easy kit , I agree but..........

happy modeling mate!!!!!!!!!!!

Alain

[Madmax]

3 hours ago, Cheetah11 said:

I have a week of leave and we are visiting family of my wife. There is not much for me to do, so I was allowed to bring a model along. No, I could not believe it myself!! Maybe she is going soft on me at old age.

 

Brave guy! 

[Cheetah11]

Thanks for the comments Alain and Sean,

 

It does seem a bit much to do the kit in a week but I won’t do the engine and dolly or any stores except Sidewinders and the belly tank. 
 

Here are the parts not used.
 

 

 

Some of the parts needing modification to an A are the slats. The only poor reference I could find shows the inboard hinge of the three should be removed but I need a bit more certainty. Anyone know for sure?

 

 
Thanks  

 
Nick

 

 

 

[AnthonyWan]

An excellent kit!

Watching this build with interest... have fun with it! 

[Out2gtcha]

Great start!  Interesting to work on models away from your own bench 

[Marcel111]

Nice! The A has two hinge fingers instead of three on that inside hinge.

 

What will you do about the tail? Pity you are in such a rush, KASL produces a great PW exhaust and also A tail (which you would likely need to modify depending on the version you are building). 

 

Cheers,

Marcel

[periklis_sale]

What will you do about the tail fin?

[Cheetah11]

14 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

Great start!  Interesting to work on models away from your own bench 

 
These are the traveling tools.

 

Yes Brian, a bit different but at least I can see all the tools on the workbench

The other difficulty is doing everything from the IPad.

 

Hi Marcel

The question on the tailfin. When the Tamiya kit was released a modeling friend gave me a box with two Hasegawa kits in spares. I will use some of these part except the gear doors. The tailpipe  parts for the Thunderbird kit are  great and fit very well. AM products are difficult for us. I have been waiting since March for books from Belgium.

 

Cheers 

 

Nick

 

[Marcel111]

Looks like you have things covered. Pay close attention to the wheels, Block 15 OCU aircraft have the Block 30/32 wheels you get with the Thunderbirds kit.

 

Cheers,

Marcel

[Cheetah11]

25 minutes ago, Marcel111 said:

Looks like you have things covered. Pay close attention to the wheels, Block 15 OCU aircraft have the Block 30/32 wheels you get with the Thunderbirds kit.

 

Cheers,

Marcel

Hi Marcel

 

I am doing an early Block 15 around 1984/85 so the Hasegawa wheels will do. The markings will be a surprise. BTW I used the wheels of this kit on a Sufa converted to a Block 60.

 

Cheers

Nick

[Cheetah11]

A bit more work on the cockpit. I am loving this modeling vacation as I am doing in a week that would normally take a month.

 

The best diagram I could find for an early F  -16 was this one.

 

These are the options I have. The single seat cockpit from the Sufa kit, the Tamiya block 25 and the Hasegawa kit cockpit. The latter was the only one even close.

 

 

I never realized there was such a difference in the layout of the various blocks.

 

The easiest route for a fairly accurate and still one fitting well was to cut the Hasegawa sills and glue them onto the kit cockpit tub. Worked surprisingly well.

 

 

I also started preparing the rear top fuselage fir the fin. I have done this in 1/48 as well and the 1/32 conversion needs a lot less plastic card to fill.

 

 

Enjoy

 

Nick

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Cheetah11
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[Cheetah11]

Almost done with the modifications. An extra layer of thin plastic card completed the upper fuselage . Sometimes Tamiya is difficult to understand. At the kit design stage an extra spruce would have given us the F-16 A ,B and D variants as well.

 

 

 

The next thing to do was to fit the Hasegawa tail. At the same time I scribed the tail.
 

 

A test fit. Fortunately the panel lines line up.

 

Another small modification on the front fuselage was to build the Hasegawa blast deflected onto the Tamiya kit. The fit looks a little rough but should be OK with a bit of filler.

 

 

The modified cockpit tub and assembly sequence fortunately fit without a pain.

 

 

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alain11]

hi Nick

years ago , I built the F 16 N from the old Hasegawa kit ( Tamiya kit wasn't still available)( a lot of engraving work)sure ,your way will save time  .... I think the N version was closed to the A , I displayed her "in flight " because I was a bit lazy  , I had chosen the grey / green splinter camo scheme , a very attractive one 

Alain

[Cheetah11]

 

20 hours ago, alain11 said:

hi Nick

years ago , I built the F 16 N from the old Hasegawa kit ( Tamiya kit wasn't still available)( a lot of engraving work)sure ,your way will save time  .... I think the N version was closed to the A , I displayed her "in flight " because I was a bit lazy  , I had chosen the grey / green splinter camo scheme , a very attractive one 

Alain

Hi Alain, I am showing my age but remember the Hasegawa F-16 well. I built three of them and repainted one twice in different markings when they became scarce . At the time of the Hasegawa F-16 and F-18 releases they were the state of the art 1/32 jets and much sought after. The earlier jet available at the time was the old F-4 and Mirage from Revell. The Revell F-4E with weapons was met with great enthusiasm in the day. I still have the Hasegawa F-18 converted to the C with the Paragon set.  Now we are spoiled for choice and still criticize every release.

 

I am now at the limit of my F-16 build without painting and priming. Hopefully I can continue next week if the ‘ Honey do list ‘ allows me some time.

This is the point reached.

 

Cheers

 

Nick