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Gulf War Viper


Cheetah11

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I recently read a few articles on the first Gulf War. It felt like yesterday when we were glued to the TV watching dim images of laser guided bombs destroying command posts and aircraft shelters. Hard to believe it more than 31 years have passed since those events. I had a look in my stash to see what model I could build from the Gulf War.

 

Only suitable one a Hasegawa F-16. I have build a few of these kits but this time I will see If I can use some aftermarket items and parts from the spares box. 

 

1-A41-F3-D0-D732-4911-9-FBF-F97-D8476-D8

 

So what is possible from the kit. Apart from the raised panel lines and some dubious detail, the kit lends itself well to the Gulf War era Vipers. On the internet I found a list of the serial numbers of participating F-16 aircraft. My initial idea was to do an aircraft from the New York ANG. I have some small elevators in the spares box so a Block 5 Vipers is possible. The South Carolina ANG also flew the F-16A Block 5 Vipers in the war but decals for either of these would be difficult to source. A few small mouth Block 30 aircraft participated so it would be possible to do the kit as such. Problem also decals. The easiest Gulf War Viper from the Hasegawa kit is the Block 25 aircraft that was used by a few units. So here goes.

Nick

 

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Excellent idea. Have you found this site yet for Desert Storm…I’ve used it for F/A-18 builds but he has alot of specific aircraft and equipment uploaded as well. You may find something of use there. I especially like the loadout charts.


edit - I’d forgotten he has a great list of desert storm decals by scale and manufacturer.

 

Edited by themongoose
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10 hours ago, themongoose said:

Excellent idea. Have you found this site yet for Desert Storm…I’ve used it for F/A-18 builds but he has alot of specific aircraft and equipment uploaded as well. You may find something of use there. I especially like the loadout charts.


edit - I’d forgotten he has a great list of desert storm decals by scale and manufacturer.

 

 

Hi Mongoose

 

Yes I have had a good look at the site when I started looking at the build. The Hasegawa kit has the right config in terms of scoops and antenna for a Block25 and these aircraft still had no stiffener plates at the time of Desert Storm. Also no walkway stripes to battle with on the decal side. I still need to decide on the exact config and loadout but fortunately there are plenty of photos on the site.

I have the Aires wheel bays for the Academy kit and will see how to fit it to the Hasegawa kit. The Black Box (Avionics) cockpit was made for the Hasegawa kit and should fit with the IP from the kit. For the decals I will see if I can get some from Hannants.

Cheers

Nick

 

 

 

 

 

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First a dry fit to see if the Aires wheel well will fit. I detailed my previous builds with plastic rod and card but now time for a shortcut. No problem with the fit with only a few small adjustments foreseen. The Undercarriage bay on the Hasegawa kit needs to be lengthened by 5mm. I suspect the kit was based upon one of the prototype aircraft and all the changes to the production version was not feasible after the kit was tooled. The main gear bay needs lengthening as said and the nose gear bay is too narrow. 

 

A small problem to address. The main gear strut does not fit. The Hasegawa gear legs will need to be cut and shortened to fit the resin.

 

0921774-F-9034-43-D3-B729-EE82-EE360-B52

 

I also have a spare NSI intake from the Academy kit and will see if I can graft this onto the Hasegawa kit. Save a bit of scribing hopefully and the gear well and door is correct.

Cheers

Nick

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I first need to get the nose of the Academy kit to fit. So here goes. First the position of the front end of the gear bay was determined using the resin part as reference.

 

EAAD6453-46-E0-4825-BDE0-75-E97-BD126-C2

 

 

8-E4992-CB-CA25-41-B2-A2-BE-1-CE4-D40007

 

I fitted the Aires nose gear well which fitted like a dream (it should but you never know with Aires). I decided to add the gap with plastic card instead of a cutting the Hasegawa part. Why the Hasegawa front part of the intake? That question needs to be directed to the Carpet Monster.

 

In the mean time I have found a photo on the internet of the Block 25 F-16 during Desert Storm from Shaw AFB. I think this is most likely the markings and config I will use.

 

fosters-express-2.jpg

Cheers

Nick

 

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A small fix was required to fit the intake to the rest of the fuselage. The recessed part on the Hasegawa kit does not match the Academy nose section. Not even close.

The solution was to build the Hasegawa section with plastic card and sand smooth. The easy part.

 

A65730-C3-5-C4-F-4-EDB-9-C4-D-0-F3-AED9-

 

Now for the more difficult part. The Vents on the sides of the Academy intakes do not protrude far enough to match the Hasegawa part. The solution this time was to cut slots in the sides with a razor saw and use gap filling superglue to make the vents wider.

 

AE78115-D-453-E-4581-89-BE-5-D931-E0-E67

 

Eventually all fit together but with a lot of filling and sanding still to be done.

 

0-C0908-B3-4-AAC-4-FA7-A0-F9-86970247268

 

Cheers

Nick

 

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4 minutes ago, Finn said:

Not the unit you plan to do but here is a F-16A from that time period:

 

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6474152

 

Jari

Thanks for the period photo Jari. It all helps to get an idea of the Desert Storm period. The jamming pod on the wing pylon would have made an interesting config to model. I have some small tail planes in the spares box and one of the New York or South Carolina ANG Block 5  aircraft was the preferred option but sourcing decals was out of the question. 
Cheers

Nick

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little progress. This build is going a bit slow but should speed up a little soon.

 

I decided to use the kit compressor face although it is overscale. The intake trunk of the Hasegawa kit matches the Academy closely after a bit of sanding.

 

D85-A3960-A274-4921-9843-F0-A26-DE377-DC

 

The underside is now almost complete. Time to the upper section of the kit.

 

62-BB3260-4-B9-B-46-A8-A195-4-DE56-AA7-A

 

Cheers

Nick

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Some more trouble in paradise 

 

The base of the Academy fin is thicker than the Hasegawa ( and Tamiya ) one. The obvious answer is just to use the kit fin and detail it a bit. 

But more trouble in the horizon.

 

Fin base compared.

0-C54-B952-7-B3-C-47-B7-85-A3-200-E326-A

 

On side view the two also differs. The angle of the rudder hinge and rudder dimensions are suspect compared to the Academy kit and the Tamiya kit. ( and side on photos)

I suspect this is a carry over from the fact the original kit was based on pre production aircraft and never updated on the later A and C parts.

F9-DF78-E4-A679-4-A78-828-B-0-DEF8-AC3-C

 

The solution 

79-B5-CEC5-DCAB-4559-B901-D0-C34998479-B

 

 

In the mean time this arrived from East Anglia.

CE2-DE5-A0-F15-E-4-A34-AB84-74-AFCB92-A6

 

Cheers

Nick

 

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hi Nick

building a F 16 kit !!!??? or playing  Dr Frankenstein !!!! :hmmm: ... all issues have a solution !!!!!!!!!!!! ;) well done !!!!!!!

cheers 

Alain

Edited by alain11
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8 hours ago, alain11 said:

hi Nick

building a F 16 kit !!!??? or playing  Dr Frankenstein !!!! :hmmm: ... all issues have a solution !!!!!!!!!!!! ;) well done !!!!!!!

cheers 

Alain

 

Ha Ha Alain, yes Frankenstein still have a few limbs to be transplanted before he becomes alive.:lol:

Cheers

Nick

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

I have picked up a discrepancy on the decal sheet. The number of "Hammer Time" on the sheet is listed as 381 whereas most references show the number to be 281.

In the mean time some more parts added to Frankenstein.

With most of the bottom fuselage done I started on the top fuselage section. The air vent in front of the u/c bay still needs to be fabricated but mostly done on the bottom.

I re-enforced the mounting of the stabs with alu tube and brass strips as well. (OCD)

 

EE740919-FA91-45-C4-883-B-54-B171496679.

 

329-D1658-8-CA5-43-CB-8134-56-D025789-A7

 

 

Time to do the top fuselage.

The cockpit was cut for the Avionix resin (Still marked Black Box ) and dry fitting it shows an almost perfect fit. I am going to midify the front cover below the HUD since the resin and kit part are based on a F-16A.

A3155976-C785-4012-8539-F0395-AFB4-FCC.j

 

2857-F6-C3-B29-D-4-D0-D-8-CBA-BD538-A361

 

The resin parts glued to the inside and primed. I stumbled by accident on a new way to fit the resin to plastic. The dry fit showed a very small gap between the cockpit tub and side walls and I decided to glue the sidewall to a sheet of .25mm plastic card with Superglue. Once dry the plastic card was trimmed and then glued using Tamiya thin cement. This allowed some positioning of the parts which is not possible with Superglue. Great result. Enjoy

Nick

Edited by Cheetah11
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