Cheetah11 Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 This build is a little slower than anticipated. I am recently retired and we are looking after our 5 moth old grandson. Two things. I cleanly forgot the time a baby consumes and being retired you have little time for modelling!!!! Any way a few corrections and additions before I close the fuselage. The Black Box resin cockpit is nice and some old school painting was required. My hand painting skills suck so do not look too closely. The only addition here are the rudder pedals . The IP was rebuild as well as the combing around the HUD. I suspect the White Metal HUD framing is more representative of a F-16A HUD, so a new HUD support was done. The IP in the Kit is not well defined and does not capture the instruments well. It is not 3-dimentional enough but not having a suitable replacement a compromise had to be made. Hopefully all will fit together. Another piece that needed detailing was the node cone. Strips were added and sanded down to represent the real thing. Cheers Nick scvrobeson, themongoose, Marcel111 and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain11 Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 hi Nick Wow !!!!! newly retired , and ... Granddad !!! you accumulate jobs !!!!! remember this : within a couple of years , you will have a young apprentice on your knees , that will help you modelling , then .. beware of all these sharp stuffs lying on your bench .. it's lived ...good job so far cheers Alain Jack and Cheetah11 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Good going Cheetah. I am becoming Grandad for the 1st time in 5 days from now. Cheetah11, IainM and Jack 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 5 hours ago, alain11 said: hi Nick Wow !!!!! newly retired , and ... Granddad !!! you accumulate jobs !!!!! remember this : within a couple of years , you will have a young apprentice on your knees , that will help you modelling , then .. beware of all these sharp stuffs lying on your bench .. it's lived ...good job so far cheers Alain Thanks Alain. Yes I hope to turn the young apprentice into a good LSP modeler. Cheers Nick 3 hours ago, Gerhard said: Good going Cheetah. I am becoming Grandad for the 1st time in 5 days from now. Thanks Gerhard. Wonderful news on the soon to be Grandad. Cheers Nick Gerhard and IainM 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 I decided to do the engine with parts from the spares box. Our local hobby shop has the Reskit F-16 exhaust but the one with the closed nozzle, so I had to improvise. Fortunately the Thunderbird kit comes with two jet pipes and the Academy kit has the feathers around the nozzle as an option. I also have a casting of the Tamiya F-15 inner pieces, so let see how this all fits together. All fits together surprisingly well. I made a mask for the feathers on the Silhouette. You have to love the replicate tool. Fifteen clicks on the mouse button and enough for the feathers and a few spare. Here is the result. A wash and a bit of shading to follow but the hard part is done. There is a small step between the Hasegawa and Academy parts. I plan to do a small cut in the fuselage and compress it to minimize the sanding when the tail cone is fitted to the fuselage. Cheers Nick Landrotten Highlander, themongoose, blackbetty and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainM Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Bakgat!!!!! Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroen_R90S Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 Awesome work on this classic, Nick! Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 On 7/17/2022 at 3:06 PM, 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 What a weird configuration, with the ECM pod on the wing (all the while, the centerline station is empty). Great work Nick, I’m following closely. Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 Amazing work all around, will follow with interest. Cheers Martin Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzerwomble Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 Really fascinating project , look forward to seeinhg such an early Viper . Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 Good work, Nick. It's quite a lot of fun to combine and fiddle and match parts from different kits. Congratulations on becoming a grandfather! Cheers, John Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted September 16, 2022 Author Share Posted September 16, 2022 Thanks for all the interest and comments guys. I have started to paint some parts. The tail first and before attaching to the fuselage. Why? A little easier to work on with the painting. I decided to cut masks for the tail. Two reasons. Elite decals have decided way back to do a generic sheet on the decals. This is a plus as almost any aircraft number can be modeled. The neg is the problem of aligning all the individual parts making up the serial no. I just knew one will be skew with my decal skills. I also used the leading edge and bottom as a cut to position the markings. The digitizing was done off a side on photo as the sketch on the decal sheet is a bit small to position the numbers accurately. The USAF badges from the Tamiya kit. Cheers Nick Rockie Yarwood, scvrobeson, Landrotten Highlander and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 15, 2022 Author Share Posted October 15, 2022 Some more AM for the build. The F-16A style of wheels still on the F-16C's during 1991. My local hobby shop had a Reskit F-16A set . These are a bit fiddly for old hands but look great when finished. Assembled and painted and with a wash applied. The underside almost finished and a final check for fitment of the cockpit parts before I paint the seat and HUD. Cheers Nick CShanne, BLACK MAMBA, O.W and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 (edited) Most of the airframe done. I would rate the Elite decals as a moderate 5/10 The nose art seems a bit small compared to photos and broke into about 5 pieces when it was applied. Luckily no small children present to learn new vocabulary. The main sheet a little better but the roundels are undersized and the tail no wrong. Turning my attention now to the weapons and stores. I managed to find AM CBU-57 bombs but on some sites it is mentioned the F-16 did not carry these much. I therefore decided on Mk 84 bombs. I started with these from Tamiya. After a short sanding and painting session The F-16 Block 25 aircraft from Shaw in the Gulf War carried the ALQ-119 (V80) A bit of cutting and pasting was needed to get something resembling the right pod. Finished product. Here is the rest of the loadout. AIM-9's from Tamiya and tanks from Academy. Cheers Nick Edited October 31, 2022 by Cheetah11 CODY, John1, Memphis and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain11 Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Hi Nick that turns nice,you are closes to the end !!!! Well done!!!! Oh !!! BTW , which bad words could we Say in such situation ...... I mean the decal That does what it wants !!!!!!! I wonder.......... Alain Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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