Camus272

Looking at my current in-progress table, my problem is usually: 1. Something doesn't fit (go to put a canopy on closed and it won't fit) 2. Something went wrong (removing masking tape to find the canopy cracked -which is going to take some in-depth surgery) 3. I've either lost a part/ decal or 4.I made a significant mistake in accuracy (forgetting a part or something wrong for the block, etc - more surgery) The biggest problem is life. In March I started a group build, but as the semester came to end I spent six weeks just thinking about class. Now, I'm just trying to recover and then catch up on life. IF I don't go back to class next week, I should get back to the kits by the end of the month - of course, that means Air Show season is just starting. If I just built one at a time it wouldn't happen so much, but usually as I just get to the finish point I try to get the major steps of the next build going, and then I just don't get back to those 2 or 3 small things.

The F-35 gets another mission with a new (old )squadron, as the 65th is being reactivated for aggressor duty. It will be interesting to see if they can get away with anything different for the paint scheme.

I'm still waiting on my two-seaters, but it seems then that they went a little cheaper on the new kit as far as decal and weapons, even with the increased price. I wouldn't have minded NASA decals for the white version, but I'll have to piece that scheme together myself.

They are on the sprue with the Mk 82's - part #5s.

The Revell kit also has the outboard pylon with the original ALQ pod. I believe the Hasegawa F-15E has outboard pylons too - they ended up on my build anyway. It was originally tested with the AIM-120 and the AGM-88. But, the new pylon may be different. It has been depicted with AIM-120s or AIM-9s.

Yeah, I'm not excited about future Blue Angels shows. From what I've read about the new routines so far, nothing is going to be better. It will be a shorter show, with less inverted flying. I don't think the larger airframes are going to help either. The legacy Hornets just look more like a high performance sports car.

The Navy recently got rid of their last fleet F-18C squadron. That leaves just aggressors and the Blue Angels (for three more seasons) as the last legacy Navy Hornets.

Nevermind

Having got most of it together (and testing some Have Glass colors), I realized a few things: 1. I now have three directions I want to go with this build, (an added danger of a what-if). 2. After putting the tail, I realized the F-16XL had a problem with chaff and flare launchers - they are covered by the Amraams. So the F-16EX (as I label it) is going to have the extended tail to make some room for them (which required some cutting, casting and insertion of the new part). Yes, 1/48. With the two-seater released this week I may end up doing more XLs than I planned.

And, it begins . . .

I'm planning on regular pylons for PGMs, but now you've got me thinking, with the development of JDAMs and SDBs advancing the effectiveness of free-fall munitions, I wonder if the individual bomb racks would have become a thing again. I'm not sure if I can afford to source that much ordnance though.

Looks like I'll start an updated, 21st century F-16XL. I have no idea what the designation would have been: F-16E block 52? 62? Whatever it is, we'll see how it would look if active in the current Air Force, using the Skunk Models 1/48 kit. I probably should have finished something first- but what's one more ongoing project? (I'll add photos tomorrow)

[disregard]

Interesting, it looks like they just took the sprue out of an F-16 kit - it seems that the 501 pylons are in the F-16 block 20 kit, so that may have all the parts.

I believe the 501 pylons are only in the Revell kit. I think the easiest way is to use a Hasegawa F-16A and add the Revell parts (that's how I went did it). I would save the Tamiya kit for a later airframe build. Just to add an answer to your question: the accurate tail is definitely only in the Revell or Kinetic kits.