Drew T.

Thanks Steve and Jake! I'm looking forward to doing the oil washes and weathering. Right now, I'm building the missiles so I can decal and weather them with the rest of the model. Drew

Thanks Arnobiz! Your suggestion is basically what I ended up doing. I went back and added more mottling with thinned down lightened and darkened variations on the base color. I’m pretty happy with how it came out and seems to match the sun faded look F-16’s get on the top side. The painting on the airframe is finally complete now. The nose, air intake lip, and AIFF antenna between the cokpit and nose have a special coating that can’t be repainted. I sprayed them Mr. Color C317, as that seemed like a good match to my reference photos. I sprayed the HTM pod and Sniper pod pylon Mr. Co

Time for a quick update. I finally have paint on all the main parts, but since the model is still covered in masking tape and I’m in the middle of mottling the gunship gray areas on top, I couldn’t get photos of the other areas that are already painted. For the gunship gray on the top, I took Mr. Color 305 and added roughly 25% Mr. Color C5 Gloss blue, as most photos of F-16’s show a distinctive blue hue in the photos. This color also seems to look worn and patchy in many photos, so I used lightened and darkened variations of the base color and sprayed it through some texture stencils to ad

Hi Bill, thanks for the kind words! Didn't realize the hilarity of that photo until you guys commented on it! 🤣 I do wonder why in the world the pilot is pushing his own plane???? Thanks for the compliments! Not doing the Have Glass scheme on this one. The decals I have are for exactly how the jet looks in the top photo. Honestly, I prefer the original grey scheme of the Viper, the new Have Glass scheme looks too monochromatic to me. I'm tempted to try it in the future though just for the challenge of recreating that metallic sheen it has. Plus, it provides a better opportu

Thanks SaG! One note I found on the Tamiya kit is that you have to be careful aligning the wingtip missile launchers. I originally attached them at the same downward angle as the missile launchers under the wing. However, as you can see in the photo I posted at the top of the thread, they wingtip missiles should be angled just a touch lower than the others. There's enough play in the kit launchers that you can place them at the correct angle as I did below.

Hi Salal, Thanks for the kind words! I think I used 0.4mm and 0.8mm Albion tubing on the drop tank pylons. I have their assortment set SFT1. I do agree that the Tamiya F-16 kit is awesome. Makes it hard to ever go back to the two Hasegawa F-16 kits I have in the stash.

Thanks Arnaud! Glad I can be a source of motivation. Thanks for the info and kind words Jake! I didn't realize the two pylon designs are due to different suppliers. I don't have the second edition of your book, and I don't think my copy mentioned the two types of pylons. I'm surprised no one in the aftermarket offers the Sergent Fletcher version of the pylon if most jets use it. Thanks for the info and compliments Steve! I love finding out about these kinds of things. I actually ended up going back and shimming with styrene the front part of the joint where

Big update today, and hopefully the last one before painting. Below is the progress I made with the pylons. I added some detail at the back of the LAU-118 HARM missile launchers that come in the Eduard kit based on photos from Jake Melampy’s excellent Modern Viper Guide. I also added some detail to the Tamiya pylons with Albion tubing to replicate the sway braces. The drop tank pylons needed more work. They should have a rectangular “bulge” right below the triangular protrusions at the top of the pylons and a long narrow “bulge” at the bot

Thanks for all kinds words guys! David, to answer your question on the canopy, after sanding the seam, I polished with Tamiya rubbing compounds. They make a coarse, fine, and finish grade. This is the first time I've used them and they work great. I recommend them. I'll post an update in a few days. I finally finished the drop tank pylons. They took a good bit of work to fix some inaccuracies, but I'm happy with them now. After a few more odds and ends, I'll be ready for paint. Drew

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Janissary, the raised rivets on the IP coaming are already on the part from the Avionix cockpit set. I just picked them out with some neutral gray paint. The raised rivets on the gear doors are already existing from the Tamiya kit. I used a pounce wheel style riveting tool from Galaxy Models to add some recessed rivets to the nose gear door. I had a hiccup a few days ago when the paint peeled up from the IP coaming. Apparently, I forgot to wipe the resin with denatured alcohol before painting, so the paint peeled off when I pulled up the mas

Thanks for the kind words guys! Night Owl Models, to answer your question on why I decided on SC ANG markings, I’m a native South Carolinian and I always thought it was cool that our National Guard unit has flown the latest F-16’s in the Air Force’s inventory since they were brand new. They were even the first Guard unit to fly F-16’s in 1983. About your question on the undercarriage, I already primed and painted them. I recently discovered a good off-white color to use for the undercarriage, wheel bays, and intake, which is Gunze’s C69. Although Tamiya’s kit has decals for the landing ge

Hi Guys, haven’t posted here in ages, but I’m back into modeling after being away from the hobby for several years. I started on Tamiya’s excellent 1/48 F-16C a couple of months ago and figured I’d share my progress. The subject will be the below block 52 jet of South Carolina’s Air National Guard unit. I didn't take any photos of all the aftermarket goodies I’m using back before this project started, but here’s the rundown. The Kit: I’m starting with Tamiya’s 1/48 Thunderbird boxing (61102) since it depicts a block 52 jet, but unfortunately does not includ

I'm building the Monogram B-17 right now. If I was to build another one, though, I would definitely get an older version of the kit that has crisper moldings. The ProModeler details (engine wiring, ammo belts, and cheyenne turret) can be had though Eduard and Paragon. Throw away the kit decals too because they're pretty thick. I think the ProModeler decals may be better, though. Check Swanny's article on the 1/48 B-17 kits here: http://www.swannysmodels.com/B17G.html

A pretty good, and cheap, source of period interior photos of B-17s is the January 2000 issue of Airpower magazine. Its got an article with interior photos of the gun emplacements of B-17s. The photos were taken during WWII, so its a bit more accurate than the restored B-17s. Check ebay, I think you can pick it up for about 5-6 bucks. Drew

I've heard that the cheyenne turret that comes with the ProModeler and Visible B-17 kit is not that good. The Verlinden set also has this turret, but the best turret of this type is made by Paragon. I'm not sure where you can get it in the US, but Hannants should have it. Staggering the waist guns is not difficult. The right waist gun has to be moved up just far enough that the national insignia fits between the waist door and the window for the waist gun. You'll have to make new frameless windows from clear sheet plastic that has the same curvature as the fuselage. I used plastic from