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1/20 F-16 - A scratch build project


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  • 2 weeks later...

New update -

Work on the first part of the upper fuselage

The wood was cut and was put in hot water, after about 15 minutes the wood is soft and can be shape more easily -

001-9.jpg

The two half's glued together -

002-9.jpg

Instead of gluing plastic to the wood I chose a different method.

I had a lot of plastic leftovers so i mixed it with thinner -

003-9.jpg

The wood was covered with this stuff in a few layers -

004-7.jpg

Here is the basic part after little sanding and compared to the tamiya part, i still have a lot to fix and a lot of sanding to get to the right shape -

005-4.jpg

Next will be the second part of the upper fuselage.

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Thank you guys for the kind words :cheers:

Cannot believe how quickly this is coming together.

I have to move thing quickly because until the fuselage and wings are done i can't start with the fun parts (Engine,Engine bay,cockpit,Gear (bay),cannon and such).

Edited by regevmo
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Hats off for fantastic craftsmanship!

May I suggest a method that's commonly used when building flying radio controlled balsa aircraft...

Cover the balsa with glassfibrecloth..! It's soooo simple, and strong!

You will need:

Glassfibrecloth, approx 50g/m2 density.

Either epoxy resin, or what I prefer, a mixture of 50/50 acetone and "Dope" which is a cellulose laquer.

Epoxy is somewhat harder to use, I think, so I stick with the Acetone/Dope solution.

Use a brush to cover the balsa with the acetone/dope solution 2-3 times, with light sanding in between. This solution will dry very fast.

Then lay down the glassfibrecloth and tack it in place with a brush and acetone. The acetone will bleed through the cloth and dissolve the dope beneath it, making the cloth stick to the balsa. With all the cloth in place, cover the cloth with the acetone/dope solution 2-3 times.

Now you can use sprayfiller to cover the weave pattern of the glassfibre.

Ultra smooth, strong and light! Easy to cover double-curved surfaces as well.

Please let me know if you need further explanation.

Good luck!

Jorgen "Troll" Toll

:salute:

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wow this is amazing stuff!!! i cant believe i have missed this thread!!! this is going to be one superb viper. will you keep it after or maybe put it up for sale? i even think general dynamics would want to buy this off you!!!

simply stunning!

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I am facinated by your technique of covering the wood form with liquified plastic. I don't think I've ever seen that done before. What solvent did you cut the plastic with, and how long does it take to cure? I've tried making my own filler from liquid cement and plastic scraps in the past but it took days for all the solvent to evaporate, usually leaving a big sink area after. Very nice work. I'll be watching this one.

Cheers

Mike

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Cover the balsa with glassfibrecloth..! It's soooo simple, and strong!

Seems like an interesting method and thanks for the explanation of the process, maybe i will use it in the future.

will you keep it after or maybe put it up for sale?

No, i'm keeping it :wacko:

I am facinated by your technique of covering the wood form with liquified plastic. I don't think I've ever seen that done before. What solvent did you cut the plastic with, and how long does it take to cure? I've tried making my own filler from liquid cement and plastic scraps in the past but it took days for all the solvent to evaporate, usually leaving a big sink area after. Very nice work. I'll be watching this one.

The solvent is actully a thinner (called 'Thinner 21'), it is a strong stuff and i'm using it also to clean paint from my airbrush. The cure time depends on the thickness of the layer but usually i wait for a few days for it to be completly cured.

By the way i really like your work on the Torpedo Bomber :thumbsup:

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  • 2 weeks later...

New update -

I got a call from the safety guys, they said that work on the fuselage must be stop unless i got a fire protection device :) so i made a 'Fire Extinguisher ' that can be seen quite often near a parking Usaf F-16's.

It was made from different materials -

001-10.jpg

Wheels and main container -

002-10.jpg

All the parts before painting -

003-10.jpg

Done, now I can continue to work on the fuselage :) -

004-8.jpg

005-5.jpg

006-2.jpg

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Holy smokes regevmo :blink:

That fire extinguisher looks like the real thing. Are you sure you did n't just take a real one and plop it onto some blue cloth....? :)

If you have any measurements or drawings/plans I'd be very interested. I've been wanting to scratch one of these little suckers to park next to my previous 1/32nd scale Mudhen.

Great work,....now get back to the airframe :bobby:

:lol:

:)

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Now that's truly top-notch work. Thanks for sharing. I've been wanting to try and scratchbuild one of those extinguishers in 1/48 and your replica should serve as a great reference.

Is that electrical wire or styrene that you used for the frame? If styrene I'm curious as to how you shaped the ring.

:cheers:

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This will be an amazing build!

Not only will it be a test of craftsmanship but the sheer endurance

that it takes to persevere through a project of this magnitude is

almost as inspirational as the skill!

Hope you finish this!

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Thank you all for the kind words, i really appreciate it :cheers:

If you have any measurements or drawings/plans I'd be very interested. I've been wanting to scratch one of these little suckers to park next to my previous 1/32nd scale Mudhen.

I don't have any drawing for it, i build it according to pictures that i have and mainly the ones that had a person besides them to give me some kind of reference.

Is that electrical wire or styrene that you used for the frame? If styrene I'm curious as to how you shaped the ring.

It is electrical wire that was used for the frame.

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