72nd Revell F-16C with TwoBobs TMOTA decals

[Mark M.]

I have no cutting/building left on my other F-16 (only paint and decals) so I opened up the box for the next F-16 and started in the middle of the past week.

The kit is surprisingly nice. It's not without minor issues (like the seam between cockpit area and upper fuselage!) but so far a little forthought, a lot of dryfitting, and some good reference photos will save the day.

Cockpit was nice, but the instrument panel was pathetically detailed. It had 2 MFDs but nothing else. A simple grid of lines covered the forward projection (rather than buttons) just under the HUD. I used Mike Grant's instrument decals. There are about 25 of the little SOBs on there, and believe you me it was a task to get them on!!

There were very few buttons on the side panels either. The panel frames were laid out, but they were smooth (blank) and no decals were supplied with the kit either.

I used combinations of smaller decals to simulate detail on the sides. I put the sidewalls on afterwards, but dry fitting shows they hinder the fit of the tub into the cockpit. I'll have to sand the upper sides of the white plastic card for it to fit smoothly. Taking the piece off the sprue, one side (where the MFD is located) snapped clean off on the sprue. I had to superglue it back, but it was only attached by a hairline of plastic. The molding is surprisingly crisp. I reinforced it with a strip of plastic card -- which I had to trim down afterwards to fit into the cockpit hood molded onto the upper fuselage.

The piece had a center column with 2 "wings" (each with an MFD). The upper extension sits flush with the upper fuselage piece to sit underneat the HUD later on. The problem is that it sits too high. The shape of the peice is fine, but if you push it all the way into place, the square section protruedes into the HUD space (when it should be flush). Also, on top of the MFDs on each side are instrument dials, but there was only about half as much room as I needed on the plastic to put any decals on. I took another thin strip of plastic card, cemented it into place, and the next day I cut off the excess and sanded the shape to add about another 1 to 1.5mm height above the MFDs on each side. Once painted you cannot tell the difference, and the additional thickness helps to better position the forward control panel with the HUD later on. The sprue gate blends in with a locator tab at the bottom. I thought it was a sprue gate, so I cut it clean off. I had to install a thin strip of plastic card to remedy that later on.

The profile of the center column is similar to the shape of the constellation Casiopea. It's a smooth zig-zag. The real thing is not. The real thing has a flat overhang for the forward control panel, and thin braces on either side (sun shades?) but the instruments are flat. I carved down into the shap, and built the braces/sunshades with .030 inch plastic card. I put 2 instruments side by side in there, but they didn't settle as I wanted them to. I then put 2 instruments on top of each other (centered) below those two, but they shifted a bit with the solvaset. Sadly I doubt you'll be able to see it once installed.

The instake has a series of bumps inside. I tried sanding them smooth and it wasn't working. I turned to this tube of old glue I had. I used it several years ago to remedy the Monogram 1/48th "unrepairable" seam on the F101B intakes. It is thin enough that it "runs" and fills gaps and such. It doesn't appear to dissolve plastic (which I found out years ago, inspiring its use as a filler!). I've used it once on each side of this intake already. I had to prime it to see how it was going. It dries semi-translucent and you have to prime it to check progress. I plan on putting more in tonight and letting it dry, repriming and checking again tomorrow. Hopefully that's all it will need. Eventually the intake will be airbrushed white as well.

Note on the intake: The right/left halves dry-fit fine together, but when you push them, then dry-fit to the underside fuselage, they stick out too far from the rest of the fuselage. You have to let them sag a bit, and push inward into the middle (right on the ventral seam line, actually!). This makes it tricky to get the right angle. I suggest putting the glue on and holding them in place on the lower fuselage until the glue cures enough to let go. Also, a small shim of some sort on the upper edge of the intake may bring the same end result

Note that the main gear well only goes together one way. The forward and rear walls are mis-labeled. It would have you think they were reversed. It will also only fit into the fuselage one way. However, the center divider (separates left/right) CAN and WILL go in backwards. If it does, the fuselage piece that fits between the gear doors will NOT fit properly later on. The detail on the sides will match the wheel well detail ribs if installed properly, and the "hole" in the peice should be towards the FRONT of the bay (the real front, not the part listed as "front"). No pictures of that -- no painting yet, nothing to show.

[mmaker]

Very nice progress so far,Mark!

Keep in mind that you have to trim the inside part of wheel wells,if you want a correct appearance of the intake!

Keep the photos coming! :wacko:

[Mark M.]

I'm having a problem visualizing what you mean. Trim which part of the wheel well? I'm afraid I've already assembled my intake, and I'm in "gap smoothing" mode, but I'd like to learn a better way for next time.

[Mist]

Nice work so far Mark. I really need to learn some scratchbuilding.

[Mark M.]

So do I!

Heh, I don't consider adding walls scratch building. There's somebody in TMOARC or Viper 2.0 (can't recall which) who's entirely scratch-built his f-16 cockpit -- I mean almost every piece!

I add a few details where I can. Next time you're at the hobby shop just pick up a pack of plastic card. They have a pack with 3-4 different thicknesses. Use scissors or clips to cut out the piece you need then go from there.

[Mist]

I'll def check into it. The most i've ever scratchbuilt was adding levers to my B6-N2 Jill

[Mark M.]

Bah, I hate adding levers. I can never make the knobs at the top look very good!

Anyways, just a little *bump* and to say that I'll be doing more work on this, now that my Viper 2.0 build is 99.9% done. Once I get a significant way through this build (say, most of the wings/fuselage assembled) I'll start another thread for the CF-18.

[Mark M.]

Bah!!! Stupid intake seam!!!

My old tube of cement trick isn't working like I hoped. It's too complex a curve and shape, and the cement isn't drying "flat" -- I've ripped it out twice so far.

I think I need to pick up some... what do you call it?... Mr. Surfacer? The paint that you sand down, and it acts as a filler?

You think that would work? It wouldn't have been SO bad except the cement I used before made it worse when I ripped it out.

No photos, because no real progress. :D

[Mist]

Mr Surfacer is WONDERFUL. Get Mr. Surfacer 500 for big seams. I use it religously and it works great. Kinda smelly tho.

[Mark M.]

Mr Surfacer is WONDERFUL. Get Mr. Surfacer 500 for big seams. I use it religously and it works great. Kinda smelly tho.

Bah! I went around looking all over the store and finally had to ask, and they didn't carry it!!!

The 2 Colpars in this city are just too danged far (30-45 minutes drive), and tomorrow's booked, so it's got to wait til next weekend.

[Mark M.]

Bah, my sis (the one using the camera) forgot to bring it back this weekend. I've put the IP in place (glued into the upper fuselage after much testing/dry-fitting to insure the best angle with the HUD combing), have glued the upper/lower fuselage halves together, and cleaned up the seam.

Funny, not sure if this is because I added cockpit sidewalls, but I had to file off plastic from beneath the tub for the top/bottom fuselages to properly close up.

Radome on, more work on intake, main gear well installed... It's looking like an F-16 now!

The stopping point for now (for me at least) is the intake seam. I need to fix it. I made it worse than the kit originally did, so it's my fault.

No photos because no camera at the moment.

[Mist]

Your just having a helluva time with this build, huh Mark?

[Mark M.]

Not the build, just the intake :blink:

The rest of it's been pretty straightforward. I need a little cleanup at the LEX seams and maybe around the radome, but for the most part the rest has been quite pleasant.

On another note, I found a couple of places that might have Mr. Surfacer. Swanny's webpage mentions he gets his from GreatModels. It might be out of stock, so I e-mailed them asking. Also, EricYYmodel.com has them, but I don't know if you can ship them internationally.

I seem to recall some problems with legally shipping paints and the like, especially internationally. I don't know if he can get them to me (legally) even though he has 'em.

[Mist]

Not the build, just the intake :blink:

The rest of it's been pretty straightforward. I need a little cleanup at the LEX seams and maybe around the radome, but for the most part the rest has been quite pleasant.

On another note, I found a couple of places that might have Mr. Surfacer. Swanny's webpage mentions he gets his from GreatModels. It might be out of stock, so I e-mailed them asking. Also, EricYYmodel.com has them, but I don't know if you can ship them internationally.

I seem to recall some problems with legally shipping paints and the like, especially internationally. I don't know if he can get them to me (legally) even though he has 'em.

You try Squadron? IF you can't find it, let me know after the Holiday and i'll go to my LHS and pick some up for you

[Mark M.]

You assume I'm that patient

Squadron's all out of stock, for bottles. I don't want spray cans. They don't fit with the rest of my paint stock and I want to brush paint the stuff on.

EDIT: Oh, P.S. GreatModels is out of stock, so I need to wait til EricYY (is that his name on the forums?) checks his mail and replies.

Edited November 20, 2007 by Mark M.

[Mist]

Well the offer stands. Let me know

[Mark M.]

Will do! Thanks

[Aggressor Supporter]

Nice work on the cockpit so far Mark. Looking forward to seeing more of your Tiger Meet Viper.

[Mark M.]

I've got more to show but my sister took the camera and hasn't returned it in 2 weeks. Hopefully later today she'll bring it back and I can get some photos up this weekend.

I've got the fuselage closed, the nose on, the tail put together (but separate) the intake all put together (but not on fuselage yet, I need (want) a photo of something I did before hiding it with the intake itself, and I've done some work on the afterburner as well. I think it'll look good but I want feedback on the feathers and how I did them.

EDIT: P.S. If you're building this, I'd say don't bother building side-walls to the cockpit. 1) They don't fit well, even with the thinnest plastic card, 2) if you align it to the top of the "tub" it'll be too short and you'll see a minor gap inside the cockpit when installed, and 3) if I had just left them out it wouldn't have been noticable and I'd have saved myself a lot of headache!

Edited December 7, 2007 by Mark M.

[Fiddler]

a good alternative of plasticard is printing the pattern on paper, put some super glue on it so it becomes harder so it doesn't wrinkle anymore and afterwards you can also glue some framework on them, and that should fit quite nicely I think? But maybe indeed that should be not that visible and maybe only the effort when opening the canopy...

[Mark M.]

I had to shave a good deal of plastic off the inside just to fit what I had -- and it was as thin as paper. The fit is VERY snug, and there is no real benefit to adding side walls.

I tried using glued-on index cards for a project once. When I had to go sand and carve it with a knife, it started getting ugly, though. I think I'll stick to plastic card where I can.

[Mark M.]

Pictures

Fuselage all assembled:

The finished intake (the flash makes it look worse than it does, the seam isn't so obvious):

What I did to modify the intake, using only a bit of filing and 2 small pieces of plastic card:

And why (it basically gives your Viper intakes with depth, rather than solid plastic bumps):

I like doing little things that only take a little extra knife-work. Often times I'll be working on a kit without assembling it, and I find myself picking out intake openings and the like. In this case I opened up the inlets on either side of the intake.

[Mark M.]

Oh, and the exhaust... The back of the can was pretty sad-looking. The funny thing is there was another part with much crisper detail, but I didn't notice that until I had already super-glued the burner grill from an older 72nd Gripen (with PE addon) into the back of the bucket. I figure this is more visible, even if not 100% accurate, so I'll go with it.

[Mark M.]

Wasn't sure if it would tail sit, but it was too late to do anything about it, right? Naaaaah!

I took a Dremel cutting disc and took out a V-shaped chunk on the splitter between the intake and the fuselage. Dropped 4 small lead sinkers and applied a bit of CA via paperclip to them and the back wall of the cockpit (also the upper fuselage where that meets). Cemented intake in place and you can't see the hole I cut at all.

I'm very close to the painting stage here. I've got most of the external stuff done. I just need to go pick up some more putty. The remnants of my old stuff has dried in the tube.

I need a way of masking the intake off. it's already painted and I don't want to ruin that. Thoughts? I guess I could use wet tissue, but then I'd have to re-touch all the edges inside the lip of the intake.

Other than that, I'm just wondering how much of the main gear I should assemble now, vs. waiting til the main paint is done. I'm not sure if I should leave the gear bay splitter (the part the centerline drop tank connects to) off or go ahead and put it on.

Edited January 4, 2008 by Mark M.

[Mark M.]

Just about ready for paint preparations, I'd say. I need to mask off the intake and cockpit, spray the wells, mask the wells, then begin the 2-tone. This is the first time I've done this scheme, and I hope it will look good.