F-16CJ

[Doughboy]

1:48 Tamiya F-16CJ OOB. Send it.....

Edited August 21, 2012 by Doughboy

[Doughboy]

[Doughboy]

[ChippyWho]

Excellent job. As we're in Critiqueville, maybe a little dirtying-up around the inside of the exhaust and tire treads?

F-16 GE Exhaust

Edited August 21, 2012 by ChippyWho

[Doughboy]

I wanted to try and get the nozzle dirty. I tired a little dry brushing with black and tan (I think it was tan) to get an effect between where it came out and the pic you attached. Most of the F110 nozzles I seen are not quite that dirty. I tired the dry brushing but I did not feel comfortable doing anymore as it was starting to look too uneven and fake so I quit while I was ahead. Also, I've noticed further down the can there are typically black streaks coming off the blower ring.

How would you guys recommend doing the inside of the nozzle and also the tires?

[Fishbone]

Great build! Definitely got me itching to start on mine

Couldn't help but notice that the decal on the left side of the vertical stabilizer overlaps the panel line beneath. Were the decals applied after the panel wash ?

While doing a build recently and facing a similar situation, I used a new razor blade and sliced the decal (after it had set) by running the sharp blade down the panel line, followed up by a dab of decal softener (no Future Floor Polish where I come from ) This avoided the overlapping feel, as well as enabled the decal to settle nicely into the groove.

Admittedly, it's a very risky procedure and can damage/destroy the decal altogether.

Barring that negligible niggle, you've accomplished a very crisp and clean construction!

[Fly-n-hi]

Nice build! I'm working on one now and I hope mine turns out as well.

I also noticed how the panel lines are not filled under the decals. Not a really big deal but its easy to fix when you are doing the wash like fishbone said. Food for thought for next time.

Also, there are a few "panel lines to nowhere" where it looks like they were removed during the sanding process. Again its not a big deal but it might keep you from taking 1st in a contest...if that matters to you.

[Doughboy]

Nope that wash was the second to last thing I did with flat clear being the last. I put the decals on and had some significant issues. I had to sand the vert stab down and repaint it beacuse the first set of decals got destroyed. This was the first Tamiya kit I built and had never messed with their decals. I put seriously 15 applications of Micro-Sol on the decals trying to get them in the panel lines. I end up quitting before I messed them up again!

I dont think there are too many spots where I sanded away detail and did not re-scribe. They would be around the intake section if there are. Fly-n-Hi could you be more specific on what your seeing and I'll take a look at it. I'm thinking it may be were paint and or future got to built up. I'm still learning a lot and trying to perfect the art. I will say this Viper is the best kit I've built thus far and I'm pretty happy with the final product. Compared to the stuff I've been building Tamiya is almost like cheating!I've never been to a competition let alone entered in one. Don't know if I ever will but I would like to build things of that caliber.

Thanks for all the input guys and honesty! I'm trying to get better not fishing for complements (thats what "The Display Case" is for!).

[Doughboy]

BTW I found a parts tree I was missing with some antennae and sensors after I took the pics! So I'll be putting them on whenever I get motivated..

[Matthew83128]

Nice job. I worked on aircraft in Misawa from 2000-04. Just one thing. The back of the AGM-88 HARMS have a flat black cap on them. Great build.

[scapilot]

My only two real pointers would be the engine, as was already stated. You were asking about how to get the soot strings down at the base of the burner. I have tried three seperate methods.

A.) Use Tamiya Smoke thinned, and build up thin lines with that. Works good, but it's easy for it to get away from you if you're not careful, and you'll either lose the effect, or wind up spraying too much on everything else.

B.) Black pastels on a long brush. This method I used for a while, because if you apply it lightly on the brush, then you can build up the staining, and you have a little more control over it.

C.) Tamiya make up kits. This method I have found to be the best. It's the easiest for me to control, and you can define and shape the streaking into the "V" shape that you normally see. The tamiya kit that comes with the "soot" (black) color also comes with a rust color in there which compliments the black very well, especially for burn stains if you use it correctly. I'll typically lay down light coats of the rust first, and then put down the black over that to give it that brownish / gold tint that's associated with scorched marks around exhaust areas.

It takes a little getting used to, but try it on an older project and get a feel for how to do fine lines with it, as the default sponge that comes with the kit is a bit thick, however, based on how you lightly touch it, it's still very possible to get fine lines and build them up.

My other question is, do you did your canopy prior to install? If so, do you cover it with anything to keep dust clear of it? It looks as if you either applied too much Future or other clear coat, and it went on too thick and bubbled, or you didn't cover the piece and lint and or dust collected. I could be wrong on both, and it could just be collected dust since the build finished. But other than that, it's definitely a good kit.

The cool thing with F-16 kits, is that with all the paneling on the top, it allows a lot of room to work on shading and highlighting, especially in the smaller panel sections along the wing joins. Try some of those out to give your plane a little more dimension and fool the eye as far as lighting goes. I built two or three before I attempted it, and I was surprised at how much the paint pops out, and adds a variable that otherwise makes a build look flat.

Here's a shot of a recent 16 that I finished where I implemented this feature. I'm not a pro on any levels at all, but I do know that my kits looked a lot better to me after applying the new techniques, and they're simple. And provided you just make them subtle, it really brings the build to life and doesn't come across as 'toyish' as most say around here. Either way, you're on the right track. I'm still fairly new to this hobby as well (since Jan) so I'm learning a lot on the fly, but I dare to attempt new things despite the outcome, and sometimes I surprise myself on how well the results are. I have this CJ in my stash, and have already built the "C" version, and you're right...it does feel a bit like cheating. You could probably drop the box on the floor, pull out the contents and the build be 1/3 of the way done already.

[Karl Sander]

It's been a while since I've used Tamiya decals, but I do recall one project where I was trying to get them to settle down over a compound curve (the front of a drop tank). I found that Solvaset worked nicely where repeated applications of Micro-Sol didn't. When you first put it on, they'll seem to shrivel and you'll be tempted to react like this: ... but if you let it set long anough, at least in my experience, they'll smooth out when they dry. You can find Solvaset in any hobby store that also sells model railorading supplies; model railoraders use it to get reporting mark decals to settle down over all sorts of exposed decals on train cars.

[weirich1]

Good lookin' VIper just needs a little grime here and there, maybe some nozzle weathering too. The only other thing I see is the color of the AGM-88s: they appear to be Gloss White instead of FS36495 Light Gray; tip right from Jake Melampy's book.

BTW, is that a Kinetic F-16I in the one pic? Got one that needs to return to the bench after my Kitty Hawk F-35B is done.

Edited November 21, 2012 by weirich1

[Doughboy]

Nice job. I worked on aircraft in Misawa from 2000-04. Just one thing. The back of the AGM-88 HARMS have a flat black cap on them. Great build.

HAHA! As a former AMMO troop weapons are my big pet peeve. There are only a few munitions in the USAF inventory I have not seen and a live -88 is one of them. I kind of took a shot in the dark with the back of the R/M and I guess I was wrong. I'll get it right on the next CJ! Thanks for the advice though.

[Doughboy]

My only two real pointers would be the engine, as was already stated. You were asking about how to get the soot strings down at the base of the burner. I have tried three seperate methods.

A.) Use Tamiya Smoke thinned, and build up thin lines with that. Works good, but it's easy for it to get away from you if you're not careful, and you'll either lose the effect, or wind up spraying too much on everything else.

B.) Black pastels on a long brush. This method I used for a while, because if you apply it lightly on the brush, then you can build up the staining, and you have a little more control over it.

C.) Tamiya make up kits. This method I have found to be the best. It's the easiest for me to control, and you can define and shape the streaking into the "V" shape that you normally see. The tamiya kit that comes with the "soot" (black) color also comes with a rust color in there which compliments the black very well, especially for burn stains if you use it correctly. I'll typically lay down light coats of the rust first, and then put down the black over that to give it that brownish / gold tint that's associated with scorched marks around exhaust areas.

It takes a little getting used to, but try it on an older project and get a feel for how to do fine lines with it, as the default sponge that comes with the kit is a bit thick, however, based on how you lightly touch it, it's still very possible to get fine lines and build them up.

My other question is, do you did your canopy prior to install? If so, do you cover it with anything to keep dust clear of it? It looks as if you either applied too much Future or other clear coat, and it went on too thick and bubbled, or you didn't cover the piece and lint and or dust collected. I could be wrong on both, and it could just be collected dust since the build finished. But other than that, it's definitely a good kit.

The cool thing with F-16 kits, is that with all the paneling on the top, it allows a lot of room to work on shading and highlighting, especially in the smaller panel sections along the wing joins. Try some of those out to give your plane a little more dimension and fool the eye as far as lighting goes. I built two or three before I attempted it, and I was surprised at how much the paint pops out, and adds a variable that otherwise makes a build look flat.

Here's a shot of a recent 16 that I finished where I implemented this feature. I'm not a pro on any levels at all, but I do know that my kits looked a lot better to me after applying the new techniques, and they're simple. And provided you just make them subtle, it really brings the build to life and doesn't come across as 'toyish' as most say around here. Either way, you're on the right track. I'm still fairly new to this hobby as well (since Jan) so I'm learning a lot on the fly, but I dare to attempt new things despite the outcome, and sometimes I surprise myself on how well the results are. I have this CJ in my stash, and have already built the "C" version, and you're right...it does feel a bit like cheating. You could probably drop the box on the floor, pull out the contents and the build be 1/3 of the way done already. :woot.gif:/>

I pulled out the can in my F-16I broke it in half and tried the Tamiya smoke method. It turned out pretty good! As far a the preshadding and any other forms of weathering (other than sludge wash) I've never tried them before and was a little hesitant to "try" anything new on a $60 Tamiya kit. I've got a few cheaper kits on the shelve I'll be trying some new stuff on.

The canopy was sanded and polished prior to anything to remove the seam. After that it was dipped in future i think twice. It looked great prior to me masking it with Tamiya tape. I put it on the kit and glued it in place. After I pulled the masking of I noticed the hairline cracks in it that give it that cloudy or generally horrible look. I think what happend was that I had to put some rubber bands on it really tight to get it properly fit on the fuselage. They set for a few days until I was sure the glue was fully dry. In that time they created enough pressure to put all those cracks in there. What you see is not dust or imperfections in the clear coat it is those cracks :(

[Doughboy]

Good lookin' VIper just needs a little grime here and there, maybe some nozzle weathering too. The only other thing I see is the color of the AGM-88s: they appear to be Gloss White instead of FS36495 Light Gray; tip right from Jake Melampy's book.

BTW, is that a Kinetic F-16I in the one pic? Got one that needs to return to the bench after my Kitty Hawk F-35B is done.

All AGM-88s are white. I've never seen any ARM that is any other color (could be wrong). Yes that is a Kinetic Sufa. I've had that thing for years and it is so much work. Every time I open that box I'll get about an hour into it before I move on to another kit. It sure as hell aint no Tamiya kit! Thank you for the complements and feed back!

[bashace]

Good looking build, the only thing that really stands out to me is the apparent lack of anhedral on the horizontal stabs. This could just be a deception with the camera angle and the stabulator positions. If you think the Kinetic Falcon is a pain, you should try building the Italeri F-16C, I find myself ignoring blatant irritants just to push through the project and get it done.

[Doughboy]

You are 100% correct on the stabs. They are flat as a board. I never realized that!

[scapilot]

The italeri F-16C Barack (which the one I posted is) is the old Kinetic kit reboxed.

I feel you on being hesitant to try new things on expensive kits but any kit worth buying is worth trying. Id rather try new things than to have a 60 dollar kit that looks like a toy. Not saying anything regarding yiur build at all. Stating that theres no time like the present!! :)

Glad the smoke trick worked out. I dont saw the engines in half though. Its nice if they would he designed like that...although fitting engines like that together neatly is a pain in its own sense. I just aim towards the base andlightly streak outwards.

[carlizle84]

HAHA! As a former AMMO troop weapons are my big pet peeve. There are only a few munitions in the USAF inventory I have not seen and a live -88 is one of them. I kind of took a shot in the dark with the back of the R/M and I guess I was wrong. I'll get it right on the next CJ! Thanks for the advice though.

That makes 2 former AMMO troops on here. IYAAYAS!!!!!!!!!! Great looking Viper.

[Doughboy]

That makes 2 former AMMO troops on here. IYAAYAS!!!!!!!!!! Great looking Viper.

3 now by my count. There is another guy on here that was AMMO! Always good to see another AMMO troop!!!

[scapilot]

Well lets make it 4. Although I was navy "ordnance". Either way....it all goes high order the same. IYAOYAS!!

[AMMOTroopUSAF]

AMMO Here

[Doughboy]

Well lets make it 4. Although I was navy "ordnance". Either way....it all goes high order the same. IYAOYAS!!

Hi! I got to work with the Kitty Hawks Ordies at Andersen. Good guys! They bit*hed about all of our rules though!

[scapilot]

lol. We came to work, not follow rules.