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Romanian Air Force F-16A MLU


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It was announced a couple of weeks ago that Romania is going to acquire some 12 Portuguese F-16A/B MLU machines in order to relief the MiG-21 LanceR in the QRA role starting 2017.

Now, since such an announcement was made for the gazillionth time in the past decade, I won't look at the issue as at something extremely probable, until I visit the first Open House event that will be attended by those airplanes in Romanian colours! ;)

So, here I go trying to picture a future F-16 in RoAF service, standing on QRA at Siauliai in Lithuania.

8711722678_9abef6f76e_b.jpg

Now, how s#upid am I?! I started a Hasegawa F-16 in the National Reserves GB (that will see soon progress, btw!) and butchered this latest issue of Revell's F-16C in regard to the cockpit tub and IP coaming. My feelings towards the Revell plastic has not changed: many scratches in the plastic, plenty of flash, ejector pin and sink marks :(

I will however try to salvage the kit, come out with a new coaming for the Revell instrument panel (it's the C-version panel from the Revell box which also offers one for the F-16A) glued to the Hasegawa cockpit tub, adorned with the Hasegawa seat. If that sounds like a PIA, please refer to the opening sentence from the former paragraph! And also check out my thread in the National Reserves GB...

Please stay tuned!

Niki

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Great project! I am surprised you are so unhappy with the Revell kit though. I gave it a try recently as a break from more ambitious projects and I was very happy with it. The only areas that require a bit of work are the intake and the exhaust but the plastic had no scratch whatsoever and I am now looking forward to build a second! I hope this will give you some hope ;)

Arnaud

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Danke, Arnaud!

The discontent stems not from the kit itself (I very much appreciate Revell's F-16) but rather from the latest reissues of it. It actually is the same thing with their Tornado kits: excellent stuff but in the latest reissues the clear parts are not... clear at all, lots of flash, etc.

It might be the molds getting old but I also suspect some cost cutting in regard to whomever does the plastic injection these days for Revell. After all, I must admit that - at least here in Europe - Revell kits are relatively affordable :)

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Yes, I got both my F-16C (Same boxing as you) for €13 each at my local LHS. He was having a 25% sale which made it competitive with online stores. No casting problem at all though, and for this price you can forget about an Hasegawa kit!!

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With my other endeavor in the NRGB, I have had the opportunity today to work both on the Hasegawa and the Revell kits simultaneously. I must say that I also tend to favor the Revell kit. But, God!, that intake looks horrible. You must really ignore it in order to give the kit a chance to completion :)

I'm really glad you scored a good quality kit even with this latest reissue. For me however it goes from now to find first editions on ebay and stick to those. I already have a couple of initial F-16 MLu's - that I bought as they came out (same goes for the Tornado) - and they are flawless. There was even a discussion here about some QC problems in Revell kits lately.

Anyway, tomorrow evening I shall provide pictured proof my progress. Till then :wave:

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Tja, Moritz, that did crossed my mind I must admit!

I'm really... "conflicted" ;) about this issue. I have two schemes in mind: one as close as I imagine things would look like (pretty standard paint job with western ammunition [AMRAAMs and Sidewinders/ IRIS-T]) or going a bit more flamboyant on the markings (big NATO and RoAF titles [so as to leave no doubt about the interceptor's identity in the minds of intruding comrades] :) ) and some weapons assortment as mentioned by you.

Meanwhile I put together the main landing gear bay, started on the intake and fashioned some sort of coaming for the instrument panel: I used 1 mm and 0.5 mm plastic sheet from Evergreen which I had in stock. Nothing much will be seen through the not so clear canopy anyway and the sole purpose is to blend shapes, colours and shadows in the cockpit and not just have a big hole forward of the instrument panel.

8716943701_7100ac71ab_b.jpg

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I did play a bit for my own personal use with a couple of profiles I found on-line. If you guys could take a look and perhaps tell me what you think and which version I should go for!? I have all decals needed for these two schemes:

8718066294_a3262ebfd5_b.jpg

Cheers,

Niki

Edited by niki4703
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Here is how I dealt with the intake if it helps (Not showing off, just sharing)

First, increase the slope with successive layers of plasticard

8717211819_1153174ebd_z.jpg

8718331854_177d2831a8_z.jpg

Then, (VERY) carefully pour some resin in - I put a pen covered with release agent to get a perfectly round shape for the fan

8717211679_e94bb79e74_z.jpg

Finally, sand (the resin will give you a pretty good shape but never perfect) and paint white, Bob's your uncle :)/>

8717211867_a2af23c299_z.jpg

Finish it off with a fan from the spares box.

The whole thing took me two evenings but the result is well worth it in my opinion.

Good luck with this interesting project,

Arnaud

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Here is how I dealt with the intake if it helps (Not showing off, just sharing)

Thank you for that nice demonstration of how to make that intake better. If I remember correctly, I've used plastic sheet on the 1/48 Hasegawa inlet, too.

@niki: So how is your other F-16 coming along?

Edited by Lancer512
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Indeed, thank you for sharing that with us! It is a fine display of craftsmanship, eloquently presented in the pictures :thumbsup:

Here I am on this other end of the scale trying desperately to finish a kit (or two) for once and kind of lacking right now the dedication and perhaps also a bit the skills and patience it takes to come up with such a fine looking intake. All in due time! :)

I'm shutting down the computer now and proceed with preparing all major parts to be painted white on both my F-16s (intakes, wheel bays and doors, rest of the landing gear elements). I initially thought about using a can spray, but I believe I will stick to the paint brush and two layers of paint in order to get a better coverage. Pictures tomorrow, I hope :wave:

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Motivated by Arnaud, I decided to spruce the intake up a bit (just a tiny, tiny bit :) ) and came up with this.

Then I went ahead to paint the intake white and used some Tamiya tape - cut to thin stripes with a scalpel - to mark the future border between the white and the grey paint.

8724002044_010418aec5_c.jpg

I also dressed up the cockpit with the decals from the Hasegawa F-16A ADF 'ANG Combo' box. There was a lot of film around each decal, so I cut next to the graphic as close as possible, even chopping some of the art as the plastic surface available is smaller than the decals themselves. I also used some Micro products for the first time ever and it wasn't as scary as I imagined it for years to be :doh:

8724001962_af8fe8af6e_c.jpg

The cockpit now seems busy enough. Tomorrow I will add the joystick and the seat and... Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here! :D

Edited by niki4703
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Heads up: You need to add some plastic on the sides of the cockpit otherwise you will have a gap between the side consoles and the fuselage.

Kit parts:

8723098185_7bd8a41c3a_z.jpg

Simply add some thin (0.2mm) plastic sheet on the cockpit sides and this will disappear.

8723098275_0526cb4dc5_z.jpg

8724217902_68e05fab14_z.jpg

Hope this helps,

Arnaud

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Thanks!

That applies also indeed to the Hasegawa cockpit going into the Revell fuselage. I'm going to take (again) the easy route this time and paint everything in there black.

But the tip is much appreciated :thumbsup: and will go into the next (serious) F-16, a.k.a. the Dutch one that downed a MiG-29.

Cheers!

Niki

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  • 3 weeks later...

I must say, I'm looking forward to start another ("proper" :P ) Revell F-16 and apply at least a part of Arnaud's tips!

Until then, I shall put this project in a lower gear and concentrate on finishing my other build in the National Reserves GB. There, the deadline is approaching faster and faster. There are still a couple of more things for me to resolve this week and I hope that afterwards I do find more time for gluing plastic :)

The intake issue came out as follows. A bit more patience and planning would have resulted in an even better result. Please excuse the dust particles on the plastic. It's a bit messy here...

8853464890_4fc56c5984_c.jpg

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See you soon!

Niki

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