1/72 Hasegawa YF-16

[Fellow Hobbyist]

The old 80's era 1/72 YF-16A. I've not fussed around with correcting inaccuracies; I just want a simple and fun build. This project has endured plummeting off the work bench twice. As a result I have had to replace two parts and reattach a wing that detached after it's second fall.

It's blurry but the pitot mast at the tip of the nose was replaced entirely (The old part was too badly damaged in one fall...annoying cats). The tip of the cone was shaped styrene stock. The "tube" is piano wire with copy paper wrapped around in soaked in the runny type of CA glue. The end result actually looks a lot better than the old part did.

With the repairs completed I'm hoping to get to attach the vertical stabilizer and canopy and get painting done this week. Since the YF-16 was glossy I was wondering how I should proceed. Should I bother with painting the three main colors; white, red, and blue, in gloss? I was thinking of laying down flat paints then accomplish the gloss with clear coat once all the colors are laid down on the model. Would that be an appropriate course of action?

Edited July 13, 2014 by Fellow Hobbyist

[Joel_W]

If I were doing a gloss paint scheme, I would use gloss paints, like I did when I built racing cars. I always started with a primer coat of Tamiya gray primer. Then polished smooth with grits from 4,000 to 12,000. Then I applied the gloss paints which were either enamel or lacquer based. Let each color dry for a min of 5 days before you apply the next color. Polish out each color before you apply the next color. That will remove any hard masking lines, and keep the surface smooth. Then decal, then a clear gloss such as Testors Glosscoat cut 50/50 with lacquer thinner. Polish out after a min of 3 days drying time. Then a final few coats of Glosscoat thinned to 40/60. Let dry for 3 days, polish then wax. The shine will amaze you.

Joel

[Fellow Hobbyist]

Excellent advise Joel. This will be the first all gloss finish I have ever tackled and your tips should prove very useful.

[Joel_W]

Just be careful with polishing paint. Any raised lines or outside edges have very little paint on them, and you can polish right through them in just a few passes. Go slow, use lots of water, test with your finger often. Do a few google searches. You'll even find a lot of vid on You Tube that will be very helpful.

Joel

[Fellow Hobbyist]

So some minor progress. Prior to painting to entire model I figured I would paint the canopy frame before attaching that piece to the rest of the kit and mask over the affixed piece afterward.

Don't be fooled by the clarity of the canopy forward of the frame. The liquid masking I applied had dried when I took the photo. The section aft of the frame was small enough to use tape alone.

And here is the painted frame. Now I will be honest. Rarely do I ever get to this point in my builds so I am pleased that the masking technique employed kept paint seepage beneath the mask to a minimum. I hand brushed the frame using MM flat black enamel. After the paint dried I removed the masking from the canopy. Removing the dried liquid masking did leave some residue that has to be cleaned away.

And here is a test fit to see how it looks. I'm very please with the results.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Fellow Hobbyist

[Don]

Nice work so far . I also like the Space Capsule in the background ;) .

[Fellow Hobbyist]

From the beginning it was intended to place the finished model on a display stand. Thus the necessary tubing had been installed prior to joining the fuselage pieces together. Unfortunately I never documented that. But here is a photo of the end result. The engine nozzle piece was modified to accommodate the brass tubing.

I have attached the pylon for the centerline tank. Brass wire was used to both improve the mounting. What remained was a gap that needed filling. I used latex-based wood filler to remove the seam without destroying the plastic.

The surrounding area was masked off...

And with a toothpick the filler was applied. I made sure to push as much filler as I could into the seam. This was left to dry for maybe ten minutes or so.

Being latex based the filler was easy to remove with a damp q-tip. In the process of cleaning up the excess and blending the filler some of the material was accidentally pulled from the seam. A touch up dab of filler and swabbing took care of the matter.

Here is the finished task; the pylon is attached and the seam blended away.