1/32nd NSAWC F-16A

[f5guy]

Hi all,

Having just bought the Academy F-16CG kit from Don G, I figured that the time is right to tackle a project that I've wanted to do for a long time: an F-16A NSAWC adversary. I had planned on doing it using an old Hasegawa kit, but never got going due to all of the re-scribing and re-riveting that would be necessary. Once Zactoman came out with a corrected small mouth intake, I knew it was time. So.... I'll be using the Academy kit, and selected parts from the Hasegawa kit. I have a very nice Black Box cockpit set for the Hasegawa kit and was wondering if anyone had ever tried stuffing it into the Academy kit, or if anyone has tried this conversion before. Any input would be appreciated! Thanks, Fred K.

[SERNAK]

Hi Fred,

Interesting subject!!! I don't have any input for your build but, I would like to ask you if you're certain that the Academy kit is the right choice? I'm asking you this because the "A" type had different positioning of many panels when compared with the "D" so, it would be best if you stick to the Hasegawa kit.

A friend of mine recently told me here in the forum that the Hasegawa moulds are representing - all of them externally (lines, access panels, etc) - the "A" type instead of "C" and/or "D".

As far as it concerns the Black Box cockpit set, have you tried a "dry-fit"?

[loftycomfort]

Hi Fred,

I believe there might be too much width discrepancy between the BB cockpit tub and the Academy kit to make things fit. You might be better off converting the kit's IP to backdate it to an analog one. Jake's F-16 book is an excellent resource for such a conversion.

I actually build a CONA F-16B conversion using the Academy Sufa kit a couple of years ago. The difficult parts were the cockpit backdating and the vert fin base conversion. Here is my WIP thread:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=248178&st=0&p=2359855&hl=f-16b&fromsearch=1entry2359855

Terry

[f5guy]

Hi Fred,

Interesting subject!!! I don't have any input for your build but, I would like to ask you if you're certain that the Academy kit is the right choice? I'm asking you this because the "A" type had different positioning of many panels when compared with the "D" so, it would be best if you stick to the Hasegawa kit.

A friend of mine recently told me here in the forum that the Hasegawa moulds are representing - all of them externally (lines, access panels, etc) - the "A" type instead of "C" and/or "D".

As far as it concerns the Black Box cockpit set, have you tried a "dry-fit"?

Hi Sernak,

You know, I hadn't even gotten as far as thinking about differences in panel lines until you mentioned it. I did a quick comparison between the Academy and Hasegawa fuselage halves, and they're virtually identical, with the Academy kit, of course, being much better detailed. In the end, I think that my build will be like Terry's (link above), where it will be mostly accurate, but there might be a few extra or missing rivets. It should be fun.... I've been wanting to build the three gray NSAWC jet in 32nd scale for a long time. As for the Black Box cockpit set, I have done some initial test fitting, and it looks do-able so far. we'll see..... Thanks for your input! Fred.

[f5guy]

Hi Fred,

I believe there might be too much width discrepancy between the BB cockpit tub and the Academy kit to make things fit. You might be better off converting the kit's IP to backdate it to an analog one. Jake's F-16 book is an excellent resource for such a conversion.

I actually build a CONA F-16B conversion using the Academy Sufa kit a couple of years ago. The difficult parts were the cockpit backdating and the vert fin base conversion. Here is my WIP thread:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=248178&st=0&p=2359855&hl=f-16b&fromsearch=1entry2359855

Terry

Awesome build Terry.... thanks for the link! I had thought about doing the same thing that you did with the Sufa kit, but have already planned on building the 32nd Tamiya Tomcat in that blue splinter scheme, so I decided to save the NSAWC B build for 1/48th scale instead. I was test fitting earlier today before reading your reply to this post, and noticed the problem with where the tail mounts to the fuselage, and after thinking about it a bit, I came to the same fix that you did. I'm glad to see that it worked! I plan on using the tail from the Hasegawa kit, and have been debating on cutting the base away from the fin, and just using the Hasegawa base + Academy fin, or just re-scribing the entire Hasegawa tail. I only have one Hasegawa tail though, so I can't goof it up. After some early test fitting, it looks like the Black Box cockpit set may fit okay into the Academy kit. I still need to play around with it some more, but so far it looks promising. Hopefully that will save me a lot of work in the front office. Thanks again for the link. I will be referencing it for sure during this build! Fred.

Edited June 24, 2015 by f5guy

[SERNAK]

OK, you're going to build an 1/32 NFWS Tomcat, an 1/32 NSAWC Viper......YOU MUST ALSO build an 1/32 Buckeye with the 3-tone gray paint scheme from VF-43!!!

[f5guy]

OK, you're going to build an 1/32 NFWS Tomcat, an 1/32 NSAWC Viper......YOU MUST ALSO build an 1/32 Buckeye with the 3-tone gray paint scheme from VF-43!!!

Heh heh... I thought about doing a 32nd camo VF-43 T-2C, but I'd already bought the 48th Twobobs kit to model one of those birds. Not to mention that that "glop" paint scheme on their Buckeyes is pretty uninteresting ;0) Fred.