1/48 scale Tamiya F-16C Block 52+

[Skinny_Mike]

Hi all! I am starting a new project and thought I would post it here. Hopefully I will actually finish one of these Arc group builds! Only time will tell.

My build will be an F-16C Block 52+. This will be completed from a Tamiya F-16 kit. I am going to use the F-16C/N Aggressor kit. This particular kit has all the parts to build every version of the F-16C making it a great starting point. The Hellenic AF planes have that unique ghost camo scheme and the Block 52s can be configured with conformal fuel tanks.

And of course there is plenty of aftermarket that I plan to use.

Two Bobs Decals

Wolfpack Design F-16C Falcon Dragchute Housing

Wolfpack Design F-16CJ Block 50/52 Falcon Update

Aires Landing Gear Bays

Wheelliant F-16C Wheels

Eduard Brassin F-16CJ Block 52 Exhaust nozzle

Eduard Brassin AIM 2000 IRIS-T Missiles

I am also planning to cast a copy of the Kinetic conformal fuel tanks from my F-16I kit and mate them to this build. This will be my first attempt at casting parts, so we will see how it goes. But I am using the opportunity to expand my skills and expand the old modeling toolkit!

I also have some great reference material for this project.

For anyone planning to build an F-16, I highly recommend these books. They are fantastic.

This is going to be a fun build that I am really looking forward to. Ill be building this along with my Italian ADF as well. Kind of an assembly line going on.

Thanks for looking, and see you all soon

Mike

Edited January 28, 2016 by Skinny_Mike

[scotthldr]

Can't beat a Hellenic 'Viper' . Be cautious when you come to loading it up as Hellenic F-16 Squadrons are pretty specific in their role.

Do you require some Carbon Fibre decal sheet for the exhaust petals, I've got spare and can send you some?

[Skinny_Mike]

Can't beat a Hellenic 'Viper' :thumbsup:/> . Be cautious when you come to loading it up as Hellenic F-16 Squadrons are pretty specific in their role.

Do you require some Carbon Fibre decal sheet for the exhaust petals, I've got spare and can send you some?

Thanks for the tip. I really have no idea what's what when it comes to the HAF, but my planned loadout was going to be AMRAAMs, IRIS-Ts, and two GBU-31v1s so I could avoid the LANTIRN pods which I don't have. I'll need to look at the decals and see what squadrons are on the sheet and I guess do a little research.

Thanks for the offer on the Carbon Fibre decal sheet. I have the 1/48th scale sheet from Scale Motorsport. Is that what you're using or is there something better?

[tobiK]

Great and ambitious project! Keep my fingers crossed to see that finished here! And yeah, as you mention all the good books, I do not need to do that, hehe.

The greek camo colors are not so easy to find all from one manufacturer, but Xtracolor has them all.

[scotthldr]

If you don't have the LANTRIN pods then you're pretty much going to have to do a 343M 'Asteri' jet(Blue band Yellow stars) and tool it up with AGM-88's. Not sure if I have spare LANTRIN, I'll check later tonight and let you know. GBU-31's are pretty much used on the Blk 52Adv jets of 335M and 336M at Araxos.

Yip it's the Scale Motorsport sheet I have as well, never came across anything better but it's been 2 years since I built my last Greek 'Viper'.

[Skinny_Mike]

If you don't have the LANTRIN pods then you're pretty much going to have to do a 343M 'Asteri' jet(Blue band Yellow stars) and tool it up with AGM-88's. Not sure if I have spare LANTRIN, I'll check later tonight and let you know. GBU-31's are pretty much used on the Blk 52Adv jets of 335M and 336M at Araxos.

Yip it's the Scale Motorsport sheet I have as well, never came across anything better but it's been 2 years since I built my last Greek 'Viper'.

Thanks for the help! The good news is the decal sheet has a jet from 335M and 343M. I'm trying to avoid doing another HARM shooter as I already have one in my display case. So 335 it is! And I also found a LANTIN pod from a Hasegawa F-16 kit I may try to use. Of course, since not a lot of the people who will see my finished build have any clue about the HAF, I could just go rouge on the markings and put whatever I want! only a few of us will know. HaHaHaHa - I can hear the groaning already starting now! :P

[Skinny_Mike]

Great and ambitious project! Keep my fingers crossed to see that finished here! And yeah, as you mention all the good books, I do not need to do that, hehe.

The greek camo colors are not so easy to find all from one manufacturer, but Xtracolor has them all.

Thanks man! I recognized that the camo will not be easy, and the TwoBobs sheet is not the most clear, so I'll try to get this guy moving so I can get some help with the paint work.

Unfortunately I can't get Xtracolor in the states anymore. :(/> at least not from Hannetts.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Skinny_Mike

[scotthldr]

You should be able to get Xtracolor from Roll Models http://www.rollmodels.net/standard/catalog.htm, if not I can send some over if you want.

The scheme isn't really that hard to do, it looks more daunting than it is. The pattern is the same for the C as the D, note that it isn't a true wrap round scheme.

Two good things about doing a 335M a/c are you can hang some nice stuff under it including JSOW/JDAM/GBU-49 and your IRIS-T's and secondly you don't have to worry about the 'Have Glass' finish.

[Skinny_Mike]

You should be able to get Xtracolor from Roll Models http://www.rollmodels.net/standard/catalog.htm, if not I can send some over if you want.

The scheme isn't really that hard to do, it looks more daunting than it is. The pattern is the same for the C as the D, note that it isn't a true wrap round scheme.

Two good things about doing a 335M a/c are you can hang some nice stuff under it including JSOW/JDAM/GBU-49 and your IRIS-T's and secondly you don't have to worry about the 'Have Glass' finish.

Awesome! I actually found this same thing when i was doing a little research again last night.

So are the Testers MM colors not correct? I ask because I have almost all of those already and am really trying to use the paint's I have instead of buy more. My wife says my hobby desk has more paint then a LHS! I'm not sure I understand the problem there. LOL

[scotthldr]

Never used these specific colours from MM although the colours that I have used from MM seen to be spot on.

Edited January 29, 2016 by scotthldr

[tobiK]

Just my 0,02 USD: why not using MM, I like the MM colors very much, especially when it comes to FS codes. When you will add some heavy weathering the true FS tone will not to be seen exactly anymore later, after shading, washing, filtering etc...

Hey Mike, btw., you are lucky to meet such good consultants like Scott! That's why I appreciate a GB and the mood you can find there.

[Skinny_Mike]

Thanks Scott. I'll spray a test pattern with the MM paints and decide from there.

And Tobi, yes I totally agree and truly do appreciate all the help I get from fellow modelers on this site and some others.

Some of the resin decided it was time to take a bath yesterday. Getting close to starting this little gem.

Thanks again guys!

Mike

[Skinny_Mike]

I did a test shot of the 3 grays. These are all Model Master enamals, sprayed on one of my paint hogs, over a Tamiya Primer coat.

Thoughts?

Mike

Edited February 6, 2016 by Skinny_Mike

[scotthldr]

Are you able to tighten up the demarcation lines a bit as the contrast between the colours in the picture looks really soft.

Edited February 7, 2016 by scotthldr

[Skinny_Mike]

Are you able to tighten up the demarcation lines a bit as the contrast between the colours in the picture looks really soft.

Yeah - this was just a test shot for the colors. I'll keep the lines pretty tight when I get to the paint on the F-16.

Thanks

Mike

[scotthldr]

How's the build coming along?

[Grandboof]

It's going to be one awesome Viper.

[Skinny_Mike]

How's the build coming along?

Sorry about the delay in posting, I got involved in another group build on a different site, and what should have been an easy build turned into a fight! With that behind me, I am finally making head way on my HAF viper. Not a lot finished just yet, but I should have some actual progress up this week! Thanks all for the patience.

I do have a question, my load out is still what I indicated above, 2 wing tanks, 2 JDAMs, 2 IRIS-T and 2 AMRAMS, but would there be anything on the centerline pylon in that configuration?

Thanks for the help! be back soon.

Mike

[scotthldr]

You're drop tank config will depend whether or not you're going to be putting CFT's on the build.

If you're going to use CFT's then underwing tanks are not routinely used, and never used if ordnance is being carried as well due to weight restrictions, only on a few occasions have I seen the centreline tank installed along with CFT's.

If no CFT's, then both underwing and centreline tanks can be fitted either together, alone or with ordnance.

Edited April 10, 2016 by scotthldr

[Skinny_Mike]

Thanks Scott. I was planning to use CFTs, but that truly depends on if I can make an acceptable set of them, a bridge I will cross when I get there. Although this info certainly changes things a little bit.

[Skinny_Mike]

Hi folks!

I have finally started my build for this group build. Time to catch you all up to where I am.

First thing I tried to do was the intakes. I decided to use the kit gear bays so that made things a bit easier. The Tamiya intake is made up of four parts that create a forward and aft half, which are then assembled together. A lot of people seem to assemble the lower half and the upper halves and deal with that seam, then assemble the top and bottom halves and work those seams. I tend to work the front half and the aft half, work the seams then assemble. I did that on my last Tamiya F-16 and I can’t see that middle seam at all once its assembled and installed, due to the contour of the intake, but that just me. All the seams were filled with squadron putty and the excess wiped away with a cotton bud dipped in acetone. Then I used the pour/dump method to paint the intake. I have mixed results using this method. One thing I did change though, I use enamel gloss white paint instead of the typical latex paint. That way if there are any issues, I can actually sand them out and re-coat without any problems. You can’t sand out the latex. On to the pictures…

Here are the two halves of the intakes, assembled and the seams worked over.

And looking down the intake after the paint has been poured, dumped and allowed to dry. It ended up looking pretty good. I somehow got a few imperfections way down in the intake, but overall its not to shabby. I am using a Wolfpack Designs exhaust for this build, and it comes with an improved engine face for the P&W 229 motor, which I have shown here next to the kit part. Unfortunately the resin piece doesn’t fit on the end of the intake, so I didn’t end up using it.

Assembled intake and the engine face painted using Alclad Steel.

And the fully assembled intake, with the nose gear bay also installed. The lip of the intake, the top of the intake and the bottom of the fuselage where all painted in MM FS36251 Aggressor Gray before assembly because those areas are tough to get at with the airbrush after its all together.

And finally assembled.

Next up is the cockpit. I am using the Wolfpack designs F-16C Block 52 cockpit. It was painted using MM Acryl Dark Gull Gray and all the details were picked out using various acrylic paints. And yes, I sawed through the floor removing the casting block. The Wolfpack pit uses the rudder pedals and control stick and throttle from the kit. It does have some side panels, but there isn’t a ton of extra detail on those parts so I opted to leave the kit sidewalls, hoping to avoid having the typical grind the sidewalls paper thin issue! Turns out the Wolfpack pit is a tad thinner then the kit fuselage so I actually ended up with a difficult time finding surface area enough to get a good solid bond.

Well here’s the cockpit all fancied up.

And installed

In the end, the detail is not that much better over the kit parts. I think next time I would rather use the kit cockpit with a Sierra Hotel cockpit upgrade, but that’s just me.

Next up, I assembled the top of the fuselage

Scraped out a little material to ensure the cockpit tub fit in the lower fuselage, and added some weight

And assembled

I’ve worked a couple of the seams, and have a few more to work on, but nothing too major. This is a Tamiya Viper after all!

I have reached a bit of a stopping point for this build. I really need to determine the load out so I can drill the appropriate mounting holes on the lower wings prior to assembling them. It turns out, as I have just learned, that Greek Vipers do not carry wing tanks if they use the conformal tanks. That was my planned load out so now I need to make a decision. If I go conformals, then I am going to go with a centerline tank and my planned ordnance, but if I don’t use the conformal tanks then I am back to the wing tanks. To determine if the CFTs get used, I need to see if I can actually cast some. That should be next weekend’s project. We’ll see how it goes.

Thanks for looking! See you all soon!

Mike

[scotthldr]

How do the Kinetic CFT's mate up with the Tamiya kit? I think I might have a spare set of Hasegawa ones that I can send you.

[scotthldr]

How do the Kinetic CFT's mate up with the Tamiya kit? I think I might have a spare set of Hasegawa ones that I can send you.

[Skinny_Mike]

Hey Scott! The Kinetic CFTs seem to mate up pretty well, there may end up being a small gap but that it'll be an easy fill. Thanks for he offer though.

Mike

[Skinny_Mike]

I have a couple of questions, that hopefully you guys can answer. What color are the wing pylons and the fuel tanks for HAF vipers? Are they in the typical neutral gray like USAF planes or something else? My references are hard to tell. Also do the HAF vipers use the ALE50 dispensers?

Thanks for the help!

Mike