oortiz10 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 (edited) Hey ARC, I haven't been building much lately. As a matter of fact, I built NOTHING in all of 2015. Earlier this year, I finished a quick build to help get back into the groove of mashing plastic. I'd like to keep the momentum rolling by getting in on this GB. I'd like to do an orange and white F-16 from Edwards AFB, like this one: LINK I have the kit and am working on getting the decals. I know the consensus is that Tamiya's Vipers are better, but I got this one and a two-seater for cheap at a recent swap meet. My modeling budget's pretty tight, so I make do with what I have or can get on the cheap. Anyway, I've never built an F-16 before nor have I built many jets since getting back into the hobby. I'm looking forward to working on this one. So, let me show you what little I've done so far. Started with the cockpit. I'm planning on using a Steel Beach resin covers set. From what I've found on the web, it looks like the airframe I'm going to build had some vents paneled over. So, I figured I'd fill in the vents with some Milliput, sand flush, and rescribe some lines. So, that's where I'm at. Thanks for stopping by and having a look. Feel free to share your comments and criticism. Cheers, -O Edited February 3, 2016 by oortiz10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 That looks like a great start. I was thinking of building that aircraft, I'm glad I didn't. This way I can enjoy watching yours come together. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oortiz10 Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 Hey ARC, It's been about two weeks, but I don't have a whole lot to show. This build's coming along pretty slowly. So, like I mentioned, I got this kit on the cheap at a swap meet. The previous owner had started it but not much got done. The owner had glued the intake halves together and attached them to the lower fuselage, had started the main gear well, and glued in a few random panel and pieces. That made starting the all white paint scheme a little challenging. I had to go back, clean up some panel lines, and try to get good white coverage between the intake and the fuselage. The kit was missing its instructions, so after downloading a set from the internet, I sat down to study them and noticed that a vent cover was missing. The part wasn't in the box, so after studying a few pix on the internet, I decided I'd try to scratch build one. After a little trimming and sanding, I think I pulled off a believable substitute. Perfect? No. Accurate? No. Better? Yes. I think, under some paint, it'll look the part. (No pun intended.) Now I'm working to get the wings attached. Honestly, the fit is terrible. I'm trying my best to leave the top side as perfect as I possibly can. I'll deal with the seam on the underside. So, that's where I'm at. Once the wings are on, I think the rest of the build will go pretty quickly. Anyway, feel free to drop your two cents in the bucket on your way out. Your comments and criticisms are always welcome. Thanks for looking! Cheers, -O Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Great work Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickdanger Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 That's going to be a great paint scheme. Nice choice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oortiz10 Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Hey ARC, I have a couple of other projects going on at the same time as this one. Those are nearing the finish line, and I'm trying to get them off my bench so I can focus more time on my F-16. A little attention's been paid to the Falcon while paint and glue from other projects dry. So, let me show you what I've done. I got the cockpit installed and the forward part of the fuselage glued together. I didn't glue the back half of the fuselage because I figured it'd be easier to match the radii of the engine and fuselage assemblies if the fuselage wasn't as solid. Also, I thought I could spread the spread the fuselage halves to make installing the wings easier. I hoped that it would help with the gaps at the wing root. Uh...it didn't. Regardless, I got the wings installed and cleaned up. I'm pretty happy with the results. RIGHT WING: LEFT WING: I used a combo of stryrene strips and Milliput to close up the gaps. After, I went back with a fine razor saw and restored the panel lines. The white paint you see is actually Alclad's Fine White Primer and Microfiller. It helped check for major blemishes and filled in some of the finer boo-boos. Oh! I also got the exhaust painted up. I tried to give it a subtle tempered look with some Tamiya Clear Blue. So, that's where things stand for now. I'll share more pictures as soon as I make some more progress. Feel free to share your comments and criticisms. Thanks for looking! Cheers, -O Edited March 7, 2016 by oortiz10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sentry30 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Those wings seem to fit like a glove, looks like a nice fit to me! What paint paint did you use for the burner can (aside from the blue)? Daniël Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oortiz10 Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hi Daniel, For the part adjacent to the fuselage piece, I used Alclad Dark Aluminum darkened with a drop of two of Alclad Steel. For the "inner rings," I used Alclad Aluminum. For the exhaust feathers, I used Alclad Steel lightened with a bit of Alclad White Aluminum. As far as the wings go, it took a bit of work to get them to fit as well as they did. The gap on the bottom was pretty significant. I used strips of styrene to fill the gaps, then sprayed a thick coat of Alclad's Grey Primer and Microfiller to fill any remaining gaps. The careful filling was followed by some careful sanding, and the wings are at the point where they're at now. Thanks for looking! Feel free to drop you two cents into the bucket. Cheers! -O Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Nice work on that seam. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sentry30 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Thanks for that! Looks very nice so far Daniël Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oortiz10 Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) Hey ARC, The sllooowwww progress on my F-16 continues. Not a lot to share, but I do have a couple of pix to post. The tabs on the stabilizers are pretty puny. They're pretty small and stubby, and I'm sure they won't provide a very solid attachment point. As it turns out, I had some 1/8" OD styrene tube whose ID provides a nice snug fit for the attachment stubs. I drilled out the kit's original attachment holes and inserted a piece of tube. The fit is so tight that I can install the stabs without glue. I also got the canopy glued on, masked, and painted with the frames' interior color. And I've started priming for the gloss white. (I'm using Alclad's fine white primer.) As you can see in the picture above, the exhaust assembly has also been attached to the fuselage. So, that's where it stands now. At least it's starting to look like a F-16! Feel free to share your comments and/or criticisms. Thanks for looking! -O Edited April 4, 2016 by oortiz10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Slow and steady wins the race. It's looking fantastic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oortiz10 Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 WOOHOO! Paint! I've had a chance to spray some paint on my F-16. I primed the parts with Alclad's white primer and sanded with a 3600 grit pad between coats. I wanted to make sure the surface was nice and smooth before I started laying down the gloss white. I used the primer to give me a nice solid base coat under my final white top coats. The white primer obviously helped with coverage and opacity. I still have some spots that got a little "dusty" during the painting process and there are some spots where dirt landed on the surface while the paint was still drying. I'm going to go back with a 4000 grit pad and knock those down before doing any touch-ups. I've never really attempted a glossy plane before, so I'm trying to learn how to spray a shiny coat as I go. I was able to get a fairly decent looking belly tank in the process, but there are still a couple of spots that aren't as smooth or glossy as others. If anyone has any suggestions or tips on how to spray a glassy gloss coat, I'm all ears. Oh, one more quick thing to show. Before spraying the tank, I sanded off the raised detail and replaced it with some strips of tape. The references I had showed what looked like some "straps" on the tank that didn't seem to be well represented on the plastic. So, I removed the molded details and used my imagination. Perfect? Nope. Accurate? Probably not. Better? I think so. Anyway, feel free to share your comments, criticism, and/or tips. Thanks for lookin'! Cheers, -O Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I'm loving it. The paint looks great and that tank looks awesome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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