F-16A Thailand

[bdt13]

I'll join in with an F-16A. This is the venerable Hasegawa kit:

I'm using the Zotz decals to model an early scheme from the first production lot for Thailand. This is a "cloud" scheme of two ghost grays.

The stores load will be a single centerline tank and four AIM-9J/P (not sure which the USA was exporting at that time).

[polar bear]

Looking forward to see your Royal Thai Airforce Viper.

F-16s were loaded with white 9P on 16S210 pylons at that time.

[yardbird78]

Good choice. I am looking forward to seeing your efforts.

[Grandboof]

A Viper from Thailand COOL Looking forward to more

Martin H

[bdt13]

This will be an in-flight display. The pilot is from Modern Hobbies.

Arms will be added later; I want to make sure I get the alignment right to touch both stick and throttle.

The seat is from a Tamiya F-16 that I am building in parallel. It is more detailed/accurate than the Hasegawa seat, but is meant to represent the later ACES II with pop-out pitot tubes on the headrest. I've added styrene card pitot horns, but still need to bend them down and do something about the parachute pack on top of the headrest.

Here are the intake parts. I sawed off the inner flat face of the intake so I can paint it white more easily. I'll then glue a black flat piece of plastic there to blank it off. The nose hear door has been glued in place. Time will tell how good the alignment is with the rest of the fuselage.

There are some minor gaps in the tail that I'm hoping some Mr. Surfacer 1000 is taking care of. I used Tamiya gray putty to fill the unneeded pylon holes in the wing. What that did not cover gets the Mr. Surfacer. I'm trying to minimize the amount of detail I wipe out with putty and sanding, so I've been wiping away the excess Mr. Surfacer while it is wet. This often takes away more than I need to, causing me to have to go back and put on more Mr. Surfacer later. I'm also deepening most of the panel lines, as the ones in the molded parts are somewhat soft.

[RKic]

I'm glad to see you getting started on this build. I've been curious about Hasegawa F-16A and B kits recently. It's nice to see one being worked on up close.

Waiting patiently to see any pics of the gear bays and leg parts - hopefully before you close them up :)

[bdt13]

RKic-

Sorry, I already closed up all the gear bays. They have a moderate level of detail, but both Academy and Tamiya put more in their bays that Hasegawa did. The tool has to be 30 or more years old, so we are not talking about today's standards of modeling.

[RKic]

I know, but I'm looking to build and early F-16, so Hasegawa may be the only way to go. Anyway, moderate sounds good enough for me. Thanks.

[yardbird78]

Looking good. I have several of the ancient Revell F-16A's that came out about the time they first went operational with the USAF. They leave a LOT to be desired for accuracy and detail.

[bdt13]

Thanks, yardbird. I believe I know the Revell kit you mean. If it's the one I'm thinking of it was more of a YF-16 than an F-16A. Built it twice as a kid! Loved the engine you could put on the stand. Still has a decent, basic tow tractor and bar.