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Good day folks,

 

My second post after a long long time in lurk mode. Kit is a Tamiya 1/48 f-16cj. Constructing the basic block 50 of one of the birds in Misawa. 

 

Has been done by people before me by the hundreds, but here is another. This first post of the WIP is some pics I documented up until now. The aircraft is waiting for further progress (ie. When the wifey takes a few days to do lady things with her friends).  Off topic: she doesnt know I have an airbrush and compressor. Its hidden inside the bed on the side without the drawers.  If shes here, no big paintwork. 

 

Back on track,

Goodies include:

Eduard sets for the interior, exterior, and bays. 

Eduard missiles aim 9x,120c, 88 (still trialing them, some need a treatment of heat to dewarp the bodies)

Eduard sniper pod

KA models ge exhaust. I got the set for the f-14 but it butt fits ok to my inexperienced eye. Detail level is godlike. Comes with masks for the dark burnt areas on the outside. I cant recommend this enough. 

MM pitots and static wicks

 

 

Other items are various gauges of wire, wave corp clear lens thing, for the hud.

 

Ill update as this project progresses. Thanks!

 

 

 

I hope the image picture stuff works. The insert other media came up as red for flickr so I posted just the link. Edit: got it to work from Imgur. Gotta do it one by one for now. Im still new to this. Removed original flickr link. 

336Ezbe.jpg

to get best possible fit with rest of the build I figured best to do the intake and bay area myself, so finger grease and patience it is. 

7mjYG7X.jpg

After a layer of grey primer

 

216KVwi.jpg

Mostly painted. And test fitted. After this I glued up the 4 part intake trunk, lots of CA and sanding and pouring, repeat, I put the bay in the belly, the other intake bits and nosewheel bay in, and closed it up. Unfortunately got lazy and didn't document that bit. Ill post finished intake mouth pics when I get the masking out.

 

 

1cmq01s.jpg

That's it all closed up. Legs were added in as well as the hydraulic plumbing. Sorry terrible angle.

 

p3A3kEQ.jpg

Cockpit area wip. Mostly eduard bits and scratchbuilding where appropriate. 

 

bcDTXLZ.jpg

Glareshield and hud. Again Eduard bits. Lens is made from a wave brand clear lens thing. I tinted it with tamiya clear yellow/orange. 

 

BawVoMh.jpg

HUD glass in place. The eduard ones were too thin (i think thats a first) so I used projector film. 

 

cHrIuHG.jpg

KA models fabulous cans. I first sprayed the whole thing with black primer. Followed by a glossy rattlecan spray. Outsides were masked. Insides sprayed white. Afterwards the masking was reverved and an Alclad mix of magnesium and pale burnt metal was sprayed.  

 

gKgOk17.jpg

 

 

 

RCRDVoT.jpg

This was butt fitted to the tamiya part with copious CA.

Co7jMk4.jpg

Masking, grey primer, black preshading, and hataka paints followed.   This is where the model is now. 

 

 

 

Konbini

Edited by konbini
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Thanks peeps!  Still a WIP and not perfect. Missus will head off for a few days again next month.  Hopefully some more spraywork in order. 🙂

 

5 minutes ago, Matthew83128 said:

What tail number are going to do? I worked them all. I suggest 812 😀.

Nothing is set in stone yet, the AB decals only had the 2 options for Misawa birds as far as I could tell.    Thats a very interesting suggestion,  is 812 a particularly interesting bird or history? O please Enlighten me 🤓.     A first hand source's advice is always gold.       

 

 

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1 hour ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

Very nice scratch detailing! How did you make the switches for the cockpit?

Thank you Matt!

 

For the switches I used a 0.2mm drillbit and made holes where appropriate on the panel, for example, the side console. Most holes I drilled all the way through and inserted 0.2 or 0.15mm wire.  I then CAed the wire from the back when I had 'wired' a row or two on the panel. Afterwards I clipped both ends(front of panel, back of panel) and grinded the back of the panel with a hard diamond file to remove the wire stubs. In hindsight, it would have proven useful if I had pre-grooved/thinned the back of the panel where I expect wire to go through. That could reduce the amount of grinding, both my teeth, wire, and plastic. 

 

For those parts where I cannot drill all the way through I drill partially in, with the next diameter hole for wire size(ie. 0.3mm hole for a 0.2mm wire). I take a decent length of the wire and dip one end into some CA, making sure I have a tiny bit on the end.  Insert, quick check for looseness after a few seconds, clip.   

 

Eyes and brain rest follows. I hope this is helpful for you, as many many of the posts here on arc have been for me. 

 

Konbini

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23 hours ago, konbini said:

Thanks peeps!  Still a WIP and not perfect. Missus will head off for a few days again next month.  Hopefully some more spraywork in order. 🙂

 

Nothing is set in stone yet, the AB decals only had the 2 options for Misawa birds as far as I could tell.    Thats a very interesting suggestion,  is 812 a particularly interesting bird or history? O please Enlighten me 🤓.     A first hand source's advice is always gold.       

 

 

812 is the 14 Fighter Squadron flagship, I was the Crew Chief on it back from 03-04. At that time it still had the “Let’s Roll” patch on the inlet.

 

http://www.f-16.net/aircraft-database/F-16/airframe-profile/3184/

 

I see 886 on here a lot, that’s the “War Horse” from PSAB.  

 

If if you have any questions let me know.

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21 minutes ago, Matthew83128 said:

812 is the 14 Fighter Squadron flagship, I was the Crew Chief on it back from 03-04. At that time it still had the “Let’s Roll” patch on the inlet.

 

http://www.f-16.net/aircraft-database/F-16/airframe-profile/3184/

 

I see 886 on here a lot, that’s the “War Horse” from PSAB.  

 

If if you have any questions let me know.

 

Good day to you, 

 

Thanks for the info!  Surely would be an interesting build. 

 

91-0357 was one of the options. Im considering that bird too. 

 

Again, thanks very much

 

Konbini

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3 hours ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

Very insightful. Thanks for the explanation, I can imagine in 1/48 it is a task to complete but you did very well and it looks very convincing.

It certainly took a while. A few fudgeups, broken tips, glued fingers and wires. 

 

Thanks for your kind words, trying my best to improve with each attempt while I still have my eyesight. After this project I'll do one or two 1/32 for an eyebreak. 

 

As always advice is very welcome if anyone sees anything I could do better.  If anything appears weird I probably made a booboo and didn't realize. 

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10 hours ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

Very insightful. Thanks for the explanation, I can imagine in 1/48 it is a task to complete but you did very well and it looks very convincing.

 

Sounds like a migraine to me. I can't imagine trying it, drilling holes in colored PE. konbini, you are a braver man than I. I agree with Mr. Foley, great detailing!

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9 hours ago, konbini said:

 

Good day to you, 

 

Thanks for the info!  Surely would be an interesting build. 

 

91-0357 was one of the options. Im considering that bird too. 

 

Again, thanks very much

 

Konbini

We got that POS from Edward’s when I was there, along with 844 a POS D-model. The cockpits were in really bad shape and the seats were constantly out to look for FOD.

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Thanks again for the kind words. I thought PE hand drilling with fine bits was impossible at first and had given up a number of years back. I gave it another go this time and after continual persistence on the same spot the bit went through. The bits dont last long though, either breaking or wearing out. Sadly I went through a few to get the pit done :(. 

 

Quick question, many pictures I seen online are of training loads for Misawa birds. Do live loads get flown? 

 

While I mull over what bird to decal up, I will work on the ordnance. This part is more wifey friendly. Cute looking missiles. 

 

Konbini

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9 hours ago, konbini said:

Thanks again for the kind words. I thought PE hand drilling with fine bits was impossible at first and had given up a number of years back. I gave it another go this time and after continual persistence on the same spot the bit went through. The bits dont last long though, either breaking or wearing out. Sadly I went through a few to get the pit done :(. 

 

Quick question, many pictures I seen online are of training loads for Misawa birds. Do live loads get flown? 

 

While I mull over what bird to decal up, I will work on the ordnance. This part is more wifey friendly. Cute looking missiles. 

 

Konbini

The loads depended on the mission that day. It was mostly one or two bags double LAU-118s with no AMG-88’s. Some times we’d fly one HARM but with no fins 🤷🏼‍♂️. Always 120’s on 1 & 9 and an AIM-9 on 2 or 8 and an ECMI pod on the opposite. Remember if your doing OIF markings the HTS pod needs to be on the pilots right.

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11 hours ago, Matthew83128 said:

The loads depended on the mission that day. It was mostly one or two bags double LAU-118s with no AMG-88’s. Some times we’d fly one HARM but with no fins 🤷🏼‍♂️. Always 120’s on 1 & 9 and an AIM-9 on 2 or 8 and an ECMI pod on the opposite. Remember if your doing OIF markings the HTS pod needs to be on the pilots right.

 

 

Thanks for the info! One of the options was for an OEF marking in 2012, are you referring to that or OIF? The single HARM is certainly different. I may do that and pair it up with a gbu-31 or something on the opposite station. Makes it a bit more interesting. 

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22 hours ago, konbini said:

 

 

Thanks for the info! One of the options was for an OEF marking in 2012, are you referring to that or OIF? The single HARM is certainly different. I may do that and pair it up with a gbu-31 or something on the opposite station. Makes it a bit more interesting. 

Oh, I was talking OIF out of PSAB, I was deployed there Dec 02 - May 03. Sent birds in for “shock and awe”. We did carry One HARM and and a CBU-105 towards the end when all the SAM sites were knocked out.

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Hello guys,

Small update. Sort of painted up the top bit of the tail and installed a BLOS mod to it. I removed the scope thingy first, and built the mod onto the tail via some super thin card. Finished with some light riveting. 

 

Konbini

 

lwhiKou.jpg

 

 

5MoOLr9.jpg

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi there peeps,

 

Haven’t updated in a while but here you go. 

 

Detailed up the nosegear area and installed it minus the wheels.  

 

Wife isn’t around so I got myself some airbrush love. Managed to spray the canopy pieces and other control surfaces like the stabs and flaps.

 

hataka paint note: most of the paints spray on beautifully with a bit of help from some distilled water. Shout out to the help from the techniques forum.  However the gunship grey still tends to dry between the needle and the tip. Note to self to try a different mix/technique if I spray hataka gunship grey again. 

 

Sprayed the bottom of the fuselage with mr color rattlecan clear gloss as a test. Looks alright so far. 

 

As promised, some mouth pics too along with the nosewheel. 

 

 

 

H372DzV.jpg

 

eNtZUkz.jpg

 

 

3gbjPbk.jpg

 

x1bqJP5.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi peeps,

Another quick update.  Clear coated the airplane and relevant surfaces with mr color gloss rattlecan.  

 

wVYjPxa.jpg

 

A quality check here to make sure its still smooth and detail-y.

 

The coat was light, and fearing after multiple coats later I would lose some surface detail I did a round of panel line washing with tamiya's excellent panel line enamel. This is insurance against rivets etc getting too shallow later on. 

 

I started decalwork on the same layer. My plan is to seal the decalwork after with another gloss coat and do some more weathering work as required. I hope my plan proves good later on. 

 

k4OUQMe.jpg

 

More to follow in the coming weeks. 

 

Thanks!

 

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Hi there guys ( and ladies),

 

Thanks Markus, BaconRaygun, Maj. Walt!

 

minor update, progress has been slow but sure.

 

I managed to stick on most of the upper surface decals. ReidAir’s mostly for jet 90-0825 markings. A mix of Tamiya’s decals thrown in where appropriate elsewhere as there are areas where tamiya specific sizing works better. An example is based on reference photos the big falcon stencil on the upper fuselage is sized better in the standard Tamiya sheet. I believe there are variations out there with different falcon sizes but this time the Tamiya is sized closer. 

 

Lots and lots of decal softener was used for the Tamiya markings. Eventually they settled down, but not without a fight. 

 

 

Here is a test fit with the canopy. I wanted to get the naming position right mostly. 

 

 

Have a lovely friday!

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