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1/32 KANGNAM F-16XL "What If"


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Hey CJ

 

Oh no, I still use Apoxie Sculpt. Imaging trying to free stand sculpt with the foam to repair the tail I showed here on page one.

The Free Foam is great for filling in large and small gaps then smoothing them in leaving very little sanding. Both products are also considered an adhesive. So, you're getting more construction support in assembly.

 

Interior turkey feathers are mostly done. For some reason, my phone camera doesn't show the tan colors I blended in that well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Basic paint on the ejection seat1227222152~2

 

 

Excuse the pics from here.... For some reason they turn out dark.

 

After the clean-up of the dark wash, the dry brush work was applied.

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Cockpit tub completed.

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Since this Black Box cockpit was not made for this kit, a ton of changes had to be made to both the kit and the aftermarket piece.  Here, I added Sculpting Dough to fill in the cavities around the tub to secure it into position better. There were just a few gluing points, which concerned me, so this really locked everything in.

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Again, this was an exercise of fitting a round peg into a square hole, but I think I pulled it off.

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Test fitting of the bottom of the fuselage showed that I still needed to remove more material off the bottom of the tub to allow the kit parts to close up properly. This did not affect the seat position in the slightest. As a matter of fact, the seat still doesn't touch the floor in the proper position.

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The seat was accidentally dropped and snapped off one of the seat rails, which disappeared into oblivion. I clipped off the other for symmetry, but that just isn't gonna do. I've already ordered a replacement seat.

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While I wait for the replacement ejection seat, on to detail painting the wheel wells.

 

More to come!

 

Tracy

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External details on the engine are coming along.

 

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Below are two strips of white decal painted Grey ready to be cut into squares. Each pedal gets a thin square at the end, and a fat square at the base of the nozzle assembly. Once the decals cure, I'll apply the washes and finish to unify the surface

 

0105230138~2

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Wrapped up the exhaust.

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Ready to close up the fuselage, but a few things to do first...

 

Gun port was pathetic, so... before.

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After.

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Final main wheel wells parts installed.

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A small dilemma. As I waited on a replacement seat, I thought, "what the heck", try scratch building new seat rails and try to blend them in...

 

First seat by Black Box on the left, and CAM's earlier version on the right. Which one should I use?

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On to closing up the fuselage!

 

Tracy

 

 

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I know this is a Whiff and this kit is like starting with a sow's ear, but the XL gunport was different than the production jets and the kit depiction.  I'll try to find a decent pic to illustrate when I get home. 

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Small update.

 

15 brass static wicks installed, 6 per wing and three on the tail. These come from Master-Model.

A little clean-up is still needed.

 

0120230048_HDR~2

 

The tail installed first re-enforced with a wood screw through the top of the fuselage into the base of the KASL resin tail... I don't trust CA glues.

 

The top half was finally cemented onto the bottom assembly...  TERRIBLE FIT! It will need being beat into submission to prep for the wings being glued on.

 

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Curing over-night before I grind away at where the wings glue on.

 

Tracy

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Engine assembly is done before epoxying it to the model.

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Glued in then beaten into submission to blend it into the model. The KASL engine was not made for this kit, so it had to be convinced.

 

Top

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Bottom

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One the other hand, the radome part DID come with the kit, yet it extended almost a 1/16" all around. So, it had to be sculpted back and feathered into to the fuselage.

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Starting to look like and F-16...

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Happy accident...

I was giving the model a clean wipe down with IPA. When I went over the deck under the rear canopy area, it wiped the MRP primer clean. So, I'm taking this opportunity to add rivet details to the area using the Tamiya F-16CJ kit in my stash as a guide.

 

The squadron I'm leaning towards has a squadron zapper on this deck, so the rivets popping through the zapper should look cool.

0127231620~2

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So....... The wings are glued on??? Kind-a?

 

How about this awesome kit engineering!

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Just a few points make contact. The two Toung-n-groove points make the most contact. I let this set for 5 days in a jig while I was out on a 4-day trip.

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I'll blend the fuselage to the wings before I fill these canyons because the wing's profile doesn't quite match the wing profile on the fuselage. I'll be using my favorite stuff introduced to me by one of my best friends. It's called Smooth-On Free Form Air. It acts as both a filler and an adhesive. Feather light and is easily manipulated with water. It cures "with zero shrinkage' in about 4 hours.

 

Pics to come...

 

Tracy

 

 

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Tape it off to concentrate getting most of the filler down into the gaps using a wet nylon artist's brush.

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Remove the tape then feather the dough on the surface in with damp fingers. Little sanding is needed from here.

 

Bottom...

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Top before sanding.

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Canon opening was a bit unsymmetrical, so some Air Dough was inserted then sculpted in to refine the opening's shape.

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I'll give it a full day at least to cure before sanding and feathering, then I'll re-scribe lost paneling details.

 

Tracy

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