DanW Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 (edited) Good day to everyone! It's been over 3 years since the first pair of brand new Vipers touched down in Krzesiny AFB, Poland beginning the new era of Polish military aviation. Since that time every jet modeler (including me) in Poland wanted to build their own F-16 with white&red checkerboards on wings and tail. Now it's time for me to start that build. I like to call this project "Holy Grail" as I was waiting and dreaming about it since I was a little kid when the MiGs-21 ruled the Polish skies. There is no F-16C kit on market that would allow to build correct Polish version of the jet out of the box. Lots of after market sets need to be purchased and some scratch build needs to be done. Finally I got them all (including approximately 10 Tamiya's F-16s in all versions). I am going to build 31st Tactical Air Base F-16C number 4058 (USAF serial number 03-0058). The kit I am going to use is the Tamiya F-16C ANG. In this particular case (planning to do more Vipers later) I am going to put the jet on the stick so I don't need to mix the kit with CJ to get the right gears. Besides that I will use the following items: - Aires F-16C Blk 50/52 resin cockpit - Aires F100 Exhaust nozzle - Eduard F-16C PE detail set - Tamiya F-16C detail set - Wolfpack Design Drag-chute housing - Wolfpack Design Sniper XR Pod - LME Decals Polish Air Force F-16C Block 52+ - Air-to-ground weapons out of Kinetic F-16D Blk52 That's it for now. Should be more next week. Edited November 16, 2010 by DanW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Krukowski Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 It'll be nice to see a Polish one. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Nice project so far! Just wondering how to get a correct afterburner ring for Block 52 Viper... I guess they are the same as on Israeli F-15I Ra'am. Keep us updated! Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Good day to everyone. Quick update on what's going in the project. Currently I am working on the intake duct and shaping that little bulb on the lower portion just above the nose wheel bay. Will be sanded once putty get dried. It's too big at this moment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harv Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 If you're doing a Blk 52 & using the ANG (Blk 25) boxing, I think (even though you mention you're building it gear-up to avoid the lightweight/heavyweight gear issue), you'll still need to scratch or source the bulged ML gear doors, FWIW... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 If you're doing a Blk 52 & using the ANG (Blk 25) boxing, I think (even though you mention you're building it gear-up to avoid the lightweight/heavyweight gear issue), you'll still need to scratch or source the bulged ML gear doors, FWIW... Gonna take them from TB Blk 52. Got two boxes in my closet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 Hello everyone! Trying to keep slow but continues progress on this one. The bulge in the lower portion of the intake has been finished. I used some Tamiya White Putty and Gunze Mr. Surfacer 1000 and polish it out. The shape is not clearly visible on the picture but looks good. I will try to take another picture after painting. I put some Tamiya masking tape close to the halves edges for future filling. That gives me more control of the putty that will be applied. Finally I glued the halves together using Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. To be continued... Thanks for watching. Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mareku Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Wow Dan! <_< That is most iteresting. I´ll folow that one with great intrests. Great start Please keep working. To bedzie ladny model Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Netz Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Ohhh Dan, you should have glued the upper 2 intake sections together as one assembly,then do the same with the lowers, work the seams, then join the complete upper and lower assemblies together, this is one area of the instructions that should be modified by the builder. It is much easier to remove the ridge from joining the front section to the rear first,then work the sides once assembled. I see this step quite often with Tamiya builds. Just a tip. Curt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted March 20, 2010 Author Share Posted March 20, 2010 Ohhh Dan, you should have glued the upper 2 intake sections together as one assembly,then do the same with the lowers, work the seams, then join the complete upper and lower assemblies together, this is one area of the instructions that should be modified by the builder. It is much easier to remove the ridge from joining the front section to the rear first,then work the sides once assembled. I see this step quite often with Tamiya builds. Just a tip. Curt I actually glued forward and aft sections after filling with putty and grinding the side seams. That was much easier for me. After joining fwd and aft sections together I filled the whole duct with acrylic glossy white paint and dumped it. The seam between fwd and aft sections almost disappeared. I don't think any additional sanding is required. I will post some pictures once it dries. Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
artoor_k Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 I'm more into SF but I'll be following it for sure. Our F-16's are baeutiful :D TRZYMAM KCIUKI! :P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted March 24, 2010 Author Share Posted March 24, 2010 Good day to everyone! The inlet has finally dried. It's not bad but could be better. That was the second time when I tried to use "fill and dump" method and it went much better than the first time. During painting Super Bug inlets some time ago (project on hold) I noticed that a very bad looking thick collar remains at the end that was closed before dumping. It seems to be caused by surface tension. That collar is hard to remove and once treated by sand paper the glossy effect can be damaged or even whole paint layer destroyed. This time I decided to extend the duct to shift that collar effect away from the inlet. I simply rolled the Tamiya masking tape creating some kind of the tube and attached it to the aft end of the duct that was closed when filling up with paint. It works pretty good and the effect depends on how smoothly the duct goes into extension tube allowing the paint to drip. Thanks for looking, Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 What a great idea for the extension tube! I recently tried the latex paint technique on my Tamiya Viper and ended up with the ring blob at one end. I'll have to try this next time! Falconxlvi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doose Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 Excellent build so far!! Great idea with the intake, will try it myself. Looking forward to seeing more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rafal Gajek Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 NIce to see Polish F-16 I'm your fan. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted March 26, 2010 Author Share Posted March 26, 2010 Hi everyone! I keep trying to push this project forward and it's getting to look like a piece of jet. The inlet is basically done. The F100-P&W-229 front frame and the heated strut have been assembled. I used the Tamiya acrylics and air brushed these components according to Tamiya instruction. I will probably never do the same mistake again. However the titanium silver X-32 looks pretty good, the metallic gray XF-56 is disappointing. It's very grainy and it looks like an old-school radiator. Fortunately it's very hard to see the engine front frame which is very deep inside the air-duct so I can live with it. Next time I will use Alcad or Testors. Finally I put the "HOT HEATED STRUT" warning decal and treated it with Micro Sol. I must say I was very nervous doing that because that was the first time when I used my own decals that I prepared especially for this project and printed on Techmod paper. I am very happy with results and looking forward to try them in other locations. Thanks for watching! Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Good Day to everyone! Quick update on the project. I spent a couple of days working on forward upper fuselage section trying to fit the Aires cockpit. Lots of material had to be removed to get it done. I also scratched the little vent on the starboard side below the canopy. I used the Tamiya part and scribed the vents with Tamiya tool. As I am looking at references it looks like I did them slightly to long :) I also assembled the intake section and closed the nose gear door. That required some putty but with little masking it went pretty smoothly. The picture shows the status before sanding however this is also done but I didn't take the picture yet. I also started the paint job on the pit and just sprayed all components with FS36231. I need to polish out the dust that shown up on few locations and will put the black on side panels, MFDs, etc. Thanks for watching. Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mareku Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 The progres looks good :) Great work. Looking for more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted May 12, 2010 Author Share Posted May 12, 2010 Hello everyone! Just coming back to work on this project. I was traveling on business to Cinci then almost stacked in US for a while due to Eyjafja..something volcano and was pretty busy back at home on different stuff. After watching that "thing" flying over Louisville few weeks ago I was really sad that the 1/48 Monogram BONE box (I've seen few of them in Hobby Town USA) is to big to bring it back to Europe without paying extra money for second piece of luggage Back to F-16. I am still working on the inlet section putting all Block 52+ specific items. I am also working on the Sniper pod pylon which requires some putty. I am also working on the pit. The side panels have been painted black but still requires some work on buttons, switches, etc. Should be more soon. Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted November 13, 2010 Author Share Posted November 13, 2010 (edited) Hello everyone! It's time to provide some update here. I was busy on other stuff for last couple of months (including this:http://www.pbase.com/danwolo/tamiya_135_m1a2_abrams). Recently I came back to this project. I resigned from Aires cockpit and decided to work on the kit parts. The ACES II ejection seat has been updated to recent standards and pop-up airspeed sensors have been scratch built. The seat still needs some work (painting) however the 31st Tactical Air Base fighter pilot is already done. Thanks for watching. Edited November 13, 2010 by DanW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Qian Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Nice progress so far, Dan! I like the little dude! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Looking real good so far and great tecnique for painting the inlet. Pilot looks real good to, did it come with the kit? Because of the new helmet... Eric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted November 14, 2010 Author Share Posted November 14, 2010 Looking real good so far and great tecnique for painting the inlet. Pilot looks real good to, did it come with the kit? Because of the new helmet... Eric Pilot figure is out of the box except oxygen tube which was made from cooper wires. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanW Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 Little update today. The cockpit is basically done and ready for fuselage assembly what is planned for this week. Thanks for watching. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
maly149 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 any updates? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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