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This model is the third part of a trilogy of aircraft from the 171st FIS Michigan ANG, with the aready built ones being an F-106A and an F-4C which also both had nose art. This one unfortunately is a little boring in comparison as it is in standard camo, but does have Hi-vis tail markings. I will hopefully be attempting to convert it into and ADF version with the help of the cutting Edge update set. The decals are from Expert Choice which I did use on the other two models.

The kit

F-16Viper001.jpg

The aftermarket update set

F-16Viper002.jpg

The decals

F-16Viper003.jpg

Main reference book

F-16Viper004.jpg

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If you are not going to use the kit tail fin, with the drag chute, I can give it a very good home .... having several RNoAF models planned for the future.

Nils shifty.gif

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Found a slight problem with the kit. I bought it from a friend of mine about a year ago and just stuck it in the stash. Today I had a good look at what is inside, only to find that the upper fuselage is missing. Luckily I found another kit in the stash and will steal the part from that, then try and claim one back from distributor.

If you are not going to use the kit tail fin, with the drag chute, I can give it a very good home .... having several RNoAF models planned for the future.

Nils shifty.gif

PM on its way.

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This model is the third part of a trilogy of aircraft from the 171st FIS Michigan ANG

Planning something similar myself, but for the Oregon ANG. Got the three kits I'm going to use, F-4C, F-16 Blk15, F-15C and decals to suit, so I'll be watching this with interest.

Is the 'Viper Story Part 1' worth getting?

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Is the 'Viper Story Part 1' worth getting?

It depends on what you want as it has no real close up detailed photos, just general photos of ANG equiped F-16s. But in my opinion just for that it is worth getting.

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Some progress has been made on this adventure in that the cockpit has been painted, plus the wings have been glued together. Hopefully I shall have some photos soon, with some more progress updates.

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I have managed to get the cockpit painted up and also stuck into the lower fuslage. I have added the front and back panels to the main U/C bays. Also in the third photo there was meant to be a panel piece fitted next to the intake which was on a seperate sprue, but like the lower fuselage mentioned earlier it is not there. So I have filled the area with plasicard and will fill over this and sand it down. I have also started to fit the intake pieces together glueing a small area at a time so that it fits together better. Hopefully will get the fuselage glued together during this week. Looks like the cockpit picture is rather fuzzy, perhaps it shows the painted detail a bit better that way?

F-16Viper005.jpg

F-16Viper007.jpg

F-16Viper006.jpg

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Have now got the fuselage joined together along with the intake assy, which has been sanded down and awaits fitment to the fuselage. I have had to put a small amout of filler around the front end of the fuselage joit which I will sand down before adding the intake. I have left off the nose cone at this point as the tail that I will be fitting is resin so I might have to add wait in the future. Will also give the wings a quick sand down before fitting them to the fuselage which will hopefully be next week.

F-16Viper008.jpg

F-16Viper009.jpg

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Thanks for the comment. The intake assy has now been glued to the fuselage, and filler added. Hopefully this will be faired in over the next few nights and then I can add the wings. I have also found a small discrepancy with the exhaust as it is for the upper fuselage of the original kit, which has a notch in the fuselage half, whilst the fuselage half that I am using also has a notch. So I will be out with the file to sand away the fuselage notch and caryy on to make a slot for the exhaust.

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A couple of photos showing where I am with this model. As mentioned earlier the intake is attached, and so now is the exhaust and wings. I have filled in the exhaust, but still have to do the wings at the moment. There is still a small area of the intake joint that is not quite right at the moment. Hopefully I will get the exhaust sanded down soonest so that I can attach the resin wing, and then the under fuselage strakes so the I can see if the nose will have to be filled with weight before I attach that. Any comments are welcome.

F-16Viper010.jpg

F-16Viper011.jpg

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Got the tail stuck on the other night to see if it is going to be a tail sitter, and yes it is. So I will get the under fuselage fins fitted, and then determine how much weight is to be added to the nose cone before fitting that.

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What's the fit of the tail like? (apologies if I've missed this).

To be honest it was not the best of fits. I managed to get the front and back tacked on, waited a day and then filled in small areas with more super glue. I will fill in the rest with filler and then sand down.

Here are a couple of pictures showing the fit.

F-16Viper012.jpg

F-16Viper013.jpg

Edited by Jabba
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All joined together now with the weighted nose and the part between the main U/C doors added. All has also been filled and the first sanding stage done (after these photos were taken). Will sand a little more before carrying on. I am not sure whether to add the under wing pylons before painting or leave them off until after that stage. Will also have to decide soon on what weapons to add. I am thinking of Sidewinders on the wing tips and the most outboard pylon, with a fuel tank on each inner most pylon. Anyone else have any other ideas, just want to load the aircraft as if it was standing alert. Thanks for any suggestions.

F-16Viper014.jpg

F-16Viper015.jpg

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Nice progress here :) The load sounds good, but as it is an ADF, why not a pair of AIM-7s on the centre wing stations? I think the pylon is the same type as the outer wing pylons (they are for an AIM-120), but you will need an AIM-7 launcher as opposed to the LAU - 129. I think the Hasegawa F-2 has some included. I will find out for you. Pretty sure the 171st flew with AIM-7s and -120s too.

Joel

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You'll need 501 pylons (quite different from the standard Wing Weapons Pylons and definitely not LAU-129 rails) to hang the AIM-7s on and they are typically hung on Stations 3 & 7. The Revell F-16 ADF kit is the only kit in 48th that has 501 pylons, but they're quite crude.

Our 501 pylons won't be out till August.

501PylonRenderlogo.jpg

Those CE ADF sets are hard to come by. It was the best ADF conversion set out there; just too bad it was incomplete.

Edited by Mike V
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Nice progress here :) The load sounds good, but as it is an ADF, why not a pair of AIM-7s on the centre wing stations? I think the pylon is the same type as the outer wing pylons (they are for an AIM-120), but you will need an AIM-7 launcher as opposed to the LAU - 129. I think the Hasegawa F-2 has some included. I will find out for you. Pretty sure the 171st flew with AIM-7s and -120s too.

Joel

Thanks for the info. After seeing a picture of an ADF carrying a AIM-7 after I posted this I have thought about adding one to each centre pylon. From the picture it seems to be mounted directly onto the pylon with no launcher, but I don't think that this is correct. Anyway I shall think about it and see what comes about.

Another quick question, would a fuel tank be fitted under the fuselage, or would the aircraft be a bit weighty with all the other stuff on?

You'll need 501 pylons (quite different from the standard Wing Weapons Pylons and definitely not LAU-129 rails) to hang the AIM-7s on and they are typically hung on Stations 3 & 7. The Revell F-16 ADF kit is the only kit in 48th that has 501 pylons, but they're quite crude.

Our 501 pylons won't be out till August.

501PylonRenderlogo.jpg

Those CE ADF sets are hard to come by. It was the best ADF conversion set out there; just too bad it was incomplete.

Thanks for the info, but I don't think that I can wait that long at the moment. Would there be a way to modify the Hasegawa centre pylon at all.

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Not sure I follow as to what you mean by "Centre" pylon? Center pylon to us is the short standard Center-Line pylon for mounting the 300 CL tank or ALQ-184/188 pods. A Center pylon is not even remotely close to a 501 pylon.

The AIM-7 Pylon is actually a launcher. Look at my rendering and you can see the short rail at the bottom. The AIM-7/501 pylon (Launcher) is significantly taller, thinner, and shape difference than the standard Wing Weapons Pylon; which is the only pylon remotely close. I do mean remote as it's not really practical to modify a Wing Weapons Pylon to a 501 Pylon. You're better off scratching building it.

Get back to me in a couple of weeks. I have to cast some test shots for fit checks, on our 32nd and 48th 501 pylons. I may be able to spare a set, depending on how the fit checks go. Also note, these are designed to fit the Tamiya kit, so some mods will need to be made to fit other F-16 kits.

Mike V

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Not sure I follow as to what you mean by "Centre" pylon? Center pylon to us is the short standard Center-Line pylon for mounting the 300 CL tank or ALQ-184/188 pods. A Center pylon is not even remotely close to a 501 pylon.

Mike V

By centre pylon I mean the middle one on the wing if you discount the wing tip rail. Thanks for what you have said about modification, I guess I will just leave that pylon empty for this GB until your one comes on line.

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Got a lot of the smaller parts fitted over the last couple of days including some of the wing pylons, and the IFF aerials in front of the canopy. All parts that required filler have had that and been sanded down. Hopefully I will start to paint this at the weekend. Photos tomorrow.

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