trickyrich Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 …well no quite tonight as planned but tonight instead! As with the other build I spent sometime trying to get the fit right on the intake. For some reason it was a bit harder on this the narrow intake. I still can’t get the join nice inside either, so I’ll cheat and fit an intake cover. The wheel wells have had the same treatment as that on the build, they were white then a heavy wash applied, mostly removed then a thin light coat of white again. It still needs quite a bit of work and unfortunately if doesn’t show up too well in photos. Next up fit the cockpit and close up the fuselage, no dramas with that at all. Once done I needed to sort out that area behind the new cockpit……a wee bit of filler and some plastic later it’s like this. I still need a little bit needing to be done before I’ll close up the cockpit. As mentioned in the other build I had a wee mishap joining the nose cone together, twice in fact. I didn’t realize that there is a strip that runs down the centreline of the radome! I thought it was just some poor moulding so removed it from both radomes….opps! So out with the tape and some Mr Surface 500… They actually look much better than the originals, if they had been neat and tidy in the first place I wouldn’t have removed them. There should have been a warning in the instructions, as I bet I’m not the first to do it! All together she’s looking good! The loadout for her is based on a couple of photos I’ve seen of her, AIM-120’s on 1 & 9, pylons on 2 & 8, 3 & 7 no pylons, and tanks on 4, 5, & 6 Well she’s coming together nicely, I have a longer break coming up so I’m hoping to have her almost finished by the end of it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat911 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Nice work on your Jastzrab so far. Not sure if you know, but the intake you are using is an MCID intake suitable for a GE powered Viper. Polish Vipers use the P&W engines with the small mouth NSI intake. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 1 hour ago, madcat911 said: Nice work on your Jastzrab so far. Not sure if you know, but the intake you are using is an MCID intake suitable for a GE powered Viper. Polish Vipers use the P&W engines with the small mouth NSI intake. Mark no, i've been down that alley much earlier, with the horrible Block numbers!! I had to pinch a Block 52 NSI intake from a Block 52 model for this one.....and the Block 50 MCID intake is going on my now intakeless Whiffy Block 52 build.....yeah I know..... It's hard to see but the intake is actually white plastic (from the Thunderbirds model), where as the rest of the model is grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat911 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Ah yes. I've had a second look and it is indeed an NSI intake installed. The photo of the MCID one confused me for a bit there. Keep it up! This is going to look real nice when it's done. Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Leijdens Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Very nice Rich! Thanks for the idea of the lines on the radome! On the Hasegawa nose they are poorly visible and I was thinking about making them myself but I didn't know how.. Erik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 51 minutes ago, Knetterik said: Very nice Rich! Thanks for the idea of the lines on the radome! On the Hasegawa nose they are poorly visible and I was thinking about making them myself but I didn't know how.. Erik Thanks, yes I was a bit annoyed when I sanded off the ridge on the nose, at first I wasn't sure how I'd fix it, my first thought was thin stretched sprue. But after sitting on the idea for a while I thought I'd try some Mr Surface between thin strips of tape, and it worked a treat, so easy to do and with a wee bit of careful sanding you get a perfectly thin raised line! Will have to try this on other projects! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 I have been a bit slack in updating this, I’ve had an extra three days at home which I wouldn’t normally have and have been quite busy, not that you can tell from the few photos I have! Pretty much everything else is done to the main fuselage except fit the main gear, intake, and tailpipe. The intake is being a real pain! I had heaps of trouble getting the outer panels to sit snuggly to the intake fairing, which has resulted in a not so easy to fix join at the intake lip! I’ve decided to take the easy way out and fit an intake cover. So I just need to tidy up the outside join and it can be fitted. I’ve about halfway through painting up the gear and wheel bays so hope to get that sorted soon. For something so small what a pain this was to build! Besides the fact I keep breaking off the two bits on the front of the seat (RHS, they’re again fallen off) the seatbelt's were a nightmare, 19 tiny bits of PE makeup the belts! It took forever to fit them and I still have to finish painting them as well. Plus I’ve just noticed I’ve bent one of the “horns” on the top of the seat! (I love this new one!!) I’m just about there with the tail pipe but there was a bit of a hiccup along the way. I’m using Wolfpack bits to update this to a Polish AF F-16, and so far had found the Dragchute housing to be a bit too small, well they’ve struck again! Both exhaust shrouds look the same…. ….. but as you can see there are some fit issues! I wasn’t quite sure how to fix this at first as there was a lot of filing and reshaping required to get it to fit! Luckily I have a spare Block 52 should left over from my whiffy build, so out with the Dremel and some paint and a short time later we have this. Now that looks much better, just a wee bit of detail painting to go and it’s done. One final bit, which has taken up most of the time has been the weapons, have been working on these for both builds. These are nearly done, just need to be decaled and a flat clear coat. I have just discovered “Mr Hobby Leveling/Thinning” solution…this stuff is AWESOME!!! I usually have a bit of a struggle to get Mr Hobby acrylics, especially the semi-gloss stuff, to go on really smooth. They can often have a a bit “orange peel” in the finish if you’re not careful, but with this stuff the finish is near perfect and smooth every time! So much so I had to redo the drop tanks as I initially didn’t have the joins smooth enough and it showed big-time with this paint! I’m still planning or hoping to have her painted before the end of this break…maybe? Oh and time to sneak in something off topic, well not really allowed in this build….the beast! wt SLAM E’s and with Popeye 2’s and Data Link Pod 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Great progress with this build. Great safe on the exhaust. Can't wait to see it with some paint on. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Had the same problem when using this exhaust. I cut the ring open and placed some evergreen in it to make it a little bit bigger. Good one on the nose. Did you remove the masking tape after it dried or just after putting the Mr Surfacer on it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 3 hours ago, Lex77 said: Had the same problem when using this exhaust. I cut the ring open and placed some evergreen in it to make it a little bit bigger. Good one on the nose. Did you remove the masking tape after it dried or just after putting the Mr Surfacer on it? I didn't think of that, using the old or other shroud in this case was the simplest option. But adding a spacer like you did would be just as easy if you didn't have a second one. you know I have forgotten! I think I let it dry for a while, then I used some 4000 grit Micro fibre to soften the edges and knock it back a wee bit. I'm actually really happy with it, something to remember next time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Lovely work Rich, I had the same experience with this kit requiring quite a bit of sorting out compared to its often claimed 'no filler' fit. Nice fix on the Aires exhaust shroud too, the one specifically designed for the Tamiya kit does fit very well I must say incase you do another PW jet in the future, but this shows the difference in fuselage profile I guess with the Kinetic kit! Levelling thinner, it really is magic with acrylics! Look forward to the cool camo, David. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 29, 2017 Author Share Posted January 29, 2017 Well again not an awful lot done if you go by the photos, but have been quite busy just still doing the final bits before painting. The tailpipe is finally completed, the only issue I had was that the “carbon fibre” exhaust petals didn’t touch the inner cone. The only way to fix this was to use CA glue and clamp, not the nicest solution but it worked! For some reason with this build and not the Whiff there was a noticeable gap where the intake module met the fuselage. The easiest way to fix this was to glue some stretched sprue in place. Next up was the job I wasn’t really looking forward to, removing the mould line in the canopies. I tried it early on one of the spare clear ones, with mixed results. This time I just hit them micro-fibre pads and some special polish at the end. I’m actually quite happy with the results, I won’t dip them in Future (or our eqv) as I think they become too clear if that makes sense??? Undercarriage is in place, still need to do quite a bit more in this area. There is a noticeable gap in one spot under the centre pylon, not sure where that came from but it'll need to be fixed. The tail section is finally completed. So she is pretty much ready for painting, something I hope to start today. I’m not sure if I’ll finish the painting this break or next. I’ll need to give here an undercoat to try and even out the different coloured plastic and resin on her, plus some panel pre-shading as well to help break the flatness on the grey main colours! As I will be using masks for the “stripes” I need to paint her in reverse, the dark colour first, so as to ensure the light grey will have an even finish all over she’ll have a the dark grey all over. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Leijdens Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Great progress Rich. Don't you find it tricky to place the landing gear already? Erik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 4 hours ago, Knetterik said: Great progress Rich. Don't you find it tricky to place the landing gear already? Erik arrr yeah, but I do do somethings a bit backwards from everyone else, so I'm use to working around things like this. Plus there is no real easy way to leave the gear off till last with the Tamiya model! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Great job on the exhaust Rich, it looks fantastic. You seem to have got over your fear of tackling the canopy mould line very well, they both look very good and as you say I don't think they need dipping in anything, unless you are gluing anything to the inside of them as this might cause fogging otherwise. I'm looking forward to seeing the paint on as this scheme is really growing on me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 ok a quick update, started painting!! With the final touches done and the canopy and U/C masked it’s finally time to paint her. Because the different coloured bit of plastic and resin she was given a coat of XF-20 grey. I’m generally happy with the finish no major build dramas to fix up which is nose, though I really do hate the fit of the nose sections of the Tamiya model! Really hard to get right and they’re still a wee bit off, but they’ll disappear with paint. I am happy though with my new ridgeline on the nose cone! Right next up a few squiggles just to help break up the flatness of the grey paint, I only did the noticeable panel line, they’ll blend in nicely with the next coat. Ok the first main colour is Grey FS.36270 (Mr Hobby H308), the darker of the two greys. This needed to go one all over so that the next lighter grey will be even in colour allover. This paint went on like a dream now I’m using my new best friend Mr. Hobby Leveler/Thinner!! It just goes on so thin and light, it’s very easy to build up the colour you’re after, in this case the pre-shading just peaking through under it, which was what I’m after. So now to mask up the strips and put on the next coat of the lighter grey…..and this is where we come to a rather sudden stop! The instructions for the masking or decal options have a warning; “Light Grey color is normally FS.36375, however due to the specifics of the paint, paint used for painting this aircraft had a much more blue hue, than the color from this template.” ….and nothing else to help with the correct colour!! I’ve looked at all the photos I have of this aircraft (or aircrafts, there were 2 in this scheme) and the lighter grey does have a quite blue hue to it compared to the normal 2-tone grey of European F-16’s. So I’m a bit stuck as to where to go for the next colour. Though by chance I have a bit of an idea. I was trying out a new surface primer from Vallejo, which happened to be USN L. Ghost Grey and the colour is very close to what I’m after. So for now I’ll put this on hold until I can get the new paint, in the meantime I’ll do some searching to see if I can find out what the colour used was. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 time for one last and final update before I head back to work tomorrow….I’ve got her painted! I spent ages trying to find out some info on the paint used on these aircraft but I could find anything. Doesn’t appear that anyone else has posted a build using these masks either. Eventually I found a colour I was happy with…..there’s bound to be someone that disagrees! Ammo MiG’s Lt. Compass Ghost Grey, it has just the right amount of blue hue to it. Strangely it to is FS.36375, but as I’ve found the variations in colour from the different manufactures for the same FS number can be frightening! So with that sorted (after a quick trip to the city for paint) time to mask. This process brought back memories of the masking required for the “Splinter” MiG! After about 3 hours we have this! I actually wished I could have just left it like this! The paint was mixed down with my new favourite friend, Mr Color Leveler & Thinner to around 60/40 paint to thinner. I was able to mist over multiple coats and the finish looks to be quite good. As much as I’m dying to rip the masks off the paint will need to dry overnight due to the leveling solution. Sorry about the photo looking so washed out! I did though take the masks off the centre drop tank, that was painted without adding Leveling solution and probably want on a bit thick for my liking. Now looking at the photos I have the Lt Grey looks like a perfect colour match and the Dk. Grey almost looks to dark in some photos! So when I'm back home next it should be smooth sailing to the end! Ok I could help myself, had just a wee peek! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Me... an 1:72 scaler and a brushpainter for good... feel bad at looking what you 48er and airbrush users can do. That paint and rivet detail looks soooooo good . V-P 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 thanks, I really do like working in 1/48th scale, and not because I need to wear glasses now. Oh I I have removed the rest of the masks!!! how it looks...beyond words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Well lets see it then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 1 hour ago, Tony Oliver said: Well lets see it then well ok..... other than one small bit where I need to lengthen the dark grey, no touch ups are required, a first for me with any paint job, and especially for a masking job this complex. I just need to knock back a couple of paint ridges from the masks in a couple of spots but thats it as well. those ridges can be seen here but are really easy to fix, the light position makes them really noticeable, but will help in removing them. I still have to do the elevators, they were used in some of the paint experiments, which were a really big help. But I'm soooo happy with the finish, one of my best paint jobs so far! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 ehhhh that is very stripey. I do like the paintjob. Well done. So when is the next F-16 you are going to build. The only downside for me is that it is all in Grey. I would have loved to see a orange lion instead. It is that I don't have time to another one, but otherwise it would have been the orange one for me. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 All i can say is So good Rich.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Oooh that is special! I want one, I want one! Well done Rich, you have made a grey F-16 look really interesting. I am now going to look for Model Maker Decals and see what else they do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) Amazing result! Rich I think you might be responsible for many more purchases of this mask set, I really want one too now after seeing this. Has to me one of the best F-16 special schemes I have seen, really well done! edit... builds like these make me think a Special Scheme Group Build would be awesome someday! Edited January 31, 2017 by mirageiv 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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