-Neu- Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 (edited) So I guess I should get a move on this GB... I want to have something done by the end. I'm doing a Hasegawa 1/72 Mitsubishi F-2A and I'm going to use a F-16 resin set from Modern Hobbies. The Hasegawa kit is originally from 1998 apparently, but this boxing (the white box) came out in 2003. Not much to say... it looks a bit nicer than their F-16 releases, which I'm a big fan of. So here's a parts' breakdown... it also comes with a lavish arms sprue. What I wanted to highlight is the Modern Hobbies set. I can't go on enough about it... a resin set mastered by Greg Williams, who is an impressive modeller in his own right. I've used his products a number of times, and I have never been dissatisfied.... except with the fact that I didn't discover them sooner. Now the F-16 Set is not a perfect match both in accuracy and fit for this kit... but its pretty close. I asked greg what he thought and he made a couple of really useful diagrams for me when he sent the set. Here's an example. So what is the F-2? its actually a derivative design of the F-16 based on the Agile Falcon concept that emerged in the 1980s. Although F-16 originally emerged as the "low" part of the tactical fighter mix with the "high" F-15, the basic design was seen as being very adaptable. Early on you saw the F-16XL, a cranked delta that would compete and lose against the F-15E as a large strike aircraft to replace the F-111. AgileFalcon was seen as a direct competitor to the F-15C or even a low cost F-22/23 alternative. General Dynamics would increase the wing area, beef up the airframe, install a more powerful engine (Pratt and Whitney F100-PW 229 or GE F110-129, that would be installed on the Block 50/52), and markedly improve the avionics. Unsurprisingly the proposal did not elicit much interest, and much of the technology was incorporated into the F-16 Block 40 and 50. Events would conspire in Japan to give the Agile Falcon concept new life. The JASDF wanted to replace its indigenously produced F-1 strike aircraft, with a new indigenously produced fighter. The FS-X program would be an highly advanced multirole aircraft that would first replace the F-1, then the F-4 and eventually the F-15. However there was a number of issues. First that this was a massive technological undertaking that was not likely to come anywhere close to the budget. Furthermore while the F-1 was indigenously produced, it was by no means a world beater in terms of technology and design, akin to the trainer/light attack Anglo-French Jaguar. In the United States you saw increasing disquiet with the Japanese efforts, so a lobbying effort launched to dissuade them from pursuing the FS-X program and select an American alternative. Without going too in depth, they were successful and Mitsubishi and GD/LM partnered together to build the F-2. Anyway, that's a short history... I'll go a bit more into it while I build, and maybe come March I'll add a few photos of the actual aircraft... we'll see. Edited January 30, 2017 by -Neu- 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Neu- Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 (edited) So I got a move on the actual kit this weekend. I worked on the cockpit set. As I said before the set is a drop in replacement for the regular F-16 set, but it needs a bit of finessing to get into the F-2 kit. However despite saying that, its not even close to the difficulty of getting an Aires set into a kit it was purportedly designed for... or that time I fit a pavla cockpit set for an Modelsevit Su-7 into a KP Su-7. I took a bit of effort to work on the actual pit's details. Primed it, hand painted it, added some washes and highlighted buttons. (sorry about the crappy photos, I didn't have my tripod handy). Next I started by cutting the area identified above... and then I attached it via super glue. Looking pretty good... I think (not that you can tell from the photos). I haven't got the coaming/instrument panel on yet, but maybe I'll do it tonight. Thanks for looking! Edited January 30, 2017 by -Neu- 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Nice to see our first F-2 on here, I love their colour scheme. Very nice work on the cockpit, looks very convincing. Craig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Second that. Will be nice to see a pic of it next to a F-16 to get a sense of the difference in size etc. No pressure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Welcome aboard and I'm glad you brought one of these along! Just looking at the photos of the sprues and you'd be fooled into thinking this is just another F-16, it'll be great to see her beside a "normal" F-16. Well you're off to a great start so good luck with the rest of the build and I look forward to seeing her in the gallery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Looking forward to this one ! Dermot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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