SoftScience Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) Hello gang. I saw this kit at 50% discount at the LHS today and immediately thought of this GB. I believe this is one of the earliest boxings of Hasegawa's F-16 line. It represents a block 15 aircraft, and comes with three decal options. Two Wolfpack squadron machines from Korea, and one Dutch with 311 sqn. None of the marking options are particularly interesting, and the decals look iffy (flat with glossy bits), but a stroll through the interwebs showed little in the way of alternatives. So Dutch F-16 it is! This build will be OOB save for seatbelts. This kit doesn't have the finesse of the Tamiya F-16, but I have a soft spot for kits from the 1980s, as that is what I grew up on. I never built this model in the 1980s, but a friend had it, and I always loved the boarding ladder and recessed panels (my Monogram F-16 had raised lines ) Work begins tomorrow. And you can bet I'll be including the boarding ladder! Edited February 12, 2017 by SoftScience 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Leijdens Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Great to see another Dutch F-16! Building a Hasegawa myself too, indeed not Tamiya quality but I have a soft spot for these kits too. Succes! Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 welcome aboard and nice to see another early model F-16. Hopefully you can come up with a colourful scheme, the 80's grey schemes were a bit boring. You could always splash out on these? TwoBobs NSAWC Vipers Well good luck with the build, and look forward to seeing her in the gallery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Nice one and look forward to seeing this one. Have always had a soft spot for the Euro F-16's... Dermot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Nice, I did the kits little brother in the same scheme as a warm up to the GB, watching along Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Thanks for the words of encouragement. I got a nominal start today by assembling the drop tanks and weapons. The tanks still need seams cleaned up. I'm arming the model with 4 AIM-9P missiles borrowed from the Acadaemy F-4B. I've been waiting some time to use these! Regarding the drop tanks, Hasegawa instructions call for them to be all white. I always assumed they were the underside color. Is this something unique to early F-16s? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Leijdens Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 (edited) For a Dutch F-16 they are just like the underside. In my knowledge they never were white. Erik Edited February 13, 2017 by Knetterik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Good start! Like Erik said, the fueltanks were always in the same color as the underside. Also, Hasegawa screwed up the fins of them, IIRC these were the prototype ones. The ones in service have clipped fins, like this Colorado ANG one shows. Just a 2 minute job with a file or sanding stick and you're done. Nice original loadout for a 311 Sqn jet. They focused mostly on air to ground, back in the day, but they did have a QRA duty as well. Will you add an ECM pod? The shallow AN/ALQ-131 is used. And will you paint the Sidewinders as live ones, or in the various training colors? Pjotr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Leijdens Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Indeed Pjotr, a it's a important detail; Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Thanks for the tips guys. That looks like an easy fix. As for arms - I don't have any freefall bombs in my plastic weapons collection. I have some CBUs from Hasegawa Weapons Set D, but not sure they would be the same as those used by the Dutch. Would be nice if they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 I don't think set D comes with any CBU's? If you meant GBU's, 311 Sqn wasn't qualified to use them untill december 1989. RAF Buccaneers were used for lasing the targets. And, for 311 Sqn, QRA was the same as Victor Alert in the USAF, so (nuclear) strike. The CWI (Clear Weather Intercept) role wasn't introduced untill the early 1990's, so for a mid 1980's 311 Sqn F-16A, 4 live AIM-9's would not be a very realistic scenario. Not impossible though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 So what would be a likelier load? I realized I have two British style cbu bombs from the 70s. If I recall, you said those were in the Dutch arsenal too. So two aim-9s and two cbu bombs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 BL.755's, yes. See here and here for instance, though with graffiti. Pics were taken at Skrydstrup in Denmark, 1986. I found them in this thread on a Dutch spotters forum. Lots of nice pics of Volkel AB based F-16's through the years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Pete, those are great. I don't have the old fashioned TERs, and only two 755s, So I'll end up doing only one per station. Looking through the photos on the link you provided, I'm trying to make sense of the training sidewinders. I've noticed all blue AIM-9P. Blue AIM-9P with white warhead (or whatever). AIM-9L/M with no tail fins, with tailfins, all blue, blue with white head, orange with blue head. Does each type do something different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Sadly I do not know what the difference is between all those different versions. Some are probably captive rounds, others maybe instrumentation pods. Parts were probably swapped too, creating a mish mash of combinations. I think both orange and blue were used at some point for practice ordnance, so the color might not be a clue to as what they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Based on the info above, here is plan B for the load. A few other bits too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 My attempt at the cockpit. I used a bit of artistic license here. No sticks yet, and the ejection seat is in progress. I actually canibalized the seat from a Tamiya F-16, but am currently repainting and adding belts and harnesses. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 there's nothing wrong with a bit of artistic license sometimes, that cockpit looks great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 The complete cockpit. I added some wiring and gizmos to the opening mechanism. The seat belts need a bit more paint to neaten them up. An unanticipated problem occured with the horns by the seat headrest. I had removed them from the Tamiya seat for its original configuration. I tried to add the horns from the Hasegawa seat, but they kept falling off and looked a bit jaunty. Off they went. I can live with it. And the shape of an F-16 begins to emerge! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Very nice work! And interesting absolutely not boring subject at all! Early F-16s seem to be forgotten somehowa did not know about the British Cbus for example! Leftovers from the Starfighter era? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 5 hours ago, exdraken said: somehowa did not know about the British Cbus for example! Leftovers from the Starfighter era? I was wondering that, myself. Seems plausible. And thank you for the encouragement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Moving on to the belly. I got some white primer on the gear wells and intake. A few questions. 1) did the intake lip on early F-16s have the black strip? 2) getting ready to paint the exhaust. I have no access to alclad, can anybody recommend MM or Tamiya paint colors appropriate for the tail pipe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Well...okay. I went ahead with the exhaust can today. The inner rings are Tamiya silver leaf spray, petals are Model Master buffing stainless steel. The outer edges are a mix of Vallejo black and oily steel. Graphite in the lines between the petals. Working on the burned ceramic interior now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I really like that exhaust. Are you discolor them a bit? Those Tamiya weathering sets can give some nice results when doing heat stained metal. On 19-2-2017 at 5:01 PM, SoftScience said: 1) did the intake lip on early F-16s have the black strip? I'm not sure what you mean with a black strip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) On 14-2-2017 at 0:43 AM, SoftScience said: Looking through the photos on the link you provided, I'm trying to make sense of the training sidewinders. I've noticed all blue AIM-9P. Blue AIM-9P with white warhead (or whatever). AIM-9L/M with no tail fins, with tailfins, all blue, blue with white head, orange with blue head. Does each type do something different? I am not a expert, But I give it a go. The total orange ones with fins were smoke sidewinders for airshows. Blue stands for a practice round. Total Blue was a practice round. Blue/orange body with white/black head was a practice one, but with a seaker head (used for dogfight practice). They didn't have a engine, so they couldn't be launched. And a blue one without all the fins is a data pod/transmittel for dogfight practice. Cheers, Edited February 23, 2017 by Arniec 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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