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Sufa and Brakeet


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I started a Hasegawa F-16I Sufa in the middle of the Auto TF build as a target of opportunity during a road trip. This is the kit:

HAE34_zpsln3qgnvy.jpg

The major assemblies have been completed (see the Auto TF WIP) and the airframe primed.

Sufa%20Build%20-%209_zps45slcvb5.jpg

Some AGM-142s and data link pods from the Skunk Works IDF weapons set in the process of painting.

Sufa%20Build%20-%2014_zpstzyseulk.jpg

Still need touching up and decals.

The airframe spent most of today in the spray booth.

Sufa%20Build%20-%2015_zpscmco2kny.jpg

Sufa%20Build%20-%2017_zpsds32cuia.jpg

Next will be painting the various antenna and trying to smooth out the camo finish.

 

I figured so long as I’m doing an IDF camo, then I should get the Brakeet F-16D out as well. This one has been sitting in the stash for a long time.

brakeetbt_zpstuwyfafp.jpg

Hasegawa hadn’t moved into the Block 40 and beyond variants at the time they issued this one. The kit came with a resin spine and some resin antenna. When I first tried using CA to attach the spine, the fairing just popped right off. I’m thinking that bottle of CA was getting too old as it has been taking a long time to set.

Out with a new bottle of CA and I drilled out holes along the spine. I spot glued the resin fairing to the upper fuselage and then added more CA through the holes and clamped the assembly.

Brakeet%20Build%20-%204_zpsdy7squ8f.jpg

Brakeet%20Build%20-%207_zpsz1pj5uxj.jpg

This time it stayed put and I added the separate resin ECM fairing at the tail end. The ECM section isn’t as deep as the aft end of the resin spine, so some sanding is in order.

Hasegawa gives only the full F-16C/D tail, so the upper portion of the vertical tail was cut away from the base fairing and secured to the resin spine with pins and CA.

Brakeet%20Build%20-%208_zpszywtb2sd.jpg

Thanks for looking,

Sven

Edited by Old Viper Tester
Building a sofa would be too much.
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On 3/1/2017 at 11:51 PM, SoftScience said:

What a genius idea with the holes. I need to remember this and add it to my bag of tricks.

 

What paint are you using for the brown color?

 

Hi SoftScience - Where I can, I prefer to glue external items to the surface by applying cement or solvent from the back. It minimizes the chances of marring the external surface with the cement/solvent. Hence drilling holes, where, say an ECM blister will go, to allow application of the cement. This usually means adding as many external details before closing up a fuselage or wing. A big consideration for NOT doing this is if the part will interfere with clamping or get easily knocked off during the rest of the assembly (never done that before).

 

Anyway, the holes in the spine are just an extension of this method on a larger scale. My primary reason for doing it here is that if I used too much CA, it gives the glue somewhere else to go rather than oozing out the sides and creating a mess to be cleaned up later. This way, I could apply a small amount of CA to get the part in place and then add reinforcing CA through the holes.

 

The colors I'm using are all ModelMaster:

Brown = Dark Tan, FS 30219

Sand = Radome Tan, FS 33613

Green = "RAF Sky Type S", ANA 610

 

I seem to remember Testers doing a series of IDF colors when they first introduced ModelMaster, but they seem to have disappeared. I do have a bottle of "Israeli Lt Grey" which I probably will use for the undersides. Hasegawa recommends Lt Ghost Grey.

 

Sven  

Edited by Old Viper Tester
Corrected typo
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  • 4 weeks later...

Since I had to print new decals for my F-15QA commission, I added some decals for the F-16I at the IDF Test Center at Tel Nof:

 

Sufa%20Build%20-%2025_zpsttz4bnb1.jpg

 

The tail number, black jet silhouette and "swoosh" are decals. The red and blue stripes are masked and sprayed.

 

Making stores for the F-15SA in 1/42nd scale is not progressing well. Arghhh!!!

 

Sven

Old Viper Tester

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Gosh Sven I almost missed these builds completely!!

 

Some rather quick work on your road trip...did you actually do any real work on the trip!! :winkgrin:

 

They're both nicely finished, I'm using a pair of the Popeye missiles on my WhatIf F-16JK. They're a super cool looking weapon for the F-16!

 

Now looking forward o seeing both of these in the gallery!

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For the Sufa, I'm thinking a pair of Spice GBUs from the Skunk Models IDF weapons set, Pythons, AIM-120s and 600-Gal tanks.

 

Here are the tanks from IsraCast:

 

Sufa%20Build%20-%2027_zpsb77yw49d.jpg

 

Sufa%20Build%20-%2028_zps3pcced9c.jpg

 

That's the standard F-16 300-gal tank above for comparison.

 

As I intend to represent the jet taxiing, I'll be adding a crew using the kit seats (same for the Brakeet). Will have to add oxygen bottles on the left side and pitot stalks on the head box...

 

Sufa%20Build%20-%2029_zps9z9hb0fl.jpg

 

Fit check with the crew. These figures com with the kit, but the canopy is not closing over them. Haven't determined if it's the seats or the figures, yet. Some surgery may be in order.

 

Sufa%20Build%20-%2030_zpsizq2hqf8.jpg

 

Also need a little more cleanup of the Flory wash.

 

Another comparison of the tanks as completed...

 

Sufa%20Build%20-%2032_zpsr0metji1.jpg

 

As for the Brakeet, I do intend to load a Popeye. It will be in a development flight test configuration, so will need separation cameras mounted on the centreline and fore and aft on the fuselage. Will also try to fashion an AIM-9J modified as a camera pod as well. The jet will have the earlier test center markings of orange stripes along the tail leading edge and an "X" logo (kit decals).

 

Here's where she is now...

 

Brakeet%20Build%20-%2010_zpsqmvgaz55.jpg

 

I'll have to sand back some of the paint work. Either my index finger or my air brush was misbehaving and the paint flow got a bit heavy at times.

 

Obviously, neither of these will get finished in the GB window, but I continue with the updates.

 

Thanks for looking.

OVT

 

Edited by Old Viper Tester
grammar
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She does look great. 

 

The few times I've fitted pilots I've had to remove some of their butt to fit. Why is it pilots have big butts!! :D

 

It's a shame you won't be able to finish these in time, but I'm glad you're going to keep the thread active.

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  • 3 months later...

The Great Flood of 2017

 

I said I would finish these F-16s in the F-16 STGB forum, but that’s not gonna happen. I’ve been on a forced modelling hiatus the last two months and don’t know when I’ll get back to these F-16s.

 

After the GB closed out, I did two more 1/48 F-15Es for guys retiring out of my old F-15 program office (I know, I said I wouldn’t do these any more). Those projects took me to the end of May.

 

First week of June, my wife and I made a 3-day trip to New York to deliver my mother-in-law – she gets passed among her three daughters for four months stints each year. When we returned home, the basement was flooded. You can guess where my modeling area is!

 

We’ve been having some pretty hefty rainstorms in Ohio the past couple of months. While we were gone, a flying tree branch hit a downspout and diverted roof run-off to one of the basement window wells. The water level rose above the window and came into the basement around the window casement and down the wall. Guess where my workbench is! Lucky it didn’t short out the electric outlet.

 

Many of the kits on shelves above the bench were soaked. A bunch of CRM resin kits had their boxes turned to mush and some of the older kits (P.111, Spit HF.VII, and others) had the decals ruined. The decals were still in the plastic pouches, but apparently not watertight. E-mail sent to CRM regarding replacements, but that's a long-shot considering the kits' age

 

The F-16 kits on the workbench got the worst of it.  All of them were in their respective open boxes as I was using them as work trays. The water must have dripped into the boxes from the shelves – they all had standing water in them. Many of the decals: kit, AM, and homemade were ruined. Some of the decals that were on the Vipers, but not yet sealed, also floated off. That’s the current state-of-play.

 

The soaked kits were moved to the garage to dry out. Other modeling miscellania are piled wherever the carpet is dry or whatever passes for high ground in the basement.

 

I won’t get back to the Vipers soon. I’ll have to get the work bench back in order and replace decals and re-make some others. I think I’ll have to do a different quick build to get the mojo back once everything is sorted and back to what passes for normal.

 

Sven

Old Viper Tester

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Gosh that's terrible news Sven after all that amazing work too!

 

Hopefully CRM can help you out some how, but even still ti must be a bit heartbreaking to see all the work ruined. Hopefully you can remake your decals, maybe even some of those originals you lost as well. Feel free to put a callout for any you need, I'm sure there a plenty here who would be only too willing to help out if they can.

 

I hope you can get everything back to as normal as you can as we'd all love to see your Vipers finished. Just update the thread when you are able as I'm sure you still have a lot of followers here.

 

 

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