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Kinetic 1/48 F-16AM Royal Norwegian Airforce


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After a barren 2016 with a few started but none finished, I decided to reboot an old project:

I just love the colours on that F-16, so up to the wardrobe of doom to hunt out the original kit revealed many layers of paint, rubbish seams etc. All in all much better to start afresh so a new kit (and a SUFA, I like a challenge...) and decals (which turned out to be unnecessary) were duly purchased.

While waiting for the kit to arrive I did a lot more research on these kits than the first time and formed a plan of action, dry fit everything,then dry fit it all again and then trim/sand if needed then repeat until everything fits nicely or nicely enough so that minimal filler was required.

My cause was not helped by the fact the lower fuselage, especially the wings more resembled a banana than an F-16 but lots of clamps saw to that:rambo:. I also found that removing the locating pins on the tail, lower wings and the insert above the MLG bay improved fit no end. To deal with the nose inserts which were a major sticking point on my previous attempt, I fitted them so that 3 sides were aligned and needed minimal filler (or none as it turned out :yahoo:), leaving just the one canyon per side that needed filler as can be seen in the pics. 

Everything was then primed, refilled the necessary areas and then micromeshed with the undersides painted using Tamiya TS-17 in a rattle can which is how it stands as of tonight.

 

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I've also got an Aires exhaust for the Hasegawa kit which has been modified to fit.

Hopefully by posting this build again I will actually finish it this time.

 

Cheers,

Sean

Edited by Mozzy19
Pictures added!!
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Masking off.

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I'm chuffed to bits with how that turned out, it's soooo much better than the first attempt. Just a few touch ups and painting the canopy seal then I'll turn my attention to the bits that hang off.

 

Sean :pilot:

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Flaperon thingies painted and fitted. Exhaust painted, just need to do the NMF area on the donut then I can glue that in place. Also fitted the wing tip launchers and you can also see where I duffed up the painting of one of the stabilisers.. :doh: 

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Sean :pilot: 

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For an interesting comparison, I dug out the original kit to see the damage. From a distance they don't look too different on the top apart from the dried on Jammy Dog tape on the original (note to self: do not leave that tape on a model for any length of time, it WILL ruin the model :suicide:). A closer look reveals an enormous amount of silver overspray all over the upper fuselage and fudged reinforcing plates. The underside joins on the nose are just horrendous on the old one, nothing more to be said. :shrug: 

Both together:

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Old:

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New:

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'Nuff said really.

Sean

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Well, the finishing touches have taken rather longer to complete than anticipated. The landing gear didn't like fitting together very much so it was a case of add a couple of pieces each night using CA glue to keep it all together and then wait until the next day for it all to set. Plus the instructions were about as clear as mud which didn't help matters :wall: .

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Still, the next update should be one of a completed F-16 :yahoo:

 

Sean

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