Old Viper Tester

Finally getting around to scanning some old slides. Here are the RAF Red Flag contingent at Nellis AFB in Jan-Feb 1981. XZ392 31 Squadron XZ387 31 Squadron XZ376 17 Squadron XZ356 17 Squadron XX972 31 Squadron XX969 31 Squadron XX968 31 Squadron XX827 17 Squadron. Unfortunately, XX827 was lost 12 February on the Nellis ranges in a controlled-flight-into-terrain crash killing the pilot. Sven Old Viper Tester

Fantastic model! Excellent finish and detailing. One criticism for accuracy... Your centerline store is an AN/AXQ-14 Data Link Pod. In the kit, this is intended to accompany the GBU-15s. I believe Revell provides two Short-Chord Wing (SCW) GBU-15s in the kit to be carried on stations 2 and 8. Operationally it was more common to use the AXQ-14 with AGM-130s, also only carried on stations 2 and 8. I don't think anyone makes the AGM-130 in any scale, but you could make one using an AIM-7 Sparrow rocket motor strapped under the SCW GBU-15. A more minor point is the location of the GBU-10 LGBs. If only two are carried on the conformal fuel tank weapon stations, they should be on the middle stations (LC-2 and RC-2) rather than the forward stations. Having said that, it is possible to carry four GBU-10s with one each on the fore and aft stations, so it would be possible to have the GBU-10s where you have them if the aircraft took off with four and returned with two - often referred to as an authorized "download" stores configuration. See: http://www.f-15e.info/joomla/en/weapons/loadout-configurations/129-desert-storm None of these comments are meant to detract from your model - I only wish I could do as well. In my previous life, in addition to flight test I was also the Strike Eagle Flight Manual Manager for ten years, so these details continue to rattle around in my little brain. Sven Old Viper Tester

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

Talk about a jolt! That first pic without the decals immediately shot an image from 1984 to the front of my little brain. I remember seeing a VMFP-2 bird at El Toro looking almost exactly like this (no canopy, no wing tips, no engines). I think they were converting to the TSP grey scheme at the time, so the airframe may have been being prepped for new paint (though I thought the Navy saved full re-paints for the re-work facility). Or maybe it was just awaiting salvage. The image in my mind still has ghost images of the markings on it, but your model's state of play really brought that memory to the fore. I'm with you on putting some WIP models away for a cool-down period. I have more than a few of those, the most taunting being an A-Model T-4 Sotka. I really want to finish it, but there are times I'd like to blow-up the whole thing. Loving your work and looking forward to more. Sven OVT

Hi Tony, Great thread. I've got about 50+ Tomcat kits, mostly Hasegawa awaiting attention, and this WIP is giving me some great ideas. WRT the varigated Paveways, have a look at this US Navy image: Even though this image is from a few years ago, you can see that the transition to all Lt Ghost Grey components was taking some time. I think a lot of the current operations show mostly all grey weapons, but the mix'n'match weaponry adds interest IMHO. Sven OVT

As a Phantom Phan, I have to ask if this build progressed further? Thinking maybe I missed something. Really liked the finish on the Choctaw BTW. Sven OVT

As for "stripey" RBF flags, Airwaves used to make a sheet that had both stripes and REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT formats. Looks like the Aviation Megastore still carries them: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/remove-before-flight-flags-usaf--raf-sc72105-airwaves-sc72105-aircraft-modelling-accessories/product/?action=prodinfo&art=27228 Sven Old Viper Tester

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: 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... 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. Also need a little more cleanup of the Flory wash. Another comparison of the tanks as completed... 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... 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

Not having much luck with metals or thinner card stock, I've gone with this for the quadruapod attachment points. They are over-sized, particularly in height, but they at least make a representation... Some painting done and the vertical tail attached... More work on the camo and the stores... The CBUs are from a Hasegawa weapons set. Will be fixing those in a slant-two configuration on the TERs, the ALQ-119 will go on the centreline. The kit AIM-9Js will will be masked to show training round markings and loaded on the wing tips. True Details resin seats in the cockpit. Also need to fashion a YAPS (yaw-and-pitch sensor) nose probe. Probably won't get much further today, but I'll keep updating the thread. Thanks for looking, OVT

I finished the presentation F-15QA last night and delivered it to the program office this morning for the retirement luncheon. Now that's out of the way, I can get back to these Vipers. The F-15QA is to be based on the F-15SA. Biggest changes from the USAF jets are the fly-by-wire flight control system, addition of a missile warning system (MWS), and the re-introduction of Stations 1 and 9. Like many of the export Strikes, all of the stores stations are fitted for the 1760 mix interface, making them compatible with GPS weapons. IIRC this means that the CFT shoulder pylons are about 6 inches longer than the USAF pylons. The QA also has the wider TGP pylon incorporating an IRST system. To make the original 1/42 scale Lakenheath F-15E into a QA, I binned the CBUs and generic AIMs, added the MWS fairings beneath the rear canopy rail and double-bubble apertures on the tail stingers, added Stations 1 and 9 pylons and suspension, carved a new Sniper pod, and built up an IRST pylon. AIM-120s and AIM-9Xs were fashioned from wooden dowels with plasticard fins - trying to cast these in resin was a disaster. The 12 CBUs were replaced with GBU-54s cast in resin from a carved plastic body master and added plasticard fins. That's 80 plasticard fins cut and secured with epoxy (AIMs) or CA (GBUs). I didn't bother with lengthening the CFT shoulder pylons. Markings were printed on Experts Choice clear decal paper with a laser printer and applied using the methods described above - some of the painted white background is peeking out from the roundels. The NAV pod and pylon were cast from a mold I'd been using when I was doing a lot of 1/48 presentation F-15Es. It's not 1/42, but it is slightly larger than 1/48. The paint scheme is supposed to be 36375 and 36320. I didn't think the Dark Ghost Grey made for enough contrast, so I added about 50 percent Neutral Grey. Apologies for the detour. Now back to Test Vipers... OVT

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: 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

I’ve got the five-part decal puzzle that is the DFLCS tail band together such that it fits on the vertical tail: The DEEC tail is still a little rough, but I think I can make it presentable. I’ve also got most of the DFLCS airframe together The bad news is that I will be diverted for the next couple of weeks, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish these other F-16s in the allotted GB window. A friend of mine is retiring from the same office I retired from last year, working on the F-15 program. The office contacted me to see if I would "come out of retirement” to do one more personalized retirement model. I agreed, but it’s more than what I usually did in the past. I’ve been given this in 1/42 scale: … and have to convert it to the proposed F-15QA variant. Changing the paint and the markings will be the easy part. I’ll have to scratch the new double aperture stingers at the tail, add the MWS fairings on either side of the forward fuselage, add pylons and suspension equipment on Stations 1 and 9, make a new targeting pod pylon incorporating an IR sensor, and fabricate some realistic stores in this odd scale. As you can see at the back of my less-than-neat spray booth, I have completed touching up the Sufa camo. Thanks for looking. Hoping I’ll be back at the vipers before too long. Sven

Guess I should complete the process description... Use a medium weight paper, high-gloss stock setting on the printer - called gloss presentation in some printer interfaces. If you use a standard paper setting, the toner usually smears or does not cover well. Your printer may balk at the heavier paper as well, so always check the interface settings before hitting "Print". I also make a couple of copies on plain paper stock. Both to check the layout before I commit to expending decal paper and also to use as masks when I need a white background - no ALPS printer here... Either paint the area for the decal on the model white and apply a cut-out paper copy of the graphic as a mask - I use small tape loops behind the paper mask, then paint the aircraft base color, or if the aircraft is already painted, cut out the graphic and use the resulting hole in the paper as a mask to apply the white where needed. Both masking methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Here, the female mask is applied where the LANTIRN logo will go on the F-16 intake: White background applied: Decals in place: These decals are translucent, so a white background should be used for any color graphics being applied to a dark aircraft, e.g., I apply a white background for every artwork decal on a gunship gray F-15E. The example below is a Revell 1/48 with white background applied for the tail band, Materiel Command shield on the tail, and 46th Flight Test Squadron badge on the intake (46th Test Wing shield on the opposite side). I always coat the printed decal sheet with Microscale liquid decal paper. Though I'm told any clear coat will do, some (like Krylon) may react with the ink/toner. The instructions say to spray the liquid decal paper or use a soft brush. I've not had any luck spraying the stuff, so I stick with a soft brush, lightly spreading the film over the decal. It will have brush marks at first, but it eventually levels itself. If you use a hard brush or press too hard, the ink/toner may smear or flake. The clear coat will stick to the underlying paper if there are any scratches or cuts in the film, so apply the coating to the entire sheet (at least where your decal graphics are printed), then cut out the decals once the coating is dry. These decals can be brittle, so a little more care is needed in handling and placing them. Once in place, I apply a little Solvaset to the decal, then almost immediately roll a moistened cotton bud over the decal to remove the Solvaset and squeegee any excess water from under the decal. If you use a dry cotton bud, it may lift the decal. I think that's it... Sven

This set was one of the last I did on an HP office multi-machine (copier, fax, printer). I don't remember the model. I had a deal with my boss that I would do custom markings for people leaving the office. The office team would purchase a desk model, usually 1/48 scale. I would remove the stock markings and apply personalized markings - usually a test jet that was used in one of the projects supported by the person leaving. I would fill out the empty space on the sheet with marking for my own (eventual) use. Because I usually printed doubles or triples of the required markings on a single sheet (just in case), I have a pretty good stock of markings for Eglin and Nellis test jets. Now that I've retired, and still have a supply of Experts Choice blank decal paper for laser printers, I've been taking my decal files to the local FedEx Office store for printing. This is a real hit-or-miss proposition. I've had very few examples print perfectly. Some of the issues have been smearing, ink (toner) not adhering, and printing in a size other than 100%. When there are problems, FedEx usually doesn't charge me, but I've still expended a $3 sheet of decal paper. Software - I'm only now looking into a real graphics program. Previously, I had to use programs common with the office applications. I've been using MS PowerPoint. After years of illustrating my own presentations at work (we joke about being PowerPoint Rangers and having PowerPoint merit badges), I'd become pretty good at improvising to get the illustration I want. PP has basic graphics capability and I found that grouping items and saving them as an image (JPEG or PNG) and then binging that image back into the PP file ensured that the items maintained proportions as I scaled them up or down to the proper size. Changing text to an image also ensured getting the font you want as some printers don't support all fonts - very surprising when your screen image shows USAF Amarillo and your printed decal comes out in Arial! Printing as a PP slide also (usually) assured that the print size would remain true to the image as prepared on the screen. For detailed artwork I would usually scan an image and then draw over it in the MS Office paint application. Making a fairly large image so that when it was resized to a much smaller image, the coarseness of the paint file would be minimized. Sorry about the extensive blather. Hope this makes sense, Sven

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

Jim, here's the Auto TF tail: I've only seen one picture of the LOAN installation - I think it's a USAF image. Is the crest you are referring to the Pratt & Whitney logo? I know the P&W logo appears in the images ahead of the OO-ALC (Ogden Air Logistic Center) legend on the base of the tail. Sven

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: The major assemblies have been completed (see the Auto TF WIP) and the airframe primed. Some AGM-142s and data link pods from the Skunk Works IDF weapons set in the process of painting. Still need touching up and decals. The airframe spent most of today in the spray booth. 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. 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. 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. Thanks for looking, Sven

While waiting for the 0.005 stock to arrive at my LHS, I’ve assembled a fuselage, attached the wings, and started work on the True Details resin seats. Also began to get the tail markings out of the way. Another obstacle. The tail markings I made turned out just a tad too large – the F-16D DFLCS legend being just a bit too long to fit on the tail. Rather than resize the artwork and print a whole new decal sheet, I’m going to try some surgery on the original one-piece decal. It is now five separate pieces and I’m going to try to move the lettering together to fit the tail. Here, the tail has been painted Floquil Reefer White, the areas for the deals masked and the tail painted gray. The Flight Test Center tail band has been applied and the now separate blue borders for the DFLCS marking. Once these decals have set. I’ll add the remaining pieces and keep my fingers crossed. This pic also shows the tail for an F-16A Digital Electronic Engine Control test jet, another work in progress and another tail decal challenge. More on that later. Thanks for looking, Sven

Thanks SoftScience. I may yet give that a go, depends on my level of frustration getting the other bracketry together. Sven Old Viper Tester

Thanks very much gents! Sven Old Viper Tester

Thanks guys. I agree about the seats. I used the Eduard cockpit for an F-16B on my previous Air Defense Fighter build and I don't think the tarted up kit seat looks as good. I still may try to dress up a kit seat in one of my other builds, but for now I'll stick with the TD seats (since many other AM seats won't fit in the Hasegawa tub. Sven

USAF Flight Test Center aircraft rarely carried unique test program markings. Such markings are usually associated with company demonstrators or NASA projects. It was unusual to see four F-16s at Edwards sporting program markings in the late 1980s: Air Defense Fighter, Auto TF, F-16D Digital Flight Controls, and F-16 Digital Electronic Engine Controls. This is the Hasegawa F-16B in the guise of a test bird from the LANTIRN Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB in 1988.The short title for the testing done by this particular Viper was called Automatic Terrain Following, hence the AutoTF marking on the tail. The aircraft was used to evaluate the integration of the LANTIRN navigation pod functions with the F-16 flight controls and the Pilot Vehicle Interface (PVI, what many would refer to as ergonomics or human factors). Additions are True Details ACES II ejection seats and scratch-built HUD. The LANTIRN nav pod is from a Hasegawa Weapons Set. Paints are ModelMaster. Basic markings are from an old Microscale sheet. The unit specific markings were drawn on my computer and printed on Experts Choice laser decal paper. WIP is here A Viper with a Testing Tail… Hmmm, looking through the photos, the right side pitot seems to have disappeared. May have to fashion a replacement. Thanks for looking, Old Viper Tester

I’m calling her done, for the purposes of this GB. I’ve left the canopy separate in case I ever find a good solution to a better looking canopy support brace. I’ve also left provision for external tanks- though I will probably end up filling those in as the Auto TF testing rarely used them. That DFLCS bird is still vexing me, maybe I'll try to clear my head with the Sufa. As always, thanks for looking in. Old Viper Tester

Fantastic Harrier Giorgio, simply fantastic. Sven Old Viper Tester

I bought the Polish Tiger Meet pair last week. Looks like there are enough added billets for Turkish, Hellenic, Chilean, or Singaporean. Will have to study more photos before I'm sure. Back to the Auto TF... In the home stretch now. I’ve fashioned a frame for a WAR HUD out of beer can aluminium. Painted black and filled with Krystal Klear. And added the AOA vanes by Master. The nose pitot is by Master as well. It was fitted earlier because the lower nose radome was a short shot. Built up the missing area with Milliput and incorporated the probe to avoid having to go back a drill a hole at the point of the radome. Making sure the HUD doesn’t interfere with the canopy… Added the LANTIRN nav pod from the Hasegawa Weapons Set VII. Installed the nose gear. True Details seats in place. Must clean up that canopy sill. Added the main landing gear and AIM-9J training rounds - shaved off the rollerons to represent flat plate fins (must flat coat the missiles) and the intake nav lights. Still some touching up to do and adding the sensor window to the LANTIRN pood. Thanks for looking in, Old Viper Tester