Jump to content

Revell 1/72 F-16A Belgian Air Force - DONE!


Recommended Posts

Hey everyone,

Fresh from the F-14STGB (and the fun I had with that) and thanks to the encouragement of fellow club member JasonB :worthy: (who already entered this GB), I decided to take the plunge with this one.

RevellF-16A172boxcover.jpg

The kit comes with 3 schemes and while the famous "Diana" tail art had her charms :whistle: I'm going for the Belgian anniversary scheme from the box art which apparently features some obscure reference to some well-known plane...

RevellF-16A172decals.jpg

The first (and last) F-16 I built was the Matchbox kit in the early 80s (?) as a two-seater. This one will be OOB and I'm going to concentrate on getting a better fit and finish if I can. I've heard great things about this Revell kit and am really looking forward to it!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy your builds.

Dermot

Edited by Dermo245
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hey everyone and some great Vipers/Falcons underway here (and some completed too!)

A small (and slow) start to my build but have finally got going. I'm doing this one with the kit-supplied pilot on board but decided to make him a bit more dynamic - so he got a little neck from sprue and a small head turn to the left. Also extended the oxygen hose to allow for his head turn. (I say he...it could easily be a she, if you do an image search for "F-16 pilot"! :whistle: )

RevellF-16Apilot.jpg

The seat was also painted up....

RevellF-16Aseat.jpg

And with the rest of the interior (right arm to be added towards the end).

RevellF-16A172pilotcockpit.jpg

Thanks for reading, enjoy your builds and happy modelling.

Dermot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dermo,

Just checking your plane out after Jason's Revell... I think your control stick might be the wrong way round... Revell instructions seem to be wrong.

Hope it's not too late.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Dermo,

Just checking your plane out after Jason's Revell... I think your control stick might be the wrong way round... Revell instructions seem to be wrong.

Hope it's not too late.

Thanks and when I checked last night, the joystick has gone Awol! Not to worry as it's probably too tiny to be seen through the canopy.

Finally got some progress on this one. Due to the unique scheme on this a/c, I decided to paint and decal the tail at this stage and add it later - just thought it would be easier than doing it at the end (just tacked on here for show)

RevellF-16Afuselage2.jpg

Joined up the fuselage and some filler was needed around the nose, on the sides of the engine intake and a little on the wing to fuselage join. Luckily, i didn't need any where the front half meets the rest of the fuselage (at least I don't think i'll need any) and a quick swipe or three of the sanding stick seemed to work in that area.

Primer tonight if possible!

Thanks for reading and enjoy your modelling.

Dermot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice one Dermot! The tail looks good, don't forget to add the Spitfire Cockpit decal to the front of the tail ( or does it go over the tail and the fuselage? ). Looking forward to seeing it painted!

J.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Nice one Dermot! The tail looks good, don't forget to add the Spitfire Cockpit decal to the front of the tail ( or does it go over the tail and the fuselage? ). Looking forward to seeing it painted!

J.

Cheers Jason and the cockpit decal goes over the tail and fuselage.

Finally got some paint on - medium grey on top, light grey underneath. Also started on the engine (thanks for the colour suggestions). I'll finish the nose and engine later tonight.

Revell172F-16APaint.jpg

Thanks for looking.

Dermot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Some fantastic looking Vipers around these parts, really enjoying the different builds and markings!

Speaking of which, here's some WIP pictures of the decals on my build which was one reason I chose this kit in the first place.

First, the 349 Squadron anniversary markings underneath..

RevellF-16A172Decallower.jpg

There's the usual stencils around the plane but the most challenging decal for me was the reproduction of a Spitfire on the top fuselage which has to be one of the coolest schemes ever thought up!

RevellF-16A172Decalupper.jpg

Some of you might be thinking - how does the Spitfire scheme match against a real-life example (in 1/72 world, that is)...well, here it is next to an Airfix Mk1a...

RevellF-16A172Decalsize2.jpg

Enough of the messing; here's the decal applied to the upper fuselage. This was the hardest single decal i've ever had to apply, not least because the wings had a life of their own and the fuselage was very delicate. After a couple of issues with alignment, here it is finished and happy how it turned out!

RevellF-16A172DecalWIP.jpg

Next up will be the squadron badge decal which crosses all of the landing gear bays..fun!

Thanks for reading and enjoy your modelling!

Dermot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So after a couple of late nights on the bench, got this one finished!

RevellF-16A172BelgianAFt3q2.jpg

RevellF-16A172BelgianAFtopfull.jpg

RevellF-16A172BelgianAFrl3.jpg

RevellF-16A172BelgianAFr3q.jpg

Am really happy how it turned out, despite a number of obvious goofs, namely:

- top Spitfire decal is a smidge out of line

- camo decals on the elevators are too far out and should be closer in to the engine

- canopy fit was a bear

- even though I followed the instructions to the letter, the crew chief might have some issues with the clearance of the front gear door and drop tank!

Will post some more pics in the gallery, thanks to everyone who read and commented and to davidsm for leading and Mish.

Cheers,

Dermot

Edited by Dermo245
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...