LeVi Tophatter Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 (edited) Hi Folks, This is my first full model aircraft build in a couple of years, I say full as I trashed the kit I was supposed to be building for this thread... I thought it would be better to learn to walk than to try to run, so I've chosen this seemingly straight forward simple kit to begin with. Hasegawa 1/72 F-16DJ Block 50 Well, not much else to be said apart from it's one of the less often seen twin seater's. A typically refined and well presented kit, this release has new sprue's that update it from its' mid '80's base kit. Box top: Nice photo, I'll be using this as a reference. Despite this kit being advertised as a 'Block 50' the aircraft in the photo is actually a block 52... I'll be building this one as it doesn't need to have any mods done to it such as the rear pilots HUD repeater. Decals: For once, Hasegawa have done a good job with their in-house decals. They are sharply printed, the colours are good and best of all, the whites are not ivory. On a more sombre note, I've also just found out that the jet I'll be building ended its' days in a fireball a few years ago... New parts: These are the new sprue's that are included with the F-16D base kit. 1 - This sprue covers the now standard missiles, launchers, heavy weight wheels, etc. 2 - This sprue covers most 'big mouth' Falcons and includes the heavy weight main gear doors, etc. 3 - This sprue covers most block 40/42/50/52 Falcons with regards to the SEAD mission. Rockin' and Rollin': I'm going to build this kit in flight, for the sake of speed and not dealing with tiny fiddly bits. It's these tiny fiddly bits that caused my last kit to crash land in the bin... Anyway, here's the assembled and painted cockpit and fuselage. It's all OOTB, decals for consoles and all. TBH they actually look quite good under a flat coat. The seats have had a bit of khaki dry brushed over the olive green for a bit of dimension, looking good so far... ... Spoke too soon, now the madness begins. Block 52 jets use the original smaller intake, so I thought I'd get a bit of practice putting the newer 'big mouth' intake together. The fit of those new tool parts was not good and the same can be said of the original parts. 1 - Massive step between the upper intake halves. I used heat to bend them and CA glue to bond them. Much sanding is still needed. 2 - This light fixture needs to be removed for the twin seater's, easy enough. 3 - Steps, gaps and mismatched contours needed to be filled, blended and sanded 4 - I had to re-scribe some of the lower panel lines as they were obliterated while trying to smooth out the steps. The intake wasn't going to rest easy, I guess I've been spoilt by Tamiya's cars and motorbikes as this kit has to be built and some. 1 - Big, uneven gap between the intake and fuselage join, an easy enough fix with milliput. 2 - The heavy weight main doors have big gaps at the rear. I used CA glue and Mr Surfacer to close the gap smoothly. Gaps, gaps and more gaps. 1 - The base of the fin has an uneven step that was filled with CA glue and putty. 2 - The rear fuselage was warped on this kit, probably why I've had most of these fit issues. 3 - CA glue was used to fill in some comical gaps on the ventral fin tabs. 4 - Yet another large gap to fill and I broke off and lost this antenna too! Where art thou antenna... The biggest issue with this build is keeping up the enthusiasm. With the problem areas taken care of and checked with a coat of paint, I can actually stop moaning. I masked and sprayed the canopy interior colour earlier on with a lightened black acrylic. TBH, it's looking quite O.K. Thanks for looking, more to come shortly. Edited February 17, 2013 by LeVi Tophatter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 (edited) Just a little update this morning. With (hopefully) the big issues sorted, it's time to get this finished and ready for paint. 1 - The new AIM-120/AIM-9 launcher and some kind of antenna were then added to bring the wing to standard configuration. 2 - The wing as it was originally moulded. 3 - The wings are a good fit especially on the upper fuselage join, a bead of liquid cement helped smooth the join further. There was a slight gap between the wing and fuselage on the underside of the LH wing, this was an easy enough fix. 1 - To keep this fix sharp and clean, I laid down two 'boarders' of masking tape. 2 - I then applied some putty and sanded it to match the contours of the area. I went over the area again (lightly) with a medium sanding stick to blend further once the tape was removed. I would have used a cotton bud and cellulose thinner to smooth the joint but I can't seem to find any in the shops... I'm getting there, very slowly... Many thanks to Gary L at Hannants London for his time, techniques and patience!!! Edited February 17, 2013 by LeVi Tophatter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 Another little update for today, almost there... Seeing as the kit is being modelled in-flight, I couldn't help but add a small amount of detail to the jet nozzle. the original item is on the left with the modified item on the right. I just made a cone out of plasticard and scored 'petals' into it to get the angular look. Once painted it should look a little better. Not a lot left to do now, just small details and of course the pilots. 1 - The pilots that come with the kit, both original and updated, look bizarre to say the least. A cross between an biker with chaps on with an elephants head describes them best... I found a much better pilot from one of Hasegawa's 'diorama' sets and will use him or her instead. This is my first attempt at painting figures properly and I'm quite happy with the result. Shadows were a combination of grey, tan and green washes with Khaki drab highlights on the flight suit. I forgot to gloss coat the visor... The underside. 1 - The HTS pod is really only designed to fit the block 40/50 'big mouths'. The pod has pins that need to be cut off and filed to fit the older 'small mouth' intake. I used the box photo to 'guestimate' it's fit. Pretty much done. It's term break for me now, so I've got a lot more time just when I don't have much to do on the model... I'll have it painted and marked up tomorrow and then it's done. It's a good day today, so a bit of chillin' in the park is in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 "Hi Folks, This is my first full model aircraft build in a couple of years, I say full as I trashed the kit I was supposed to be building for this thread... I thought it would be better to learn to walk than to try to run, so I've chosen this seemingly straight forward simple kit to begin with." How many times have I said this to myself but, I always get an urge to finish things so, instead of "walking" and enjoying-learning from the process, I choose to "run". Don't know why though.... Great work mate. Looking forward to see it finished. Cheers Sernak 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 (edited) Hi Sernak, Hope all is well. Hehe, with the first model I wanted it to look great, very quickly but I just rushed it and got frustrated with the same problems in this build... You've definitely hit the nail on the head, I just tell myself that this is supposed to be a fun hobby, chill out, relax and enjoy the process. The thing is we have a picture of the finished model in our heads and we want to get there as soon as possible... Having a big pile of kits waiting to be built is not helping me out either!!! All the best, Lee. (Edited for line spacing, I needed to print this out...) Edited January 20, 2014 by LeVi Tophatter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnobiz Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Looking excellent so far, can't wait to see it finished! Arnaud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 (edited) Hi Arnaud, Many thanks, I appreciate these enthusiastic comments, they really do make the slogging worth it! Correct me if I'm wrong, your name does ring a bell, 1/72 VF-213 F-14D? All the best, Lee. (Edited for line spacing, I needed to print this out...) Edited January 20, 2014 by LeVi Tophatter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnobiz Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Yep correct, although I have to finsih this one... status is 90% now, I received the seats, I have the pilots, I basically need to paint both as well as the weapons and that's it. Then of course I need to cast the JBD and make the deck but that's (almost) another story Arnaud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Apologies folks, this is taking much longer than planned due to my own foolish mistakes as you will soon see. It should be done by Friday... I've started spraying the colour coats. The box photo and paint/markings chart show the 3 colour scheme but I'm painting it in the 2 colour scheme normally applied after depot maintenance for a few reasons, the main being that I have only 2 greys!!! 1 - The intake is difficult to mask due to it's small size and multiple curves. Thin strips of masking tape, damp tissue and 25mins later... 2 - I'm using an airbrush with a fine needle, so I didn't go overboard with the masking. I would later pay for this. Being quite impatient to get this kit finished, I decided to glue the pilot into the cockpit, this was the beginning of more problems... 1 - Somehow the pilot now sat far too high in the cockpit. When test fitting, all was well. Out of sheer desperation not to use the original 'elephant man-pilot' I removed most of the pilots legs and botty. The good thing is that the chopping can't be seen when the pilot is seated. Phew! Moving onto the inevitable touch ups. 1 - Not being sensible or patient enough to mask properly, I'm now re-painting the light grey area on this section. 2 - I'm spraying the colour demarcations freehand for the sake of speed... I was a bit too heavy on the dark grey in this area, so I'll blend in some light grey freehand, again... And look what happened. Still running before I can walk. 1 - A nice sharp demarcation is achieved when the job is done properly with masking. 2 - Nightmare. I still haven't learnt my lesson, I've got light grey overspray on the fuselage and to make things worse, the airbrush then spluttered light grey over the rear fuselage and fin base... 3 - For some reason, the masking tape I was using to handle the tail left a dark patch in the paint underneath. An easy enough fix though. After a bit of a break to re-focus, I sprayed the radome a mix of the two greys I have and then brush painted the small details, such as the antenna on the fin base (it re-emerged from it's holiday). The colours may be a little dark and probably totally incorrect but in my eyes, they work and with that the colour painting is done. The colours used were Tamiya XF-66 (light grey) and XF-24 (dark grey). Time to prep the kit for it's decals, almost done... I used a gloss coat from Humbol/Airfix, it can be used straight from the bottle and is quite good. Although it's difficult to see from this photo, the entire airframe has a subtle 'patchy' look to it, with the radome looking more weather beaten. I used a circular motion while spraying the colour coats in orderly fashion to achieve this. The jet nozzle really doesn't fit too well but I'm going to leave it as is. The nozzle was sprayed with Alclad silver and burnt metal with a light mist of clear blue to simulate the distinctive heat discolouration. Decals to be applied tomorrow as I'm knackered. Many thanks to Gary at Hannants London for his time, tips and airbrush! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screech Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 The build is coming along nicely! Only one thing, the poor pilot will need some sort of assistance to climb in or out now that you shorten him at the knees. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thankyousam Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 This thread is an interesting read. It's good to learn from other's experiences, so thank you for being so honest and detailing the steps (and I hesitate to use the word mistakes ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I just tell myself that this is supposed to be a fun hobby, chill out, relax and enjoy the process. Having a big pile of kits waiting to be built is not helping me out either!!! All the best, Lee. You're absolutely right Lee. Nevertheless, this was true at the beginning of our engagement with scale modelling. Those days were fan and enjoyable because we didn't have a lot of expectations from ourselves and our models. Yet, I remember that when I started to get involved with societies and exhibitions/competitions - reading magazines and books, that was the moment when I moved from simply having fan to trying to most accurately make a representation of the real aircraft and/or trying to achieve a similar result with regards to the work of more advanced scale modellers. However, from time to time, I do get memories back either from a smell or an old packaging, or an old article, or even when I see pictures from previous exhibitions. Now, overall I think what has affected us and "moved" us from simply having fan is the fact that as adults we now have more responsibilities than what we used to back then. At least this is true for me. Looking forward to see it finished Lee. Keep up the good work. Cheers Sernak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) Hi Folks,Apologies but no photo updates today as I couldn't log in 'till now. I'm still working on the decals. So many small data stencils, it's hurting my head! How do you guys cope with this... The build is coming along nicely! Only one thing, the poor pilot will need some sort of assistance to climb in or out now that you shorten him at the knees. Thanks Michael, appreciate the comment. It's the pilots fault for 'growing' overnight... This thread is an interesting read. It's good to learn from other's experiences, so thank you for being so honest and detailing the steps (and I hesitate to use the word mistakes Thanks TYSam, it's comments such as these that keep you going when you just want to, dare I say, give up... It's much appreciated and I'm glad this thread may be of use to some folks. I remember that when I started to get involved with societies and exhibitions/competitions - reading magazines and books, that was the moment when I moved from simply having fan to trying to most accurately make a representation of the real aircraft and/or trying to achieve a similar result with regards to the work of more advanced scale modellers. Hi Sernak, nice to hear from you again. Many thanks for the comment, it's much appreciated.Great post, I and many others can identify with this too. There was a point where I too moved away from the fun of quick builds and became obsessed with super-detailing and accuracy. The frustration of seeing everything as 'imperfect' and trying to create a scale 'replica' eventually caused me to stop making military models for a long while. It was no longer fun.This hobby will always find a way to entice you back in though... A milder form of the super detailing virus will come back again in time but for now, it's all about the fun I had all those years ago, even though this kit has been a bit of a pain...Night all. (Edited for line spacing, I needed to print this out...) Edited January 20, 2014 by LeVi Tophatter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) Hi Folks, Apologies for the wait, I lent my laptop to my Sister. The F-16DJ is now finished! I've managed to loose the remaining sprues, so there are no weapons and some of the finer detais are missing. The next kit I'll do, I'll aim to do it in a weekend... Home straight: I've managed to get all the stencils and unit markings on and I've also sealed them in with an eggshell clearcote mixed with Tamiya paints. 1 - I've lost the clear sprue, so there will be no HUD on this jet 2 - The F-16C/D have different gun gas vents, just 2 cut-outs behind the muzzle. A very easy and subtle filling mod, so much so that I forgot... 3 - The navigation lights for the sides of the intakes were on the clear sprue that I lost too. 4 - The decals were quite 'rigid' in practice. After using much Micro sol and Micro set, to get them to conform, 'silvering' was still showing up, I should have applied more gloss clear-coats . After repeated attempts with Micro sol/set I left them as they wanted to be. Apparently the Gunze equivalent of Micro sol/set is said to work really well on Japanese kit decals... Can't find any UK retailers though. One more shot of the cockpit area before the canopy goes on. I'm very happy with the brush and airbrush painting in this area. The freehand colour demarcations on the fuselage, dry-brush highlights on the seats and figure painting were firsts for me. A shot of the finished jet (on a temporary MDF base). What a relief and experience to have a finished jet model, now onto the next one! I've since given this model to my younger Brother upon his return from holiday, his first comment being - 'I thought these things have bombs and missiles?' Oh brother... Thanks for your time, interest, honest and friendly comments. Link to the 'critique' section: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234935531-hasegawa-172-f-16dj/ (Edited for line spacing, I needed to print this out...) Edited January 20, 2014 by LeVi Tophatter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnobiz Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Nice work, and fast too! The HUD is esay to make yourself: Cut a piece of clear plastic from a food container to shape, paint the edges clear green and Bob's your uncle For the decals I think the best way to remove the silvering is to soak them in Future before you apply them. After application it is still possible to remove the silvering: cut very delicatly through the decal (but not the paint) in several parallel lines and generously apply MicroSol. This way it will penetrate underneath the decal and soften it from the inside. Cheers, Arnaud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 (edited) Hi Arnaud, Thanks for the comments and tips, I'll put them to use on the next kit I build with OOTB decals. Sods law, I've just found the clear sprue I lost... Fantastic Super Hornet by the way, those intakes are causing quite a stir. Good luck with the carrier deck section... (Edited for line spacing, I needed to print this out...) Edited January 20, 2014 by LeVi Tophatter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyn Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 wow love the job after all your hard work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeVi Tophatter Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) wow love the job after all your hard work Hi Lyn, Thanks for the very nice comment, it's much appreciated. (Edited for line spacing, I needed to print this out...) Edited January 20, 2014 by LeVi Tophatter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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