Speedman Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Originally built in 1992 for an Air training Corps competition it has been gathering dust while sat on TVs, book shelves, cupboards and desks ever since. I had built it as an attack variant of the F-16 with information from various books and magazines (remember, no internet for most of us back then). I had a big problem when I was informed (very late) by my CO that the rules stated it had to be completed before my 20 birthday (oldest age for Cadet and 10 days away) so I had to build about half the kit, paint it and decal it in just over a week. Painting was done with a hairy stick but I thought I'd go up-market and bought a rattle can of Humbrol varnish. You can imagine my dismay as I watched my beautiful European One camouflage blister and crack over 30% of the underside. Needless to say, I didn't win and after winning the previous year I was gutted, so on top of a wardrobe it went. A few years later for some reason I slapped a thick coat of gunship grey all over it... To this day I can't remember why This brings us to last December. It's been sitting on top of one of my book cases for years and I was looking at it and just thought about what a waste it was. And that was it, it was that moment that got me back into modelling after a 12 year break! I've taken over 200 photos during it's restoration and had intended to do a build thread from the beginning but never got around to starting it. I haven't done anything to it in a few months so this group is ideal for getting me going again and finally finishing this kit properly after 21 years. This first post is a bit picture heavy but it gives you an idea of where I am with it. The only photo I have of it as a shelf queen. Lots of Fairy Power Spray to lift 3 coats of grey, 2 coats of varnish and 3 coats of camo! Lots of green putty... Most of the cockpit detail was scratch built for the original build. Scratch built 40mm gun pod. Kit exhaust with lots of extra detail. It originally had no pilot and the kit seat was awful so I bought a Reheat Models ACES II and an Academy pilot on eBay for it. A bit of chopping and fettling got the pilot nice and comfy in his seat. I went a bit mental and fitted full seat straps. And I've made a fictional HUD for him to use This was taken at the end of February, since then I have pre-shaded it (March) and sprayed the underside (July), so still plenty to do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Never been a big fan of the F-16 but that looks cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Was that your own personal what-if, or something once proposed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 It's a combination of real world studies, proposals and test aircraft: F-16/CCV, F-16 AFTI, F-16 MATV, A-16 & F/A-16 & an illustration I once found of a USN concept with twin AIM-9 rails on each wingtip. So a bit of a mash-up of stuff to be honest but it does look good together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I quite agree! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 Now I've got my daft amount of obsolete kit group builds out of the way (and a few days of basic 1/144 to relax) I've cracked on with the A-16. I masked it this morning with a Blu-Tac, tape and Maskol combo and went to work with my airbrush and some Tamiya. It's a non-standard scheme (nothing is standard on this build ) based on the scheme 75-0747 was painted in during development of the F-16. Once dry I stripped off the masking and gave it a coat of Clear. F-16A 75-0747 in flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted December 19, 2013 Author Share Posted December 19, 2013 A little bit of progress on this one over the last couple of days, I've painted the exhaust and nose cone plus a few small details and added a few coats of Clear ready for some decals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 I've applied most of the decals, just a few stencils, crew markings and the tail codes to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallmonk Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Looks amazing , really Looking forward to seeing end product , from "hanger queen" to princes ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 Cheers I finished the decals last night and today managed to get the armament painted, decaled and varnished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Mcellaney Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 You have turned what was a model heading to the trash can into a good what if Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 On the final stretch now, I've just got the tail light to make and the weapons to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedman Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 Finished! It's only taken 22 years The only thing I can't do is any weathering, it had raised panel lines and details but in the rush to finish it when first built I didn't have time to be careful when sanding and decided to remove it all and present it as a "display" model (wheels up and lack of pilot). So rather than weather the few parts that are engraved and the engine etc. and have it look a bit weird, I'm leaving it pristine. I've got it propped on some makeshift stands at the moment but I have designed a nice two-piece chrome stand that is being made for me along with a oak base and an acrylic cover (I should get them all mid January). As I'm not making these myself I'm not going to include them as being part of the build. Here's a rundown of some of the "Whif" features... Markings: 184 FS "Flying Razorbacks" Fort Smith, Arkansas, #07-4276. Originally flying the F-16C, the Razorbacks were due to convert to the A-10 in 2007 but in it was decided that a replacement was needed for the venerable "Warthog" and Lockheed Martin were commissioned to create a suitable replacement. Airframe: The new aircraft had to be cost effective and ready for service ASAP. As there had already been several studies into creating a ground attack version of the F-16, Lockheed Martin were keen to follow up on this as R&D would be far less costly than designing an aircraft from scratch. LM simply took the existing airframe design and applied new materials that were not available during the production of the USAF's F-16s. New carbon-carbon wing spars and centre fuselage sections and carbon fibre wings were designed to give the A-16 unparalleled strength for high G manoeuvres and greater load carrying capacity. The centreline stores position was at last capable of effectively mounting an external gun pod, something that plagued A-16 trials in the 80s & 90s. Thrust vectoring: A full 360° vectoring nozzle based on technology trialled in the F-16MATV demonstrator was designed and installed on the General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofan with a maximum thrust of 32,500lb. Canards: Both the F-16 CCV & F-16 AFTI programs investigated advanced manoeuvrability using canards, LM redesigned them to enhance performance further. Computer simulation showed that such a high AOA could be achieved in conjunction with thrust vectoring that the front section of the airframe would disrupt airflow to the engine intake, a problem faced by Rockwell on the X-31 which also featured canards and thrust vectoring. LM looked at Rockwell's solution and extended the A-16s intake by 2' to place it right under the pilot overcome the problem. Attack & detection systems: The AN-APG-80 radar can perform air-to-air, search-and-track, air-to-ground targeting and aircraft terrain-following functions simultaneously and for multiple targets giving the A-16 superb low level attack capabilities. In addition to this the A-16 is fitted with integrated FLIR, AN/ASQ-213 HARM targeting system and 360° RWR. This eliminated any need for external LANTIRN & HTS pods. Avionics spine: Housing advanced defensive and attack avionics the end of the spine houses a rear facing radar with both air-to-air and air-to-ground capability. Wingtip rails: The new high strength wings allowed installation of twin "over & under" rails to carry the new AIM-157A "Rattler" short range radar guided high manoeuvrability missile. Stores positions: With the twin wingtip rails doubling the A-16s basic air-to-air capability, LM saw no need to increase wing size to carry extra air-to-ground stores. They kept the existing pylon arrangement but upgraded the systems to allow a greater variation of weapons to be installed. 40mm gun pod: Developed specifically for the A-16, this four barrelled 40mm gatling was designed to give the A-16 fantastic anti-armour capabilities using the A-16s unique off-axis manoeuvring for precision strafing. More photos in the gallery.  ***Edit*** As I no longer use Photobucket the images in the gallery will cease to work, so I'm posting them here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Splendid! Who needs a bloody F-35? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Nicely done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nirvanagr Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Great job! Didn't know this plane ever existed, since i'm not a F-16 fan, but i really like your project! Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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