Pappy Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) Merry new year people! I got this for Christmas, I like F-16's and ever since Kinetic announced this kit I have been hanging out for it. There have (probably) already been several on-line reviews, so I will dispense with the sprue shots. I am lazy - and it seems I am not the only one. Skunkworks have basically produced three new sprues for the newly tooled fuselage split horizontally plus the F-16XL weapons pylons and basically just thrown in various sprues from Kinetics other F-16 releases. There are heaps of stores options provided, many of which would not be applicable to the demonstrator jet or a NASA bird This does not necessarily mean that the kit is bad, and financially, this makes great sense when the F-16 development is considered with regards to block related differences, as many of the parts would be common (like the real thing). The kit provides decals for the company demonstrator and the NASA 'Ship1' in black and yellow livery, as well as three other 'what if' schemes based upon current F-16 users. I would have liked some more F-16XL specific parts for the NASA test-bed aircraft, but I suspect the main market for this kit will be people wanting to do 'what -if' builds. This build will be the single seat demonstrator jet in flight, so basically a straight forward build. Construction begins naturally enough with the cockpit. The kit provides the 'early' style ACES II seat (actually two as two of these sprues are provided) with the airspeed probes sticking out from the head box. Many of the ACES II seats have been modified resulting in these probes now folded against the seat head box and deploying upon ejection. The Kinetic seats lack seat belt details but otherwise feature some really lovely detail which is both crisp and subtle, however, removing the seat side parts required great care as the sprue attachment point is located on a beveled mating surface Careless removal will result in a poor fit and lost detail. I also found the the upper locating pegs interfered with the fit of the parts and I removed it completely. once that was done, the fit was checked and when I was happy the seat was assembled and painted Since my seat will have an occupant, the lack of belts would not be an issue, however, a suitable PE set or resin substitute would solve that problem and dress up the cockpit nicely. The cockpit is nicely rendered and the raised details means that it is easy to paint, however I don't think the side consoles are very accurate Again, since my kit will have the canopy down and will be mostly obscured by the pilot figure, it didn't bother me. Speaking of pilots, none are included, which is normal for Skunkworks/Kinetic, so I have scrounged around the spares box and found something suitable. The figure is wearing a survival vest and USN rig, but I won't tell if you don't. I cut off the throttle and stick and stuck them in the pilot's hands as I like my aircrew to actually fly the jet. The pics I have of the demonstrator don't show the pilot in close-up but he appears to have the older style helmet (pre HGU-55) so the older style helmet was used. Finally, I found that if the instrument panel is attached to the tub as instructed, there will be a gap of about 1mm between the instrument coaming and the panel. I found it better to attach the instrument panel to the coaming and let the bottom of the part 'float' in the tub The panel will sit slightly more aft (toward the pilot) than designed, but it will look okay with a pilot figure installed. cheers, Pappy Edited January 1, 2016 by Pappy 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) Nifty, but it isn't Kinetic, is it? Box says "Skunkmodels". bob Edited January 1, 2016 by gingerbob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foghorn Leghorn Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Aha, someone can trail blaze the kit for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Nifty, but it isn't Kinetic, is it? Box says "Skunkmodels". bob G'day Bob, Good pick -up. The box states 'Skunkworks', but the plastic is pure Kinetic. Apart from three new sprues (2 x fuselage halves and 1 x F-16XL weapons pylons), all the other bits are basically Kinetic F-16 sprues which, btw bear a striking resemblance to a certain Japanese manufacturer's F-16 kit parts, but less refined, cheers, Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 I see, thanks. As I said in the "rumourmonger" thread, this is the one F-16 I could actually see myself wanting! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) G'day people, I spent today working on the intake and gear bay assemblies. SkunkWorks (SW) supply the complete intake trunk in four sections, split horizontally and divided into the forward section (which integrates the nose gear bay) and the aft section, which incorporates the main gear bay. Having previously glued these forward and aft assemblies together, I brushed some liquid sprue (sprue material dissolved into liquid glue) along the seams and left it to harden for a few days. I then used some sanding sticks and sanded the seams. Once satisfied, I painted the intakes with some gloss white paint with a hairy stick. I gave the intake two coats of gloss white. It seems fashionable these days to pour a gallon of latex paint down the intakes and then repeat but I was happy with the results gained the old fashioned way. I have used the 'pour method' myself and I found it to be messy, and not that controllable. Whilst the resultant pain was smooth and glossy, the paint was also quite 'soft' and prone to damage so I will continue to use my method but it may work for others. The engine compressor face suffers from some bad ejector pin marks I only spent a small amount of effort to clean this up as the compressor face is not really visible without a torch. With the the intake sections cleaned up and painted, I assembled the main gear bay components The forward intake section is trapped between the two intake assembly halves. The kit supplies the intake lip as a separate item. This is a neat touch as it means the intake demarcation line will not need masking (a very fiddly task) if the intake lip is painted before attaching it to the intake proper. The kit supplies the battery as a separate item. I have left this off for now to facilitate painting and detailing. Test fitting the forward and aft intake assemblies resulted in an impressively snug fit. I cut out a square from the top of the intake assembly. This allowed me to insert the airflow diverter once all the intake assembly had been completed and avoid any damage to the item should the intake needed rework. Once the intake lip was attached, I filled in the top of the opening with a sliver of resin off-cut and filled with CA. The exhaust assembly was also assembled. The kit supplies a nice recessed AB section with a separate flame holder unit. It is a little chunky but will do. A PE replacement would really dress this area up nicely. The kit supplied exhaust is nice, and features some nice detail inside the exhaust Turning to the fuselage now, apart from the F-16XL pylons, this is really the only newly tooled item in this release. The shape and dimensions appear correct, however there are a few small quibbles. The F-16XL had four semi-recessed missile troughs, two per side (like the F-4 Phantom), and SW have included the aft pair However, the forward pair are absent, or appear blanked over SW have also decided to open the holes for each hard point instead of leaving these flashed over and letting the modeller decide which ones they want to use. My build will be the demonstrator, so this is not a big deal for me, the demonstrator flew with most of these hardpoints utilised, but if someone wants to build a 'clean' (nil external stores) config, the NASA jet for example, they will need to spend some time filing all these holes in. SW supply the fin base as a separate assembly, and although the demonstrator featured the extended parabrake housing, the 'whiffers' can choose a standard fin base as these items are also provided. I only needed a smear of filler on the RH side to fair in the fin base to the fuselage, the fit here is pretty good otherwise. SW provides two types of gun aperture, the standard (later) type and a blanking plate (for the NASA version) I used the open gun fairing but it did need some cleaning up, especially the slots, and the fit was not great, but it will fit Interestingly, the air brakes include interior detail, however there are no actuators to allow the modeller to depict these in a deployed state. if you want to depict these deployed, you will need to cut these off and scratch the interior details (or ask someone with a Kinetic F-16 for their unused items:P) I will be using most of the under wing hard points, so I only ended up filling a couple of hard points by adding stretched sprue and a drop of CA. cheers, Pappy Edited January 2, 2016 by Pappy 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom726 Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Pappy, Great progress so far. Here's a little more info about the intentionel decision not to include the forward recessed AMRAMM-bays. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=278670&st=40 Bjarne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 looks great so far, very nice start... have been tempted few time to grab this one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Pappy, Great progress so far. Here's a little more info about the intentionel decision not to include the forward recessed AMRAMM-bays. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=278670&st=40 Bjarne G'day Bjarne, Thanks. I read the thread in your link. It seems (to me) pretty obvious that the fwd wells should be recessed. It also seems to me that most people who build this kit will want to do a what if, and whilst some will complete it as NASA bird, I think the fwd recesses should have been included. It is pretty weak of SW to say they left the fwd recesses out because they lacked evidence! looks great so far, very nice start... have been tempted few time to grab this one.... Do it, you know you want one....................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janremco Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Great work so far Pappy. Being quite busy after Christmas. I'm going to follow this build. I picked this kit up as well so a good reference for me before starting mine. Jan Remco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 Great work so far Pappy. Being quite busy after Christmas. I'm going to follow this build. I picked this kit up as well so a good reference for me before starting mine. Jan Remco G'day Jan, welcome aboard, but I am definitely no expert and i should warn you that I have a bad habit of not finishing builds, you may end up finishing yours before I do. G'day people, I have been working on the undercarriage (u/c) today. Whilst cleaning up the main gear unit, I noticed two things. SW have supplied lightweight (Block 15) u/c and my main gear part has been incompletely moulded. The hinge point for the gear on the LHS in the pic is short moulded. I sent an e-mail to Kinetic who replied within 48hrs and have sent a replacement part, which should arrive in 1-2 weeks at no cost which is good news. I think it is great that Kinetic replied so quickly and reacted so professionally, comparable to Airfix's spares service even. I am surprised that the lightweight u/c was included however. The XL was able to carry twice the payload of a standard F-16 (and carry it 40% further), I would have thought the heavyweight u/c was more appropriate? The instructions specify that the bulged main gear doors should be used for the NASA jet, and both the standard and bulged main gear doors (as well as early and late nose gear doors) are provided, but only the skinny main wheels are provided. The main wheels were assembled and painted The details look nice and really pop out after a wash and dry brush I then moved onto the ordnance. The kit comprises something like 280 parts, most of this parts count is taken up by the stores options. If you are building a NASA jet, you will have a very quick build, but if you want to load the jet up, you are going to have hours of fun ahead of you. SW have decided to provide all the hard point locations already opened up, instead of letting the builder decide which ones to use. Since the demonstrator will use most of the hard points, this is not really a problem for me, but if you want to build the NASA jet, you will have to deal with filling in all the holes I filled one hard point on each side by inserting some stretched sprue and adding a drop of CA. Moving onto things under wings, I began by assembling the weapons pylons These are supplied in two halves. The fit a LOT better if the (mis)alignment pins are removed and the mating surfaces are lightly sanded. SW supply separate swaybraces for the pylons, which I will add after they are painted. I also assembled the AIM-9M's The detail is pleasing and the fins look reasonably thin with nice rolleron detail included, SW also supply two AIM-120B's Two AIM-120C's are also provided. Unfortunately, the -C was not yet developed when the demonstrator was flying so it is not applicable to this build, which is a bit of a problem because now I only have two AIM-120B's (instead of four). In order to fit the AIM-120's into the rear missile trough, you will need to remove one of the mid mounted fins and one of the aft mounted fins. The instructions do not mention this until you get to the painting guide. It may seem obvious to most but I mention it anyway. Another nasty surprise was that both of my LAU-117's (AGM-65 launchers) were badly marred. There is one provided per sprue (and two sprues are included), and they also have a very visible ejector pin mark and large squarish area of missing plastic at the top. I am gonna have some fun fixing these up - and I don't even know if I will use them. So at stumps today, this is where I ended up, It looks like I will be busy getting this lot cleaned up and painted cheers, Pappy 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janremco Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Hello Pappy, I don't know what the colorscheme will be but it will be a well armed F-16. Have you sorted out what to do with the forward AIM-120 bays? It take some time to paint all the weapons. Jan Remco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 Hello Pappy, I don't know what the colorscheme will be but it will be a well armed F-16. Have you sorted out what to do with the forward AIM-120 bays? It take some time to paint all the weapons. Jan Remco As I have already mentioned, the colour scheme will be the F-16XL demonstrator (like the boxtop), so basically grey with the coloured spine. I am not sure what I will do about the forward missile bays, I think I will probably just cut out two missile widths slots and drop two missiles into them. Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Lovely progress so far Pappy and such a good job on the intake, looks flawless. I love this plane and given the old 1/72 Monogram kit is oop/kinda naff you are tempting me to jump up scales on this one and get this kit now . Look forward to more. Cheers, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Lovely progress so far Pappy and such a good job on the intake, looks flawless. I love this plane and given the old 1/72 Monogram kit is oop/kinda naff you are tempting me to jump up scales on this one and get this kit now . Look forward to more. Cheers, David. G'day David, I don't think you will regret getting one. Apart from the few quibbles already mentioned, it is a really nice kit which seems to fut together pretty nicely, and given all the stores options included, seems good value as well. I would have preferred a decent 1/72 kit myself, but apart from a very expensive limited run kit, there are few options. G'day people, I have been busy painting the stores today. Whilst all that lot is drying, I turned my attention to the forward missile troughs (or lack of them!) This is how SW would have you 'install' the forward missiles Rubbish!! I decided that the easiest solution was to simply cut a slot out of the existing panel equivalent to the diameter of the AIM-120 missile body. I then used a half round file to sand in a curved cut out in the upper fuselage half Now for the moment of truth, Result! cheers, Pappy 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boman Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janremco Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Very nice sollution. I'll keep that in mind while building mine. Luckily the plastic is thick enough for the trick. Jan Remco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gondor44 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Very nice sollution. I'll keep that in mind while building mine. Luckily the plastic is thick enough for the trick. Jan Remco. I agree, but is the wing thick enough for the top fin's? Gondor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 I agree, but is the wing thick enough for the top fin's? Gondor Dude, You still need to trim the fins, cheers, Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Viper Tester Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I agree, but is the wing thick enough for the top fin's? Gondor Don't worry about the top fins. The F-16XL, at least during the Dual Role Fighter Competition, only carried AMRAAM shapes and they didn't have any upper fins fitted. In fact, there weren't any launchers in the airframe for missile suspension - the shapes had bolts that went straight through the missile bodies and into the airframe structure above. Right rear quarter showing no upper fin on AMRAAM shape http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821213%2031_zpsmise6tzm.jpg Left rear quarter showing no upper fin on AMRAAM shape http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019820718%2018_zpscjckox6n.jpg View showing a support bracket forward of the AMRAAM shape mid-body fins http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/1982072330.jpg General Dynamics photo showing how far forward the AMRAAMs extend from the wing leading edge http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821213%2031_zpsmise6tzm.jpg Sven Old Viper Tester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Viper Tester Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Just caught up on this thread. You wrote that you weren't too concerned about the helmet accuracy. But just for reference, the flight test team during the DRF competition was composed of the following aircrew (with helmet info): Lt Col Marty Bushnell AFFTC) HGU-26/P dual visor, white Lt Col Ed Thomas (AFFTC) HGU-55/P Lt Col Joe-Bill Dryden (TAC) HGU-26/P single visor, red custom Lt Col Paul "PC" Burnett (AFOTEC) HGU-55/P Maj John "Wolfman" Cary (AFOTEC) HGU-55/P Maj Don Newman (AFOTEC) HGU-55/P Capt Keith Svendsen (AFFTC) HGU-26/P dual visor Jim McKinney (GD) HGU-26/P single visor, silver/red/blue custom Alex Wolf (GD) HGU-26/P single visor, white/red/blue custom The GD pilots usually wore blue company flight suits. The USAF guys wore the standard green Nomex suits. Maj Newman and I were the flight test engineers (flew RCP in XL-2 only). My (condemned) helmet http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/IMG_3190_zpszwqgfcmm.jpg Marty Bushnell (FCP) Joe Bill Dryden (RCP) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0747f-16xlctf1983031714.jpg Marty Bushnell (FCP) Ed Thomas (RCP) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0747f-16xlctf1983030312.jpg Sven Old Viper Tester Edit: I forgot the Wolfman! Edited January 7, 2016 by Old Viper Tester 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Viper Tester Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) On the subject of weapons, the Skunk Models kit gives quite a variety, but many of them don't match what was actually flown on the XL. Unless you go for a what-if, you would have to go to other sources of weapons to match the actual flight test weapons configurations. For example: - Skunk gives you a bunch of Mk82 GP bombs with Snake-Eye retarding kits. The XL flew with either 12 or 6 slick Mk82. - Two AGM-65 are provided, along with LAU-117 launchers, but the XL flight test configuration was six Mavericks - Similarly, you get two Tactical Munitions Dispensers (now CBU-87 family), but the test configuration was six TMDs. As for the sway braces, the XL didn't use them. The XL pylons were fitted with a General Dynamics "T" suspension. The typical ring-type lugs were removed from the stores and replaced with a T lug, so-called because the lug looked like a letter T sitting on top of the store with the arms of the T aligned longitudinally on the weapon (or LAU-117). The pylon had wedges that slid under the T arms to secure the weapon. When the pickle button was activated, the wedges withdrew, releasing the T. So-called “semi-conformal pylon – note no sway braces http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821023%2034_zps9xtqadwb.jpg 6 x TMD (CBU-87) and external tanks http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821213%2031_zpsmise6tzm.jpg 2 x BDU-38 and external tanks http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019820000%2001_zpsrs49hka9.jpg 6 x CBU-58 and external tanks http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821216%2018_zpsrbnrlgmm.jpg Sven Old Viper Tester Edited January 7, 2016 by Old Viper Tester 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 On the subject of weapons, the Skunk Models kit gives quite a variety, but many of them don't match what was actually flown on the XL. Unless you go for a what-if, you would have to go to other sources of weapons to match the actual flight test weapons configurations. For example: - Skunk gives you a bunch of Mk82 GP bombs with Snake-Eye retarding kits. The XL flew with either 12 or 6 slick Mk82. - Two AGM-65 are provided, along with LAU-117 launchers, but the XL flight test configuration was six Mavericks - Similarly, you get two Tactical Munitions Dispensers (now CBU-87 family), but the test configuration was six TMDs. As for the sway braces, the XL didn't use them. The XL pylons were fitted with a General Dynamics "T" suspension. The typical ring-type lugs were removed from the stores and replaced with a T lug, so-called because the lug looked like a letter T sitting on top of the store with the arms of the T aligned longitudinally on the weapon (or LAU-117). The pylon had wedges side that slid under the T arms to secure the weapon. When the pickle button was activated, the wedges withdrew, releasing the T. So-called “semi-conformal pylon – note no sway braces http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821023%2034_zps9xtqadwb.jpg 6 x TMD (CBU-87) and external tanks http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821213%2031_zpsmise6tzm.jpg 2 x BDU-38 and external tanks http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019820000%2001_zpsrs49hka9.jpg 6 x CBU-58 and external tanks http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/Phantomtoo/F-16XL/75-0749%20f-16xlctf%2019821213%2031_zpsmise6tzm.jpg Sven Old Viper Tester G'day Sven, Thanks very much for contributing that information, it is VERY helpful. I knew that the demonstrator only flew with inert weapons and that these were probably just shapes, but thanks for confirming. I didn't know that the stores used T-lugs, I thought they were running standard D-lug suspension. I realise that the stores included in the kit are not appropriate (unless as you say, you are doing a WHIF build) and I was looking at sourcing 12 x Mk.82 slicks, although the BDU-38 option is tempting! cheers, Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vingtor Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Please post more photos, Keith. I still have your IPMS Quarterly article saved for this model. Has anybody considered crosskitting the Kinetic F-16B with this kit to build #747 ? Nils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 Please post more photos, Keith. I still have your IPMS Quarterly article saved for this model. Has anybody considered crosskitting the Kinetic F-16B with this kit to build #747 ? Nils G'day Nils, It appears you have I am eager to see your WIP should you consider taking up the challenge cheers, Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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