Mick Drover Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 (edited) G'day folks. My current build is at the 95% mark so thought I'd better get cracking on another build before the motivation wanes so this is it. I've been eying this one off for a while and thanks to a discussion with some local modelling mates yesterday, I finally dragged it out and started cutting plastic. The DXM decals have been in my stash for a while now as have the WD studio turned pitot and AOA sensors. They were all looking for a new home and this is the outcome. The 'N' variant is a bit different within the F-16 blocks as it had the smaller NSI inlet but the bigger and more powerful General Electric F110-GE-100 engine. Sans gun and a few other bits and pieces this jet was one of the real performers within the F-16 stable. As such it'll be mounted on a stick with a dynamic posture. As it's on a stick there'll be no need to muck around with gear so I'm hoping the build will be relatively quick for this reason. The obligatory 'this is it' shot. It'll be one of the VF-45 jets with the ruskie star on the tail though I haven't decided on the jet number yet. The jet will only be carrying wingtip ordnance so the kit supplied holes need to be filled. Here I've used some plain old Evergreen rod to fill the holes. I'll tidy these up and then apply some Mr Surface to fill any remains gaps. As it's a wheels up model I've started work on closing the gear wells. A few minutes with a scalpel and a sanding stick and the main doors fit quite well. This shot gives you a good idea of just how well they fit. I decided to use the divider and bulkhead for the main wheel bay; more to provide some support and gluing area for the fuselage divider between the two main doors. There are some small gaps when dry fitting the parts but when I apply some glue they should tidy up nicely. The AN/ALR-60 antennae are supplied in this boxing but need a bit of work to remove the mould lines. I spent a few minutes tidying them up and making the forward seam a bit more pronounced. The holes for these ALR-69 antennae also need opening. The resulting pods and mounting holes for them. I mucked up the one on the right but I'll fix it up. The age of the molds is certainly showing. The first image shows a bulge in the plastic on the starboard intake side. I think it perhaps due to the addition plastic inside due to the ejection marks. The second image is shows the flash that's present on the inside of the NSI inlet which I've since cleaned up. The Hasegawa F-16 is well known for the work that's needed to clean up the intake. If you attack it in a way where as much clean up is done prior to committing glue then the result can be excellent. Perhaps not the Tamiya duct but tidy none the less. Here I've attacked the side walls of the duct with a file to remove the ejections marks from the plastic. Best do it now than when plastic has been glued. The holes for the antennae won't be visible when the intake ramp is installed. A rough fit show the intake is already starting to look pretty good. There's still some work to be done here though. Some sprue glue on the intake ramp to fill in the hole for the nosewheel. And finally, the easiest part so far - glueing the fin together. And not related at all to the topic, I repositioned a few lights on the workbench. Gives me a bit more room and gets that arms out of the way as they were in the way a bit. The room light is on but you wouldn't know it. And a question for the cognoscenti. As these aircraft didn't have guns, was the gun port blocked off or a blank of some sort installed inside? Hope you like it. Cheers, Mick Edited January 16, 2022 by Mick Drover Added image 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossofiron1971 Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Hi Mick, Nice model and respect to the Workstation!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 1 minute ago, Crossofiron1971 said: Hi Mick, Nice model and respect to the Workstation!!! Ha!!! Glad you like it Cross. Clean bench - clean mind right...or is it the other way around?? Cheers, Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossofiron1971 Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 The rest of the world can fall apart but as long as the workbench is cleared A and squared away, who the hell cares! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cashman Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 That was quick !! Looking forward to progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 Cashie! Good to see you, looks like you've worked it out. I blame you blokes for this! Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 The kids are on Christmas school holidays so I've been on holiday duties while I'm off work. The F-16N has plodded along over the last 48 hours or so. No painting yet but more getting the construction items out of the way first, then it's on to the booth for some care and attention. So far... The GE exhaust nozzle has been built up from the six parts supplied with the extra sprue. Built up it looks quite nice and I think it will work well as not much will be seen thanks to the mounting stick. With regards to the mounting, I've got some 8mm acrylic rod which fits snuggly into the back of the rear exhaust face. I also have an 8mm drill bit so five minutes work checking measurements and drilling holes I ended up with a result...win! After being satisfied with the fit, I built up a box structure to carry the rod into the fuselage. One thing I did notice was that the exhaust face has a very small gluing area onto the rear of the exhaust duct. I'll improve its strength once assembled by gluing a plastic strip band around it that captures both the exhaust face and duct. Doing that should result in a fairly solid structure. Gussets have been added to give it some rigidity around the glue point. I may even source some Evergreen 'L' bracket and glue the corners of the box to give it more strength. Can't be too careful here right? I coarse sanded the end of the acrylic rod so it has a bit of friction in the fit once inserted. I've glued a tab to the rear of the inside of the main wheel bay including another gusset to prevent any flex when the rod is resting against it. Rather than glue the end of the box structure closed I think this option will be better to stop the rod in the fuselage. The main gear doors have been glued and hit with a scotch brite. This will help give the surface some tooth for the Mr Surfacer I'll apply over the joints. More for a cosmetic cleanup than anything else. There's a sink mark that has appeared on the right side of the inlet. Note that this is a replacement inlet as I wasn't happy with the work I was doing on the other. This one was sitting at about 50% completeness. The intake needed work to be cleaned up. Not a good shot but I've applied some sprue glue to the nose wheel door to fill some of the gaps. Not as hood as the main doors but we're getting there. I've also filled the external sink mark with some Mr Surfacer 500. The dreaded intake cleanup. I hate this part on the Hasegawa F-16. There's still a bit of work to do here before I apply primer. Lets say that it's a LOT better than what it was. I've applied a nit of sprue glue too to the nose gear hole that in the intake duct. To be attacked. The fiddliness (sp?) of this intake is a good reason to do a jet on the ground with an intake bung installed...next one perhaps. I had the driver sitting around from a previous stalled build so I knicked him. He was decapitated, had his head repositioned looking for the other jet and then resuscitated. The previous oxygen mask was terrible so I made a new one from a couple of different gauges of copper wire. It should look good when painted up compared to the ratty old one...off to the bin with it. His seat with a bit of etch from a spare Eduard set. Looks okay yeah??? And here he is installed looking the part. Whadya reckin? The TACTS pod and CATM were cleaned up in a flurry of activity. As previously mentioned, if you've got any ideas for me be sure to throw them my way. Happy festivous for the season too. Mick 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eng Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 This is awesome so far, love the idea of the support rod (no such thing as over-engineering!) Will be be keeping an eye on your progress, Eng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 Here is view of one from below: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6446054 you can zoom in and see they have the chaff/flare buckets. Also scroll down down here: http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VF/Fighter-Squadron-45.htm for a few pics. Jari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 10 hours ago, eng said: This is awesome so far, love the idea of the support rod (no such thing as over-engineering!) Will be be keeping an eye on your progress, Eng Thanks Eng, glad to hear that you like it. I think I'd rather over engineer the support rather than build something flimsy and it fails after a while. It should look good when mounted, iI just need to sort the base now though I've found a supplier for VF-45 patches. Cheers, Mick 9 hours ago, Finn said: Here is view of one from below: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6446054 you can zoom in and see they have the chaff/flare buckets. Also scroll down down here: http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VF/Fighter-Squadron-45.htm for a few pics. Jari Thos are awesome photos Jari. Thanks a heap for them. I've not come across the sea forces page before. I've bookmarked it for later reading. Cheers, Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 (edited) Progress is continuing although I've been concentrating on the in and out ends for the engine so net gain is a bit lower over the last day or so. The GE exhaust painting has been started. The first coat is was Gunze glass black followed by Alclad II Jet Exhaust. Over that went a light coat of Tamiya Chroms Silver. The petals were then masked and Alclad II Duraliminium was then applied. The darker ares between the petals is a dark grey made from a rough mix of 50:50 Vallejo black and neutral grey. Gunze Gloss Black Alclad II Jet Exhaust Tamiya Chrome Silver Petals masked an painted Alclad II Duraliminium and the dark grey areas with a Vallejo mix. I'll apply washes and water it from here, one thing I need to do though is do the white interior of the exhaust petals. The internal fan face got a shot of the duraliminium too and a Nuln Oil wash by Citadel. I started on the assembly of the exhaust section and opted for a bit of extra support around the fan face. There's daylight between the fours small gluing points so I glued an Evergreen band of plastic around the rear part so hold it all together. Some Tamiya Extra thin glue helped out here. Pardon the tape and the glue, I put a bit more on some the plastic melted well and truly and formed a good bond. Like Eng said, nothing like a bit of over engineering right? I test fitted the mount to make sure there were no unexpected whoopsies while building it. It looks good even without the glue applied. The interior and exterior of the inlet got a shot of Mr Surfacer 1000 through the air brush. I'm pretty happy with the interior but there are a few spots on the exterior that I need to address. Mr Surfacer is good stuff for finding blemishes. The main gear doors got the same treatment although I've already done work here that shows up. I need to describe the doors so I can see them. A few sprue glue 'mounds' have also shown through. The cockpit tub has had a like of paint ready for detailing. I opted to use the Eduard IP set as I couldn't be bothered detail painting the plastic parts. Under a closed canopy it should look okay. It was fiddly stepping the plastic but the end result is okay considering repainted etch will sit on top of it. One thing I have discovered is the use of Nitto electrical tape as a scribing edge. It has good adhesive qualities and can be applied to curved surface. Here in Australia I can get it at Bunnings for about $3 for a 20 metre 8mm wide roll. Funny thing is it's the same sort of tape that Tamiya sells as their 'curvy'. Check the inside of the roll and you'll see the Nitto name. Of course the good thing is I can get it in larger quantities and cheaper prices! You can just make out part of the Nitto label in the photo. More to come in the next few days. Mick Edited January 16, 2022 by Mick Drover 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Great work Mick, look forward to the awesome 'N' scheme, the rod attachment looks perfect too! Cheers, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 4 hours ago, mirageiv said: Great work Mick, look forward to the awesome 'N' scheme, the rod attachment looks perfect too! Cheers, David. Thanks David. It should look good with only the wingtip ordnance mounted on the stick Cheers, Mick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 Well, nothing like an updated in a few days...or should that be a few years. Six more like it, oops! I read the original post I a said that this should be a quick build...guess I was a wee bit off the mark. Oh well, we're back to regular programming. I left this off with a fair bit of work already done but I've decided to alter a few things. Firstly as the cockpit will be closed and the model in flight I've gone away from using the Eduard interior panel and opted for the kit plastic. Painted up it looks fine and I'd rather use the etch for an open canopy where it can be seen. Secondly the driver has bene painted. The canopy will be tinted so the colours will be dialled back from what they look like here. Looking pretty good so far. Apologies for the lack of updates. We should be back to regular now that major assemblies are glued together. Cheers, Mick 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 Holy thread revival, Batman! Looking good from here, gotta love an Adversary. One small thing to look out for - I believe the N lacked the small intake on the fin as per F-16C/D. Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 On 1/16/2022 at 8:05 PM, Hook said: Holy thread revival, Batman! Looking good from here, gotta love an Adversary. One small thing to look out for - I believe the N lacked the small intake on the fin as per F-16C/D. Cheers, Andre Indeed Andre!!! Noted re intake on the fin. I think I'd grabbed one from a C kit rather than the original kit tail as it was correct. Thanks for the heads up though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) With the current working from home situation I've managed to get an hour or so in before and after work. Doing this has allowed me to get the main fuselage components together in quick fashion. The fiddliest past has been the wing root seam for each wing. When I glued the wings on I made sure that the gap on the top side was minimal as it would be the most visible. On the underside a bit more work was required to come up with a clean result. I've recently switched over from the grey Tamiya putty to their regular basic white and I find it a lot easier to sand. Not quite sure if others find this but it's a lot nice to work with and seems to dry faster than the grey stuff. End result is the join lines are now clean and the panel line has been reinstated. In order to do this I opted for a fine pitch razor saw rather then my Trumpeter scriber as I find the scriber will dig the putty out of the filled area, totally defeating the exercise. The razor saw seems to do a cleaner job at reinstating the line, particularly on longer runs. A shot of primer shows a clean result. The inner wing inspection panels have also been redefined too as some details was lost on them with all of the sanding. While test fitting the intake I found a small gap on the right side. When fitting the intake to ensure its contours fit with the fuselage a small gap appears. I've added some plastic strip to fill the gap and that has sorted it. (Tad out of focus, soz about that) The NSI intake fits snuggly now. (Still need to reinstate the holes for the chin pods thingies) And of course with all of this going on who can forget the driver. Some Future gloss on his visor to make it shine-ee Looks like an F-16. I've hacked off the speed brakes as I'll open them up. Cheers, Mick Edited January 18, 2022 by Mick Drover 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Shaping up nicely! Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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