Mick Drover Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 (edited) A mate and I have small (two-man) group build happening so while other kits are either waiting for parts to arrive or paint to dry, I've cracked on with a Hasegawa F-16B. I've got a small fleet of F-16's to do and I wanted to do a less famous operator. Paired with a two seater and trainer build theme for my clubs QMHE display, I've opted for a two holer from the Royal Thai Air Force. I guess you could say this was motivated by a fellow Aussie builder who built a single seater version a few years ago using a bit of Verlinden resin and the Siam Scale sheet. Imitation, flattery...or whatever they say. Some of these images were taken in early October but the recent image of the assembled kit is where it's at was as of Sunday afternoon. (18/11). This is the B version before their aircraft went through MLU upgrades so no bird slicers or additional bits and pieces. I opted to get into the underside first. Kit undercarriage bay installed. The reinforcing plates around the arrestor hook will need to be addressed. Old molds have taken their toll in this area and the bits are soft as well as out of shape. The nose gear bay has been dressed up with some etch courtesy of Eduard. The panel for the ground power point has been removed in readiness for the Verlinden resin. I've placed some lumps of plastic around the resin item. If for whatever reason it separates from the CA it won't be going anywhere. I've built more plastic card around the resin that can be seen here. The piece of plastic near the intake mouth is one of three that is a stop for an intake blank I've fabricated. No need to tidy up the awful Hasegawa seam. Some wire brake lines for the main gear legs. Make sure you install the correct gun blast panel, as I found out. A few sink marks in the wing tips are addressed with sprue glue. And work done on the under wing join. I've still a bit of tidy up to do here but it looks better than what the photo suggests. The front cockpit gets the etch panels. Oddly the canopy lock handle is the wrong way around on the etch piece. I opted to leave it as Sods law would have me bend, snap and lose the piece. The reinforcing bands on the wing tanks have been replaced with plastic strut. They're still a bit too think but nothing five minutes with a sanding pad won't fix. I chopped off the imaginary version of the locating points on the drop tank pylons that Hasegawa would have you use. Again, a few small thick sheets of plastic with lashing of Extra Thin to melt it all together. The exhaust gets the etch on the inside of the petals. I've hacked open the MXU travel pod too. The kit has it hinge upward whereas they actually hinge at the bottom. I'll also add a flat internal floor from some plastic card. The resin seats compared to the kit seats. A clear win to the resin. I think they'll need a bit more height to lift them to the correct position but they're close. I've also nicked the rear frame/rails from the kit and attached them to the resin items. And the folly of buying a second (third)?) hand kit. The canopy had come adrift from the sprue during it's travels and I don't think it was a clean amputation. I've built up the messy attachment point with sprue glue over a few nights and then cleaned it up with some sanding pads. The canopy will be closed so the small inside blemish won't be seen after paint has been applied. As of Sunday afternoon. Edited November 20, 2018 by Mick Drover Duplicate images removed 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Great work Mick, and I love the RTAF choice! The other guy isn,t TR by any chance? The Has kit still builds into a nice kit and for a fraction of the asking price of the Tamiya kit cheers, Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 Cheers Pappy. The decals came from TR, the inspiration is courtesy of AP Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Mick Drover said: Cheers Pappy. The decals came from TR, the inspiration is courtesy of AP Mick What, you mean this old thing :P Pappy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Pappy said: What, you mean this old thing Pappy Quite possibly 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boman Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Cool 😎🍻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Fantastic work so far. I just bought one of these kits, second hand as well, a couple weeks ago so I am undoubtedly following this with extreme interest. Btw, forgive me for asking, but sprue glue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, whiskey said: Fantastic work so far. I just bought one of these kits, second hand as well, a couple weeks ago so I am undoubtedly following this with extreme interest. Btw, forgive me for asking, but sprue glue? Great to have you along Whiskey. As Pappy said, the Hasegawa kits are a lot gentler on the wallet. Their numerous release also means you can pretty much do an early block right through to the latest block, albeit with some changes that aren't beyond the realms of being achievable with some basic modelling skills; both single and dual seaters. Sprue is exactly that. I start with a roughly half bottle of Tamiya Extra Thin glue and then add finely chopped plastic sprue to the bottle. The idea is that the plastic in the glue melts into the surrounding kit plastic which leaves a clean join. I've used Eduard sprue in mine and I'm pretty happy with the result I've had with it. Depending on how much chopped sprue you add means either a thin or think mix. Mine will run a but but it's probably on the thicker side. Keep in mind though that if you layer a lot of the stuff on in one go it will take time to set due to the nature of the glue. If it's a heavy application it will need to gas off and set. So okay to leave on parts early in the clean up period. I tend to use it in small areas as per the wingtip rails. It's also handy for seams. Cheers, Mick Edited November 20, 2018 by Mick Drover 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) Thanks Mick. I had an idea of what it was but I wanted to confirm. Is there a set amount of sprue you drop into the extra thin bottle and how long to you let it settle before application? Edited November 20, 2018 by whiskey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) Cracking work Mick, the ground power access looks very nicely done. Regarding the seat height, check this side profile pic if it helps: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7005893 . Helped me get mine ok! Look forward to more, David Edited November 20, 2018 by mirageiv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) 15 hours ago, whiskey said: Thanks Mick. I had an idea of what it was but I wanted to confirm. Is there a set amount of sprue you drop into the extra thin bottle and how long to you let it settle before application? No worries Zach. I made mine up over a 24 hour period and went about it in an incremental way. Started with a half bottle of Tamiya Extra Thin and then added chopped sprue (2-3mm pieces) a bit at a time. Perhaps a 5cm length at first. Let it dissolve and then check its consistency. If it's too runny add another 5cm until you're happy with it. You don't want it to run though you do want it to have some movement. Perhaps the viscosity of warm honey? (Never thought I'd use that as a form of comparison) Let me know how you go. I'll take a pick tonight so you can see what it looks like in the bottle. 8 hours ago, mirageiv said: Cracking work Mick, the ground power access looks very nicely done. Regarding the seat height, check this side profile pic if it helps: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7005893 . Helped me get mine ok! Look forward to more, David Thanks David. The power panel is only a small piece of the larger Verlinden detail set. Who says you have to use it all in one model right??!! The Jetphotos website is a great source of info. I've got the Reid Publication, Duke Hawkins and Eagle Publication books on the F-16 too so I think I got my bases covered there! It's always handy to have reference close by, screen or print. On another note, I noticed with the Pavla seats for my Tucano build that they're a bit shallow. Nothing a bit of plastic card can't fix. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers, Mick Edited November 21, 2018 by Mick Drover 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 21 hours ago, whiskey said: Thanks Mick. I had an idea of what it was but I wanted to confirm. Is there a set amount of sprue you drop into the extra thin bottle and how long to you let it settle before application? This it what it looks like Zach. Cheers, Mick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted May 24, 2019 Author Share Posted May 24, 2019 It's been a while between drinks but I started on some paint this week. The first round of greys starting with the FS36270 courtesy of Mr Color H-306. Cheers, Mick 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 Back again. It's been a busy weekend but some progress has been made. Amongst high school open days and birthday lunches I've manged an hour this afternoon and last night to get the next lot of greys onto the F-16. Pretty happy with it so far though I need to soften up the demarcation line around the intake lip colours and tighten up the base of the tail. Cheers Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskey Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Looking good Mick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted June 1, 2019 Author Share Posted June 1, 2019 Thanks Whiskey. It's good to see it finally with paint on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 I spent a few hours this afternoon putting the last of the greys on and doing some touch ups. I glossed it after I took these photos so it's ready for decalling...hooray!!! The pre-MLU Thai F-16's got pretty dirty in the later part of the career so I'll be working some oils onto it once decaled and sealed. Decals to come this week!!! Hope you like it. Mick Pardon these two images, I'll have to wind up the exposure on the camera next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 Time for a start on the stickers. Stencils and the blues in the flag and roundel tomorrow night. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Looks good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 Thanks Phil! The Siam scale decals are so so. The carrier film is a bit thick and just a fraction out of register. I think I can live with it though. Cheers, Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted June 8, 2019 Author Share Posted June 8, 2019 The end is in sight! The plan for this week was to have decals on the F-16. Happy to have them at 95% on Saturday night. I've had a look at the pictures of the Thai jets and the radon is significantly darker with a touch of green in it. I'll fix that tomorrow and also paint the IFR as I missed that bit when painting. Once done I can do the last few stencils on the nose and the IFR guide. You can see the carrier film of the Siam Scale decals in the photo of the tail. Not the greatest but nothing some additional clear and mild sanding won't fix. Cheers, Mick 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 Coming along nicely! Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 On 6/8/2019 at 9:23 PM, MikeR said: Coming along nicely! Mike. Thanks Mike. Some fiddly airbrush work this afternoon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Drover Posted July 18, 2019 Author Share Posted July 18, 2019 (edited) Hi all. I opted to revisit the weathered painting on the F-16 after reviewing the details in the reference images I've got. The area around the exhaust and top of the fuselage has been re-worked with some darker and lighter shades respectively. It's a lot closer to the real thing. I'm trying to get this over the hump so I can display it at our annual show next month. Cheers, Mick Edited July 18, 2019 by Mick Drover 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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