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Nostalgia F-16C in 1/48


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Dear reader,

In the summer of 1989 (30 years ago!) I had just left the VIth form in that fab summer break before university and adulthood (notionally at least)and I had attended the IAT at Fairford. Then, like now, it was in the middle of a very hot spell; I think Fairford was in the mid 30s! I had come away with one of my favourite kits of all time - the Hasegawa 1/48 F-16c Block 30 Misawa Japan. Great box art, great kit, and destined to be my first 'grown-up' model, with canopy open and wheels down. I was particularly taken with the Wing Commander's jet from the 432TFW, and this remains one of my favourite F-16 schemes - the combination of the owl marking behind the cockpit, full colour badges, shadowed tail codes etc were top notch in my humble opinion. Anyway, the resulting model was the best I had ever done; pity it only lasted about3 weeks before I ruined it by titivating the paint job - leave well alone! Anyway, 30 years on, there's been a lot of water under the bridge, and a bit like then things are at a bit of a cross roads, professionally speaking. I recently managed to snag the Night Falcon boxing off Ebay for about £12; lo and behold it also had the decals for the original Misawa block 30 boxing. This is therefore going to be a homage to a modelling project 30 years ago, albeit with hopefully 30years worth of improved skills and equipment!

Pics to get things going, including a shot of the original plane. 

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This is an excellent kit that I'm very fond of and you can't beat an 80's F-16, so I'll definitely be following this.

 

What paints will you be using?

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9 hours ago, Filler said:

This is an excellent kit that I'm very fond of and you can't beat an 80's F-16, so I'll definitely be following this.

 

What paints will you be using?

I'm trying out Mig Ammo paints, with which I seem to be getting on reasonably well. It'd be easier if Tamiya made FS equivalent paints though!

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This is really nice to follow. I picked up the F-16A in 1987 as a 'youngster' which was my first 'grown up' model in terms of cost, quality and what I was able to achieve with it. It led to my being able to build Tamiya's 1/32 F-14A later in the year and finally an F-4B (based on a Monogram kit) VF-111 CAG on a scratch-built launch deck. The latter remains the best thing I've built to date and something I've been trying to emulate ever since. This is making me want to reach for one of the 'Vipers' in my stash. Nostalgia Ahoy!! :D

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1 hour ago, Ralph said:

I'm trying out Mig Ammo paints, with which I seem to be getting on reasonably well. It'd be easier if Tamiya made FS equivalent paints though!

II can definitely recommend those 👍. Get their Usaf grey set and you'll have every shade you need. Looking forward to seeing this one. 

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Well, I shan't be using the Mig Ammo paints, leastways not the three USAF greys. Have followed the recommended method for using them, and just can't get on with them. The lighter greys keep beading (think water on glass), while the dark grey leaves a rough surface. Shame, as the colours look good. Have tried different thinners, lowering the PSI etc but no joy; when Tamiya and Lifecolour are literally pour, thin and spray for a perfectly smooth, matt finish without fuss I really can't be bothered to faff around. Pity as my local model shop has introduced the complete range, as well as AK paints. Anyone had any joy with the latter?

Moan over, I'll be posting some update pictures shortly, including a homemade intake plug that I am quite pleased with - the Hasegawa intake design leading to some very difficult seams, it seems much easier to block it all up!

Edited by Ralph
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