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F-16A US Navy Agressor **Finished 29/01/20**


FortyEighter

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Time to dust off a model that was built as far as the primer stage about five years ago:

 

Hasegawa F-16A, to be finished as S/N 92-0409 from NAS Fallon circa 2002-2008:

20191129_145859

 

and a shot of the blue / grey aggressor scheme - decals will come from the Eduard "Top Falcons" boxing.  I also have the Eduard "NATO Falcons" boxing so intend to build two of the NATO versions using those two kits - as one is at a similar stage to this model, it may too appear in KUTA in due course.

20191129_170911

 

I'm going to use Mr Paint for the first time and have a set of jsworkmodel masks for the camo.

 

Here is a link  to a rather patchy version of the scheme.

 

Mike

Edited by FortyEighter
Title change as now finished
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Having painted the aircraft grey, I've just started to look at masking off the areas that need to remain grey (starting with the fin) only to discover a major flaw in the masks - they are far too large!!  Comparing dimensions (about 50% too big) would suggest that they are actually 1/32 scale and not 1/48 as printed on the sheet.  It's also noticeable that the masks for port & starboard wings aren't the same size as each other - not a very good advertisement for J's Work Models.

 

So it's head-scratching time; I can either bin the masks, try to cut them down or get out some masking sheet and draw the camo pattern freehand to make my own masks.  The latter may be the best way, especially if I can work out how much to scale up the painting guide that came with the Eduard kit.

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

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A set of home-made masks for the flat surfaces:

 

20191202_144354

 

I found a set of 1/48 diagrams in my Daco "Uncovering the F-16" book and photocopied them.  Outlines of colours then drawn onto the copies (with some approximate scaling up) using the Eduard paint guide / photos.  Those were then printed onto a sheet of masking paper.

 

For the fuselage sections this method obviously won't work as the plan dimensions are shorter than the curved actual lengths.  I've experimented with using masking tape, drawing the camo lines freehand, removing the tape and cutting a mask from it and then re-applying it.

 

Now to do some spraying!

 

Mike

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A bit more progress - grey and light blue have been fully applied and dark blue on horiz stabs and fin.  The dark grey on the starboard wing is masks covering the light blue.

 

20191207_163753

 

Making masks for the dark blue on the top of the fuselage is trickier as the "NAVY" decals are different colours where they overlap different underlying shades.  More head-scratching!

 

Mike

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  • 2 weeks later...

All of the dark blue on the fuselage & wings has now been sprayed - apart from the large area under the cockpit and round the nose:

20191219_162951

 

Having now got a set of masks, I can think about the front end - there is another canopy without any paint on it!

 

As this was one of the first aircraft attempted after returning to the hobby, I slavishly followed the instructions and assembled the undercarriage in-situ - there are also masks for the wheels which should make painting those a lot easier.

 

Mike

 

Forgot to say that I now have a second set of decals for this particular aircraft, so should be able to get the two-colour "NAVY" logos on the fuselage correct with a bit of cutting and matching the decals.

Edited by FortyEighter
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  • 3 weeks later...

Not a lot of difference since before Xmas:

 

20200107_171918

 

Outside of canopies have been sprayed black and rear section re-masked ready for the exterior colour.  Still need to mask and spray the black on the inside of the main canopy - as this will be open.

 

I've also been checking the state of play on a Hasegawa F-16B that may get a well deserved KUTA too.

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