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Supersonic Hotrods of the Wisconsin Air National Guard


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I got the base colors for the F-16's three-tone gray camo on, sort of. I was impatient and tried to get all the colors painted in one day. Now, I have a big, fat thumbprint on the nose, right in front of the cockpit. Plus some other self-inflicted flaws to correct. I've put the Viper in my warming box to let the paint properly dry, and will do touch ups when it's ready.

 

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It's good I have another build in work (Zoukei-Mura's 1/48 F-4J) to keep my hands busy.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Mikey-1980 said:

Absolutely outstanding Deuce, and thoroughly enjoying your build log too......Looking forward to seeing your F-16 progress too :)

 

3 hours ago, Christer A said:

I must say that the Deuce came out looking like a million dollars or more!

Great job on that one.

 

Looking forward also to how the F-16 look with all paint on.

Many thanks! Now that I’ve finished both the Deuce and my ZM Phantom, I’m free to devote all my build efforts on completing the F-16. 

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Today I was able to work exclusively on the F-16. My primary goal was to get the main colors onto the airframe -- dark ghost gray on the sides, and red for the tail. Hasegawa's kit includes two options for the tail decals: the first option has decals that include the red tail color. The second option lets the builder paint the tail red, and apply separate decals for the graphics and white lettering. I'll be going with the second option.

 

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Like with the Deuce, I had to decide exactly what shade of red to use. Photos of the 50th anniversary aircraft indicate the red used on Hasegawa's decals is too dark:

 

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Thus, I chose to go with the same, brighter red paint as I used on my F-102. Here's the F-16 with red tail and three-tone gray scheme:

 

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In my Deuce build (and also my ZM F-4J), I heaped praise on the True North enamels. Those used glossy paints, which covered well and gave a good, tough finish. Unfortunately, I'm finding that the matte dark gray used on my Falcon's upper surfaces is very easily scratched, and I'll have to do some touchups. Lesson learned here is to protect the color coat with a clear finish as soon as it's on.

 

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I've also painted up the Falcon's Sidewinder and AMRAAM missiles:

 

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The Hasegawa weapon set includes stencil and striping decals, but those are for warshot missiles. I'd prefer to have my showbird loaded with inert rounds -- I'm hoping I have some blue stripe decals that indicate inert missiles, as in the pic below:

 

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Tomorrow I hope to touchup the Falcon's gray paint, then apply a protective clear coat. After that, I'll paint the engine nozzle and do some light panel-line wash. I don't want to go overboard with weathering, because I'm sure the anniversary bird was kept clean as a whistle.

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I'm making quick progress on my Falcon!

 

Painted the engine nozzle. Exterior is AK Interactive Xtreme Metal "steel", interior is flat white with a black wash:

 

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After applying a clear coat, decaling was completed without any significant issues. Hasegawa's decals are by Cartograph of Italy. They are very thin so must be handled carefully, but they look great on the model.

 

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A fair amount of stenciling is provided, some of them very, very small! (Yes, that's the tip of a mechanical pencil in the photo)

 

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As an aside, there is one other F-16 kit available with Wisconsin ANG decals. This one, from Poland:

 

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I managed to get it cheap on eBay, not for the plastic (I held no misconceptions about that), but to have the decals as spares. I should have saved my money, for the decals look like sh*t:

 

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But, you can see I did find a use for a couple of them. Hasegawa/Cartograph left off the word "Marshall" on the side of the air intakes. It was on the Mastercraft sheet, so I at least got something for my money (grrr….) :

 

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With the decals in place, it was time to apply a matte coat to everything but the red tail fin. I tried a couple of products, but was not happy with either of them. One did not cover well (I still had some glossy areas on the aircraft), and the other had a very dusty appearance after drying. What I ended up using is Floquil/Polly-S flat-coat railroad colors. I had heard good things about this, and managed to find a new bottle on eBay.  Here's my Falcon now with the Polly-S flat coat:

 

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Close-up to show how even it is, and its attractive sheen:

 

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Finally, some beauty shots before I sign off:

 

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Today I added various position lights to my F-16:

 

The red and green position lights on either side of the air intake are resin, from CMK. 

 

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Likewise the clear lights on top of the fin, and on the tail:

 

49536641017_2eb9de77c3.jpg   49536641067_3ebc8b83cf.jpg 

 

The fuselage position lights, that illuminate the vertical stab, I made using clear UV gel:

 

49536410956_54f9d9dc6e.jpg 

 

F-16s also have red and green lights on the wingtips (top and bottom). They are very small, and sit right up against the wingtip missile rails. I decided they would be barely noticeable and not worth the effort to scratch.

 

Blue striping decals I ordered arrived today, so I also finished my AIM-9L Sidewinders and AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles as inert training rounds:

 

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This weekend's tasks are to do the landing gear; add the HUD and install the canopy; and then tackle the nose probe. Some final paint touch-ups (as needed) and hopefully we'll be posting an RFI!

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I'm practically done now, only need to glue down the canopy and add the armament.

 

Installing the landing gear in the resin bays went off pretty much without any problems. As I expected, cutting the kit nose gear and grafting it onto the stub of the nose gear bay was dicey, but in the end it worked out:

 

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Adding the main gear was no problem at all:

 

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I even added reflective lenses to the landing lights! Not that anyone will notice them.

 

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Here is what I used for the lights:

 

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The aftermarket cockpit set included PE for the HUD, but I couldn't get it to fit (it was too tall for the canopy clearance). So, I used the kit's clear HUD panel instead:

 

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Nose probe is by Dream Model, and is very nice:

 

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All I need to do now is glue down the canopy and add missiles to the rails. Here are some pre-RFI pics for your enjoyment:

 

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49541044372_cedc59ee32.jpg   49541044392_5b78e926d6.jpg 

 

 

 

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Bill...............

 

Your efforts have been rewarded with not one, but TWO outstanding replicas of the Delta Dagger and Viper.  This “progress report” was every bit as excellent as the two Wisconsin ANG birds.  My compliments!!!!! :clap:

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4 hours ago, Sky Keg said:

Bill...............

 

Your efforts have been rewarded with not one, but TWO outstanding replicas of the Delta Dagger and Viper.

About midway through on the F-16, I was worried that it was going to end up looking shabby. The gloss coat brought out all my flaws and then, the first couple of matte coats I tried looked horrible. But the Polly-S flat worked miracles and now I’m pretty pleased with the Viper.

 

the Deuce is my favorite, however. Not only does it look better (IMO) but I actually got to see them flying many years ago.

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