Kinetic 1/48 F 16 Block 52+ & Block 52M HAF Dual Build

[iceman98]

Hello fellow modelers, let me introduce you myself. My name is Thanos, I am a mechanics student from Athens, Greece. One of my passions are airplanes. I spend the most of my day in home, due to the corona virus outbreak. So, I started scrolling in YouTube and I found lots of aircraft modeling videos. I didn’t waste any time and I bought my first kits, (2 Eduard Spitfires (1/72) and a Kinetic F 16 Block 52+ HAF (1/48), which are actually my favorite aircrafts), paints and an H&S Ultra 2 in 1 airbrush. I had almost no experience in scale modeling (only a Revell A320 and a Revell Leopard 2A6, almost 5 years ago), but I have a lot of experience in general manufacturing, as I used to spend the most of my day in my university’s laboratories, prior to virus outbreak.

I made this thread in order to share some photos of the Kinetic’s F 16 and also to ask about advices from people who have built this kit. For the Spitfires I will make another thread.  

I am using reference photos from a book called "Vipers under the skin".  The most colours I am using are AK's 3rd gen acrylics, I am also using some TAMIYA acrylics and Humbrol Enamels. 

I started this thread a little bit late, but I have a lot work to do in my project.

 

I started with the cockpit, which have nice details but I found that some swithes are wrong. I ve used AK's 3rd gen acrylics for as base colors (Intense black as priming and then I sprayed 80% sky gray + 20% england grey as base color). For the details I also used some AKs 3rd gen, some TAMIYA acrylics and Humbrol Enamels. 

I used 0.2mm Nozzle, cause my H&S Ultra came with 0.2mm aircap as an 0.4mm aircap (a known issue to them for the lattest batches, but I have received the replacement part). For detailing I used DaVinci NOVA 10/0 and Winsor and Newton 111 3/0 synthetic brushes.

 

 

Then the inlet followed, I made some fitting testing und I painted it inside. I used white with very little sky gray, also I used Mr.Surfacer 1200 in order to fill some gaps.

 

 

After the Inlet I started paintig the exhaust. As you can see in the pictures I tried to fill some flaws caused by the mould. At first I painted with AK's 3rd gen Intense White mixed with only a little of Sky Grey. Then I sprayed some smoke lines (following my referense pictures and my experience with the engine) with Intense Black, in the end I further weathered it with a mix (using again the refernce pictures) of Winsor & Newton Wintor Ivory Black and Abteilung Dark Rust oil paints (I used a No 8 Synthetic Flat Brush). I didn't thin the mix prior to the application (as this oils have relatively low viscosity), but I only used AK's odorless enamel thinner to remove the excess paint. I used the same processes for the afterburner chamber and the exhaust nozzle connector but I tried to make a heavier weathering, using two tones of the weathering mix (a blacker and a browner one).

 

 

For the inside part of the exhaust nozzle I used a mix of White and Medium Grey mix, trying to replicate the ceramic material. And I weathered it using different tones of the weathering mixture. The most difficult part was the exterior painting. As a base I painted it black and then with natural steel metalic color. I made a mix using black and medium grey to paint the smoke and then I tried to shade every fin using the previous weathering mix (Ivory Black and Dark rust). 

 

 

For the wheel bay I used AK's Intense white and Intense Black for pre shading, AK Panelliner for grey camo and Winsor & Newton Wintor Ivory Black oil paint for weathering.

 

 

The dry fittings continue.....

 

 

But today I really made big progress, I finished weathering on wheel bays and finally I glued the inlet and the main wheel bay with the fuselage. I made some dry fitting, so I managed to have a good result. The inlet was a little bit tricky and needed a lot of sanding and putty, but in the end the result was satisfying. Tomorrow I am planning to glue the three fuselage parts. I have also finished the assembly of the weapons and the drop off tanks. I use as a reference picture of a F 16D Block52+, so I am planning to use 2 370 gallon tanks, 2 Iris Ts, 2 120 AMRAAMs and 2 AGM 88 HARMs, allong with the CFTs and LANTIRN targeting and naviagation pods.

 

 

I know that it looks overweathered, but I think that the result is very close with the reference pictures. HAF's F 16 are really weathered, due to their use.

[iceman98]

Today I finally assemblied the three fuselaga parts. There weren't many fitting issues, but before the final assembly, I made lots of dry fittings. The biggest issue I had was with the gun cover, which had a slightly smaller curvature, after extensive use of putty and sanding, I think that I manage to fix it.

 

 

As for the nose section I hadn't too much problems, but I haven't glued the nose and the side panels yet. The CFTs dry fitting was also really good, I didn't open holes and I positioned them using their silhouette.

 

 

[Hook]

Lovely work so far! 

[iceman98]

As you can see in the pictures I glued the CFTs and assembled the vertical stabilizer. The CFTs' fitting was really good, especially on the left one. While building the vertical stabilizer the following question came into my mind: should I paint the vertical stabilizer and the fuselage separately and then glue them or glue them and paint them together?

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by iceman98

[iceman98]

Hi everyone, hope you are safe and have a nice month!!!

 

These days I filled some gaps with putty and sanded them (I fixed some large gaps on the CFTS and the parts mentioned in the previous post), but still there is a lot word to do, especially in the nose section. Also I tried the fitment of almost every part of the fuselage and repaired some problems caused by the molds.

 

 

For the side nose parts I used some blu tack in order to adjust them, I haven't glued them since I am not sure if I must fix the nose first. (just to be sure I will add some bolts as counter-weight).

 

[iceman98]

Last week I assembled the nose section.

 

I used blu tack to position the side parts. With the addition of blu tack I prevented the sinking of the parts.

 

 

Then I placed the parts and I prepared them for putty application using masking tape. I tried to have a smooth transition on the sides and I left a large gap on the bottom.

 

 

I used an old blade on my hobby knife to apply the putty. In order to properly fill the gaps I applied putty 4 times.

 

 

Then I started sanding them, I used grit 600, 1500, 3000 wet sandpapers soaked with AK Odourless Thinner (I believe that you can use also white spirit or turpentine), thinner helped me to achieve a smooth result really fast.

 

 

Finally I reopened the filled holes and rescribed the panel lines

 

[planehazza]

Looking good. Love a Viper build!

[iceman98]

Hello and happy new year!!!

 

Hope you are safe during these very difficult circumstances. Unfortunately last months were difficult for me and my time was limited, that's why I haven't posted for a while. 

 

During Christmas holidays I was able to buy the camo colours and continue my project, by finishing the new resin (Aires) PW F100 Nozzle (Maybe I will add some weathering). I purchased because the stock nose had a huge gap, that couldn't get fixed, but turned to be a very nice upgrade. 

 

 

 

I used AK Xtreme Metal Jet Aluminum and Jet Exhaust for the exterior and a Combination of AK 3rd gen White and Grimy Grey for the interior's ceramic coating. Finally I weathered it using Raw Umber oil colour.

 

But from now on I call this project as a double build, because I got as a present the Kinetic F 16 C/D Block 52+ Polish Air Force Tiger Meet kit (48076), alongside with some decals and resin partse (nozzle and seats). So as the F 16C is almost ready for priming and painting, I decided to start the second one and paint them together. The second kit will eventually become a 335sq F 16D Block 52+adv, caring the (Spoiler ALERT) 023 serial number. I found out that the most parts needed for the conversion are included in the kit and with some minor modifications will look like a Greek F 16 Block 52+adv.

 

The second build is until now really straight forward, as I now the kit's problematic parts and the progress during a few hours is huge. Until now the biggest task was to find clear pictures and modify the dorsal spine. I started by sanding down the small outlet on the starboard side of the spine. Then I glued the correct inlets, outlets and antennas. Finally I placed the flair dispensers and filled some gaps with putty.

 

 

When I opened the second kit I was surpised be the differently coloured upper back fuselage part. I don't know why Kinetic made this change for this kit, but the connection between the front and the rear fuselage parts seems much better than the one in the first kit.

 

My work on the F 16D continued with the cockpit. During it' painting I experimented with different types of colours. I used acrylic Tamiya XF 1 as a base and XF 19 as interior colour, I found that airbrushing with Tamiya acrylics was really easy and the result much better, than the first cockpit in which I used AK's 3rd gen acrylics. But I had problems, while painting with a brush, Tamiya XF 1 dried really fast and when I used thinner the coverage was low, so I ended using AK's 3rd gen Intense Black colour, which offered much better coverage and drying time. I painted the cockpit details using various enamel and arcylic colours, as well as some really good referense pictures. Finally I used a new technique to make the displays more realistic, after I painted them Black I used Tamiya X 19 smoke, which made the black colour more vivid and offered a glossy finish, Tamiya X 22 was used in the other instrument gauges.

 

 

 

The current progress on both vipers.

 

[Dadeo911]

Great work on the cockpit. 👍

 

Take care,

 

Chris

[Biggles87]

Very nice. I built a single seater a few years ago and have a Block 52 aircraft in the stash.

Stay safe.

 

John

[exdraken]

interesting project!

 

thanks for sharing!

[phildagreek]

Looks good!

[iceman98]

Hallo,

 

Small update after a while.

 

Finally I received the decals for the F16D and figure out that Kinetic didn't provide decals for the IRIS T. So I decided to use 4 AIM 120Cs and 2 AGM 88s on the 343sq. F 16 and 2 AIM 120Cs on the other one. Both aircrafts will also carry 2 370gal drop tanks. 

 

 

 

As I said, I plan to finish them together, so I am mainly working on F16D, in which the nose section and the aft engine cover were mounted. The classic nose fitting issues was occured once again, but this time I manage to position the side parts a little bit better, so it would be easier to fill the gaps.

 

 

 

 

Since I am relatively new in hobby (I have finished only 4 models), I am still testing new techniques. In this build I used primer to fill some gaps formed between the two fuselage parts, the final result was great. (I don't know if I should rescribe the panel line, if anyone knows please help me).

 

 

At next, I will paint the second jet exhaust, the missiles and the landing gear system for the Block 52M.

 

Also I would like to ask for some help regarding the AIM 120Cs. I have read that there are two versions of them, one for training (blue stripes) and one for combat (yellow/orange strips) use. So I would like to use the combat version on the single seater and the training version on the two seater.

• Does anyone have a picture of a 335sq F16D carrying training missiles?
• Does anyone know which are the differences between the training and combat versions (apart from the stripes)?

[iceman98]

Hi to all of you,

 

I know that it's early to talk about decals, but since I received the decals for the two-seater F 16, I would like to share some pictures of them.

 

The markings on the Modelmaker decalsheet (bottom) seem more accurate, but as you can see in the following pictures 343sq. F 16s have brighter and not so blue markings. Also the numbers have huge colour difference, but I believe that this difference corresponds with real life difference. I am thinking of painting markings using masks, but since I haven't done it before I am scared of it.

 

 

 

343sq F 16s

 

 

335sq F 16s

 

Kinetic's HAF marking decalsheet is relatively simply and doesn't include walkout zones and other decals used on fuselage panels, as well as rescue and injection seat warning decals have wrong colours. I am going to use the second version which is included in Modelmaker's sheet as well as some from the Polish decalsheet (which is designed by Modelmaker).

 

 

This is a picture of the decalsheets I am going to use.

 

Finally after a lot of hours of masking, painting and waiting the missiles are painted.

 

I painted them using Tamiya and AK Real colours, it was the first time I painted for so much time with them and I am really happy with the result. Sometimes I really struggled with AK 3rd gen acrylics.

 

I thought that, I had bought FS 36375 grey, but I was wrong. I used instead lightened FS 36320 (Dark Ghost Grey) and a lot of reference pictures. The white nose of the AIM 120s and the AGM 88 missiles were painted using AK RC222 (Insignia White), which is a little bit dirty white, while AIM 120s' fins were painted with stainless steel metalic colour.

 

 

For the stripes I used:

• Yellow: Tamiya X-8 and X-27 (2 drops of X-27 in 1ml of X-8)
• Brown: AK11107 
• Blue: AK11182 and AK11013 (4 drops of grey in 1ml of blue approx.)

AIM 120c Training

 

AIM 120c Tactical

 

Tactical and Training comparison. (I will paint the engine outlet on the tactical version)

 

AGM 88

 

 

While varnishing the missiles I varnished an A-7E Corsair II, which I bought to practice my airbrushing skills and I would like to share a photo of it.

 

 

Today I want to finish painting the second F100 exhaust outlet and start applying decals on the missiles.

 

 

[iceman98]

Yesterday, I finished decaling AIM 120's. 

 

Cartograf decals provided by Kinetic were used. The decals were really thin and their application straight forward. Since Kinetic's instructions wasn't clear I used reference pictures as an instruction sheet from Two Boss.

 

  

 

 

 

At next I must finish dealing with the gaps and fitting issues on both models, the biggest of them are found on the nose and on the dorsal spine.

[iceman98]

Hallo to all of you!

 

After I found some pictures of AIM120C's I decided to darken their fins. In order to do that I sprayed RLM74 colour over the stainless steel, which had brown finish and provided the desired darkness.

 

 

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned with the HARM missiles, since cracks were found on them. At least I hadn't applied decals on them. So I had to clear the paint and fill the gaps, then I was able to prime and repaint them.

 

 

 

Also I painted the nozzle for the second F 16. The processes were the same with the previous nozzle, but this time I used RC222 Insignia White instead of combination of White and Grimy Grey, for ceramic surfaces.

 

 

The error on AIM120 missiles gave me the idea to apply this filter on the nozzle in order to give a brown finish. Here you can see the difference between the clear nozzle (left) and the filtered one (right). I am going to make the second nozzle clearer than the first one, because it's going to be used on the Block52M, which is a newer airplane.

 

 

 

Thanos

[iceman98]

Hello to all of you!!!!!

 

The missiles for both aircrafts are finally finished.

 

 

 

.....as well as the drop tanks

 

 

I finished applying decals on the 023's drop tanks. I know that the placement is not the best, but I had difficulties dealing with the large decals (It was also the first time I applied too large and too many decals), but I am really happy with their integration with the surface.

 

 

 

 

Alongside with fuselage's fitting issues I repaired the shape of the slats' antennas.

 

 

 

Finally I primed the Fuselage with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black and contacted some colour experiments.

 

I made a test piece and painted with AK Real Colors. The first colour is the FS35237, the second is FS35164 (on bottle seemed closer to the actual colour). The third colour is the FS36307, the forth is the FS36251 and the fifth an attempt to make FS36251 darker and more blue by adding a small amound of Sea Blue (RC258). 

 

 

 

This is an attempt to recreate have glass look, by spraying thinned Jet Exhaust colour.

 

 

 

I really need your opinion regarding the colours.

 

Thanos

 

[Biggles87]

I like the Corsair but it is too clean. The dirtiest aeroplane I have ever seen was a Greek Corsair at an International Air Tattoo at Fairford about 35 years ago!

The missiles and tanks are fantastic.

 

John

[iceman98]

8 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

I like the Corsair but it is too clean. The dirtiest aeroplane I have ever seen was a Greek Corsair at an International Air Tattoo at Fairford about 35 years ago!

The missiles and tanks are fantastic.

 

John

 

Thank you very much!!! The Corsair is clean because I took the picture the day I applied varnish on it, since then I made some weathering using airbrush but I haven't finished it yet I will make a new thread on Ready for inspection topic.

[iceman98]

After almost a week painting the camo is almost ready. As I said AK Real Colours were used streight from the bottle. Then a layer of Coloured varnish was sprayed (X 22 with X 19 & X 23). 

 

The plane prior to varnishing.

 

 

 

 

And after

 

 

 

Thanos

Edited April 19, 2021 by iceman98

[iceman98]

Hello fellow modellers

 

The painting is fanally finished. Details like antennas and some lines on the wings were painted with FS36270, the despensers were painted with Jet Exhaust and the Exhaust of the jet fuel starter was painted with stainless steel.

 

 

Finally I received a new decalsheet with a lot more decals than the other decalsheets. Also the roundels' colour seems more accurate. Another nice feature is that faded decals  are also included.

 

 

 

Thank you very much!!

 

 

[Hook]

Nice work! Thanks for posting. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andrd

[Derek Bradshaw]

Kalimera Thanos!!!

 

Fantastic build - I love it! (I have just ordered this kit as a Christmas present for my HAF (PA) collection). Thank you for sharing your build with us.

 

Regards

 

Derek

[Utkonos22]

Nice job!

[dimimate]

Kalimera Thanos

 

Fantastic build .Congrats

 

I myself have the same Kinetic kit, same AM and same decals. Plus two Tamiyas which i am planning to make all of them HAF anniversary builds. I followed your post very closely and i learned a lot from it and obliviously i will use some (if not all) of your techniques . 

Greetings

Dimitrios