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1/48 F-16C, 55th FS, Operation Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 20/08.


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Hello all,

 

Here is my entry for this GB; Tamiya's 1/48 F-16C Block 50 in the markings of the 55th Fighter Squadron during Operation Inherent Resolve in 2016.

 

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Extras:

 

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Will be using a Quickboost resin seat, Master pitot tube and static discharge wicks, Attack Squadron BRU racks, Eduard Mask and a resin FOD insert. Will be fully loaded with 2x AIM-120, 2x AIM-9, 2x Fuel tanks (all from the kit) along with 2x GBU-38 (from Academy F-15), 2x GBU-12 (from a Tamiya Block 25 kit), Sniper targeting pod (from Kinetic F-16) and a Left Side Harm Targeting System (from Hasegawa Weapons set E). Decals are from Bullseye:

 

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Should look something like this:

 

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Hope I'm able to get this one done as I've committed to the ME-109 and Hellcat GBs too :lol:

 

Cheers and stay safe

 

Dave

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Welcome along Dave and what a nice project you have planned here.

 

The Tamiya F-16 is such a lovely model to build.

 

Lots of extras, good man!!  :thumbsup:

 

Good luck with the build.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

A start has been made, albeit a very brief one, with the assembly of the various weapons, pods etc. 

 

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I fitted the BRU rack and TER to the appropriate pylons after the latter were assembled. The fuel tanks, ALE-50 towed decoy system and pylons are all from the kit. The Kinetic Sniper pod I'd initially planned to use was replaced with a neater Academy example and the Kinetic pylon for it was replaced with one from Hasegawa Weapons set E, along with the left side HTS. I had to add a couple of sway braces from the spares to the centre line pylon as the parts in the kit are attached to either the centre fuel tank or ECM pod (the pylon will be empty on this occasion).

 

The weapons were also built up:

 

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From left to right; AIM-9X, AIM-120C (all from the kit), GBU-38 (spares) and GBU-12 (Tamiya Block 25 boxing).

 

Not much but there was enough building there to keep me occupied for a couple of hours over the last couple of days! 

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

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  • DaveJL changed the title to 1/48 F-16C, 55th FS, Operation Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 11/07.
14 hours ago, trickyrich said:

for some reason I always start off with the weapons as well...... oddly there's something very calming about them, considering! :D

I agree, quite therapeutic or something to that effect :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been working away at this over the last couple of days. Cockpit was painted up and fitted, not a difficult job.

 

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This is a lovely kit by Tamiya, certainly the best in this scale, but I always find there's a bit of tidying up needed around the intake, fuselage panels just fore of the cockpit and the engine shroud fitting. That being said, it's minor and easily sorted. Anyway, this is how it looks as of this evening:

 

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Pretty much falls together other than the few parts mentioned above. I've also assembled the tail fin and centre fuselage panel:

 

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The intake cheek pylon for the targeting pod was actually in the kit, didn't know it was included as there's no targeting pod included in this boxing. A small bit of clean up needed in some areas but other than that, there's not much left to do!

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

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  • DaveJL changed the title to 1/48 F-16C, 55th FS, Operation Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 21/07.
On 7/23/2021 at 3:27 AM, trickyrich said:

mmm they are really nice to build, I've built 2 and they were a lot of fun, nice start.

Cheers Rich. They are a nice kit!

 

Pretty much ready for primer now. The metallic ring around the exhaust shroud was painted and masked, tail fin added, HTS on, centre pylon, cockpit framing sprayed and so on. Only area that needed a small bit of work was the nose cone join.

 

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Need to mask up that main landing gear bay but can't recall how I did it on my previous builds as there's a lot of bits sticking out as you can see :lol:

 

Sub assemblies ready for primer:

 

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Painted and weathered the exhaust, along with the FOD insert and IP coaming:

 

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Ejection seat also done:

 

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Will get the ordnance painted next.

 

Cheers and stay safe

 

Dave

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  • DaveJL changed the title to 1/48 F-16C, 55th FS, Operation Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 26/07.
9 hours ago, trickyrich said:

Nice!! :thumbsup:

 

Yeah the U'c bay is a bit of a pain to mask on the F-16, especially if you fit the gear first.

Cheers Rich.

 

You’re right, just a shame that’s the way the U/C has to be assembled. No big drama really but still a bit of a faff :lol:

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Actually, there is a way to leave the landing gear off to the last part of the build. You'll simply have to cut the keel piece of the landing gear bay like this and slot it in right at the end.

 

555FS_small30.jpg

 

Mark

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3 hours ago, madcat911 said:

Actually, there is a way to leave the landing gear off to the last part of the build. You'll simply have to cut the keel piece of the landing gear bay like this and slot it in right at the end.

 

555FS_small30.jpg

 

Mark

That's a great tip Mark, thanks! Will definitely try that on my next kit.

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On 7/30/2021 at 9:59 PM, Dansk said:

Your work on this is excellent Dave

Cheers Paul.

 

I've managed a little bit over the weekend. Pylons painted, given a panel wash then flat coat:

 

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Will add a little more oil staining when they're fitted to the airframe to make things easier. I also finished off the ordnance:

 

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From some of the recent images I've seen of the GBUs, there does not seem to be any yellow bands around the body, so I omitted them. Some sand coloured dust from a Tamiya weathering set was also added across the body, again as per some of the reference pictures I've seen. Might add a little more later on.

 

Hoping to get the airframe and fuel tanks primed later this week before cracking on with the painting.

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

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  • DaveJL changed the title to 1/48 F-16C, 55th FS, Operation Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 01/08.
On 8/1/2021 at 10:51 PM, trickyrich said:

those pylon and stores look great!!! 

Cheers Rich.

 

Managed to get the airframe primed and pre-shaded. I had to tidy up a few areas that I wasn't happy with - intake lip and the nose join.

 

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Aside from that, the fuel tanks are finished. Some light oil weathering added, apologies but the flash hides this a bit. Hopefully you can make it out!

 

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Hoping to make a start on the paint over the next couple of days.

 

Cheers and stay safe

 

Dave

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  • DaveJL changed the title to 1/48 F-16C, 55th FS, Operation Inherent Resolve, 2016. Update 05/08.

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