Revell F-16 1-72 first WIP and help a newbie?

[Solvent Parrot]

I'm quite new here, I built a lot of models fairly badly as a kid but I am trying to build some nicer ones more slowly now I am old enough to have at least a degree of patience.  

 

So this is a WIP thread with a difference I think - it's a mostly clueless bodger looking to learn how to improve what they're doing as they go along. There will be no fancy aftermarket, no airbrushing (I don't have one), nor will there be absolute dedication to matching paint codes (cost and convenience/availability) and aerials to the nth degree. This is about improving my build quality to get up to a better base level of build.

 

The model subject is the Revell F16MLU. 

 

Tools, techniques, products that I don't have/need to use all tips welcomed. 

 

Looks pretty on the box! 

 

 

TLDR tell me how to build that plane above better and what new tools and stuff to buy. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Solvent Parrot]

I have already started so I've probably messed up a couple of bits by now. 

 

 

 

 

Those that know their ailerons from their tail fins will realise that this is the back and I'm really not sure if that lip should be there between the jet exhaust bit and the upper fuselage and if it shouldn't how to level it out.  It's flush on the bottom. The upper fuselage isn't glued yet but the exhaust is glued to the lower part and faired in. 

 

I'm working on this in a series of sub assemblies that may or may not exactly follow what Revell suggest. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Solvent Parrot

[Solvent Parrot]

One last post tools and stuff...

 

I have available...

Scalpels 

Little snips for cutting sprues 

Sanding boards (think nail board things) with variety of roughness

Micro drills

Fine grade sanding sheets down to about 2400 grade iirc

Selection of brushes from 5/0 pointy to flat brushes

"Glue" Revell Exacta and Tamiya extra thin 

Decal fix and the Revell equivalent

 

Paints I'm increasingly using Revell acrylics for big surfaces but also got some colours in Humbrol/Airfix enamels and acrylics depending on what I could get at the time. I have some Humbrol acrylic rattle cans in basic colours. 

 

I definitely lack a decent filler and something decent for sticking canopies. 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Solvent Parrot

[Bell209]

Filler is a must (as you're probably discovering). Some people use a mix of CA glue and talcum power but I've never had any success with that. The Tamiya stuff isn't too bad but I tend to use Mr Surfacer 500 for most jobs nowadays. You'll need some thinner for the paints, too. I generally use PVA glue for clear parts as it doesn't fog canopies and can also be built up in layers to act as a filler.

 

Keep at it - you'll be amazed how quickly your skills develop. We've seen some great examples of that of late (@Shelliecool springs to mind).

[TheBaron]

I'd also add 'don't be afraid to experiment'!

 

Everyone on here has their own favourite methods and materials but don't ever feel intimidated into believing that there's only ever one correct way to do a specific job or one product to work with -  this  hobby lends itself wonderfully to you finding your own personal approach to making distinctive work.

 

 

[VMA131Marine]

22 hours ago, Solvent Parrot said:

Those that know their ailerons from their tail fins will realise that this is the back and I'm really not sure if that lip should be there between the jet exhaust bit and the upper fuselage and if it shouldn't how to level it out.

I looked at the instructions on Scalemates and it seems to me that you have the exhaust on upside down. It should have a flat spot on it that goes at the top to match the flat area on the fuselage. It actually looks like Revell messed up the instructions and put the flat spot on the bottom of the fuselage.

[Solvent Parrot]

1 hour ago, VMA131Marine said:

I looked at the instructions on Scalemates and it seems to me that you have the exhaust on upside down. It should have a flat spot on it that goes at the top to match the flat area on the fuselage. It actually looks like Revell messed up the instructions and put the flat spot on the bottom of the fuselage.

Thank you, from memory the wretched thing is even notched to go on the way up I've put it as well. 😕 I am however sure you are totally right looking again that it's upside down.  Now it's a question of do I risk separation damage or cut my losses and push on and try not to look at the back of the finished product. Should have asked that with a dry fit picture and tape instead of after the glue - lesson learned I hope. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Solvent Parrot

[Gondor44]

14 hours ago, Solvent Parrot said:

Thank you, from memory the wretched thing is even notched to go on the way up I've put it as well. 😕 I am however sure you are totally right looking again that it's upside down.  Now it's a question of do I risk separation damage or cut my losses and push on and try not to look at the back of the finished product. Should have asked that with a dry fit picture and tape instead of after the glue - lesson learned I hope. 

 

You should be able to run a little Tamiya Extra Thin into the joint to help loosen the parts. Gentle prizing with a scalpel or other thin sharp blade will also help.

As for your collection of tools, it's as much about how you use them and the condition they are in than what you actually have.

 

Looks like the build is going nicely despite the slight problem and it's from problems and mistakes that we learn how to improve.

 

Gondor

[wombat]

You say you have enamels and acrylics. Beware using these together as they’re (almost literally) oil and water. There’s threads in the paint section about this.

[Solvent Parrot]

5 minutes ago, wombat said:

You say you have enamels and acrylics. Beware using these together as they’re (almost literally) oil and water. There’s threads in the paint section about this.

Thanks. Will look those threads up. Anything I buy now I'm going with acrylics as they seem to have come on a long way in the last 30 years. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Gondor44 said:

 

You should be able to run a little Tamiya Extra Thin into the joint to help loosen the parts. Gentle prizing with a scalpel or other thin sharp blade will also help.

As for your collection of tools, it's as much about how you use them and the condition they are in than what you actually have.

 

Looks like the build is going nicely despite the slight problem and it's from problems and mistakes that we learn how to improve.

 

Gondor

 

Thank you. 

 

Hopefully get a chance to have a pop at fixing that over the weekend amongst family staying and domestic duties. 🙂

[Jackman]

A couple of video builds of the Revell F-16 kit that you might find helpful if you are looking for pointers. (The first video is not in English but does have English subtitles)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2biQvkEsKPQ

 

The 2nd video is your exact same kit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss-PgSqiQso

 

 

[Solvent Parrot]

Bit of progress today using various bits of helpful advice on the jet exhaust in particular. 

 

 

 

Haven't been able to find a pot of anthracite paint so that's a matt black / aluminium by eye mix for the cockpit surround and exhaust. 

 

The jet exhaust / tail pipe is now fitting lots better, after a bit of fine tuning of the upper fuselage fit and removing it using @Gondor44 suggestion with the extra thin and a little knife work and pressure then reattaching. I think the actual problem was in some small imperfections in the upper fuselage not in the way I glued it in first time but having pulled it apart and rebuilt it and it fitting I'm.still not 100% sure what the main issue was. Fuselage not assembled yet as the cockpit section and rear undercarriage bay are still very much in WIP / paint stage.  

 

 

 

Wish I'd painted the pipe BEFORE I'd assembled it anyway job done now. 🙄

 

 

 

This isn't looking too great just now and I maybe need to look up some cockpit pics when I've some more time for inspiration. 

 

A little filler also went in the lower fuselage after some ham fisted removal from the sprue of one part. 

 

Final job of the day was test fitting the front and rear upper fuselage and testing the fit against the lower. A little filing and scraping was needed to get them to sit comfortably and there will be some fine filling once it's bonded. 

 

 

Need to find a decent fine and maybe slightly runny/flowing filler as the Humbrol stuff I have is going to be hard to use neatly for such fine work. 

 

 

 

[Solvent Parrot]

A little progress today mainly on the cockpit area

 

 

 

I decided that given this is a cockpit closed job in 1/72 and the fragility/irritation factor of cockpit decals and I just fancied giving it a go...that I'd try picking out some of the lumps and bumps with paint. It's not great but I learned a couple of lessons. 

 

I definitely found the very pointy cocktail stick dabber more controllable than a brush. What I couldn't work out was whether thinned paint (Revell acrylics mainly) would have been better. 

 

The fetching green colour is actually an ancient Citadel / Games Workshop colour that had a previous life painting space orks. 

 

The seat area also got a bit more attention. I started trying to be clever with the floor colour then realised it would be completely invisible, there's doing it for the love and there's just full blown wasting your time and I really had to conclude the floor was the latter (others opinions will vary!). Main things not in the picture were the box and 

 

I couldn't find an exact match picture for the seat but I've tried to pick out some obvious bits in (broadly) the right colours with a whiff of artistic license/exaggerated colour so that when the canopy is on it might give a bit of an impression of control panels etc. Time will tell if it just looks bad! The colour scheme in the box was slightly at odds with the pictures I found too.  

 

The cockpit is now glued in but I forgot to take a picture. 

 

So far this was the worst fitting bit by a country mile. The IP just refused to sit at the right angle and location to go under the front cockpit coaming. 

 

A lot of scraping was needed to get the edges of the IP to sit on the humps at the front end of the cockpit. Even then I had to scrape the rear of the cockpit section to get it to sit just inside the fitting lip on the upper fuselage. Was a bit disappointing when most of the rest so far has been to a decent tolerance. 

 

One last thing - how much flash is on the sprues. This is my first Revell kit in a long while but junior parrot had similar on one of his. 

 

I found some childhood F16 builds while visiting family the other week including the remains of this ancient Matchbox kit.

 

https://flic.kr/p/2mmct18

[Solvent Parrot]

Load out decision time...

 

I have 3 wing tip missile options 

 

The box depicts the AMRAAM and there's some other photos online with these loaded. I quite fancy this on the wing tip because it's bigger and is clearly therefore better 😏   

 

 

 

There's also options for Sidewinders with or without the front fins. I can only find the "no front fins" variant in a Google search in this busy looking livery.  

 

The other thing I cannot quite work out is whether this aircraft had had its outer pylon removed from each wing - it may not be very distinct in the photos but to me it looks like it's missing. 

 

Has anyone got the knowledge? 

 

 

[wombat]

You can get a bunch of tiny cocktail stick style brushes on the auction website, or places like modellingtools quite cheaply.  Also useful is one of those little stands with a magnifying glass and a couple of branches with crocodile clips, sometimes a little lamp, for detail work. 

 

Of course before long you you end up with a cupboard full of useful tools...

[Gondor44]

4 hours ago, Solvent Parrot said:

Load out decision time...

 

I have 3 wing tip missile options 

 

The box depicts the AMRAAM and there's some other photos online with these loaded. I quite fancy this on the wing tip because it's bigger and is clearly therefore better 😏   

 

 

 

There's also options for Sidewinders with or without the front fins. I can only find the "no front fins" variant in a Google search in this busy looking livery.  

 

The other thing I cannot quite work out is whether this aircraft had had its outer pylon removed from each wing - it may not be very distinct in the photos but to me it looks like it's missing. 

 

Has anyone got the knowledge? 

 

 

Haveing the knowlage may be one thing, knowing the picture your working from is another. Without seeing that picture I can't comment. Aside from the lack of picture to give comment on, there are as you say several options for the wing tips. AMRAM, Sidewinder and a couple of other types the use of which will vary depending on the operator as different airforces have diferent prefferences for sort range air-to-air missiles. Try a search for short range air-to-air missiles on google or Wikipedia.

 

Gondor