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Bentwaters Aggressor F-16


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I’ve fancied making one of these for a while now, and seeing as I’m progressing well with the Miles, I thought I’d start preparations now. I wish I’d got to go to Bentwaters while these superb and exciting jets were based there, it must have been awesome.

 

Anyway, a while back I got the aftermarket decal set for the 527th, and an F-16C kit in 1/48. So far so easy, but these are block 30 jets, and I think this Hasegawa kit depicts a block 25? 
 

E5-B2155-D-8-E31-480-D-8-B8-C-CD1-B7-B69
 

Does it matter? It says on the decal instructions that the 527th jets were early block 30s with the small intake, which I assume this kit has? There’s even a bag of ‘correction’ parts included in the kit:

 

5-F18-F346-E014-4-D54-9-EA2-EA854485-AC1
 

Is this kit correct for an early block 30? Or will I need to fork out for a Tamiya one?
 

6-A7-F7394-AC99-4952-83-D3-1-F11-DDCB1-A
 

E3-F22142-73-BF-4-E13-B127-A239002-FA003

 

Similarly, I think it has the correct jet pipe for a GE F110 engine. 
 

The kit even has two canopies, one clear and one shaded. Looking at photos it looks like I’ll need the shaded one.
 

C3603-D86-306-B-444-E-8560-4-AAC457-F42-

 

The decal set is superb! I need aftermarket cockpit detail though.
 

5625-FD99-A0-A3-4-A11-86-DE-B5-B6-B8-D0-

 

Im guessing we have plenty of Viper experts on the forum, so any advice is very welcome …

 

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Great choice. I have the same decals, and having run out of Hasegawa kits will be using the Taimya. You are absolutely correct- this was a small inlet GE110 engined jet, so you are good with the parts you have. I have happy memories of seeing these jets at the oft lamented Mildenhall airshow - 1989 I think.

Ralph

Edited by Ralph
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They are indeed, but Tamiya spray cans are not the best representations of these greys. The lighter two are very blue compared to the actual shades. Probably your only no brush choice however  if you are not into airbrushes. Best, Ralph 

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Thanks @Ralph, I think I’ll need to go with these as I don’t own an airbrush, I’ve never fancied one as it seems like far too much cleaning out required. Spray cans are so much cleaner and simpler, and the less said about my brush painting the better; brush lines everywhere, like 1980s decorating with gloss Dulux! I love the smooth finish from the spray cans.

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9 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

Thanks @Ralph, I think I’ll need to go with these as I don’t own an airbrush, I’ve never fancied one as it seems like far too much cleaning out required. Spray cans are so much cleaner and simpler, and the less said about my brush painting the better; brush lines everywhere, like 1980s decorating with gloss Dulux! I love the smooth finish from the spray cans.

Entirely take your reasoning. They do give a fantastic finish!

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I used to use my old Badger airbrush with enamels back in the day.  Cleaning it out with white spirit. Today’s rattle cans are much nicer but I do miss being able to mix my own colours.  I did get a newer cheap airbrush but it is still in the box but I don’t want to get in to buying compressed air cans again & I don’t have a compressor.  I do like the look of those little usb compressors though but no idea how good they are

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Following with interest. I lived pretty much under Bentwaters flight path when these were there, with that and Iron Eagle watched at a formative age I was always going to be an F16 fan. The film however has not stood the test of time.  

 

I was going to say smoked canopy but I see bar side has already evidenced the point.  

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Ooh. Bentwaters F-16s. 
Good memories. 


I dug out some old 1990s Superscale decals for 479 in 1/72 from the ancient stash recently - now to check which Hasegawa kit to use them on with that intake story :P 

 

On 10/5/2021 at 11:51 AM, Lord Riot said:

I’ve never fancied one as it seems like far too much cleaning out required.

Eh :P It's like every other tool, actually. Maintain them properly and it's really easy.

The basics are never leave paint in the cup or nozzle, and blow cleaner or thinner neat before storing away at the end of a session.
You'd use the same principle with a hairy stick anyway. 

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I had to cut the instrument panel down a bit to fit once I’d added the etch, but managed to rearrange the etch so I didn’t lose much. Hopefully it still looks ok?

 

46-D622-A1-A8-F0-42-F5-9364-D760-D25-A2-

I jazzed up the nose wheel bay with some black wire after looking at a few reference pics. It was a bit bare otherwise.

 

5783-F774-8466-4664-BA4-B-97-AE4-F122018
 

 

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The intake area consists of four parts plus a small aerial thing for inside, and it’s all rather tricky to fit together neatly. I had to do a lot of clamping, filling and sanding to get this result. 

 

The small protuberance inside the intake is fiddly to fit, the tab that lines up with the forward intake rim doesn’t really fit and the two side halves didn’t line up properly. Eventually I coaxed it all to look smooth.

 

The fit to the main fuselage is actually pretty good, however, so much so that I haven’t needed to glue it. I’ll probably leave it unglued for now as I think it’ll be easier to paint around the inside rim while detached, but for overall spraying I’ll keep it in place.
 

CE373148-7-F71-4457-B137-2-D8-B6-AB25256

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Looking good, may I suggest purchasing one of the Steel Beach F-16 FOD cover sets. They rid the problem of getting the inside of the intake looking passable and add something a little different in the cockpit.  You can get a set that would give you exactly what is seen in your photograph above of the real jet.

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looking forward to seeing the build progress.
 

I do use rattle cans from time to time for the convenience. But they can be hard to get the same finesse and control  as an airbrush.
 

But I find the airbrush much better overall and actually easier.

 

This was not always the case. In my youth I tried to get into airbrushing but failed abysmally.
 

However about three years ago I decided to go again, the big difference being that this time I was spraying acrylics not enamels, using a double action airbrush and a compressor.  I also read a few guides on airbrushing before getting started.

 

My first airbrush was a 4display airbrush with compressor that cost €40 off eBay and I haven’t looked back since. I do now have a KKMoon (€15) and an iwata (€60) but am still using the cheapo compressor.  
 

I find that if I start a session spraying thinners and end the session by flushing with airbrush cleaner that good enough. With a full strip and clean only every few months ( haven’t needed to do this on the iwata yet, but that said the KKmoon is my current workhorse)

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I needed a bit of plastic card to fill the gap between wing and fuselage at the rear join point, just ahead of the flaps.

 

883-A4-DA6-5-C83-433-C-A2-D1-33082-CDF56

 

Filler and sanding required to hide the join lines and try to give that smooth F-16 wing/body blend.

 

B5-E604-B2-33-C1-44-D9-936-B-B5-F748-AA4

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