1/144 Trumpeter F-16A/C

[ernestf]

Another 1/144 kit from Trumpeter which I previous completed the F-22A.

F-16 has much less parts compared to the F-22A, partially because it comes with NO weapon. Much simpler in design of the kit. 

It has a 2-part cockpit, the ejection seat and the cockpit !

The panel lines are detailed in this scale but not deep enough. 

Covered the back of the seat with a thin plastic card as it might be seen after the build.

 

Applied German grey on the inside of the fuselage and around the cockpit. Added other parts to the airframe - noted that most of them are in good fit except the nose cone does fit well but have a huge (in its scale) step between the front fuselage and the cone, need to sand it down.

Test fit the canopy too, seems all good. 

Added a bit of color in the cockpit, dry brush enamel silver, and add a few of different color on the instrument panel and side panels. Also apply a layer of Gaia green color on the seat. Also fit a small piece of transparent green cut off from plastic file folder to make the HUD.

Next, I cut a few very thin (less than 1mm) masking tape and make the harness, and brushed blue and silver. It is then time to close the canopy.

 

Applied green stuff putty under fuselage where the wings joint and also in front of the canopy.

After rounds of sanding, scribed the panel lines and installed pylons

 

 

[ernestf]

Masked canopy - the mold does not show very clear line for masking. Did my best to get the shape masked. Hope this works.

First layer of primer for surface check.

 

The fins of the drop tanks seems to be too thick, sanded them down too after the first primer. 

Fuselage also need another round of GSI #500 liquid putty and sanding.

I have mistakenly dropped the plane on the floor while sanding, and the original plastic pitot tube has broken. Hence installed a metal version. 

Edited March 31, 2023 by ernestf

[ernestf]

Pre shading pass #1

Edited March 16, 2023 by ernestf

[ernestf]

Applied Mr Color c308 on downwards surface of fuselage, and c306 & c305 on upwards facing of fuselage.

[Hook]

Neat work in this small scale!

[ernestf]

13 hours ago, Hook said:

Neat work in this small scale!

Thanks

this 1/144 is fun and good for practising 

Edited March 21, 2023 by ernestf

[Dazzio]

Looking good there ernestf.

 

If you can get hold of it the best F-16 kit in 1/144 is from Revell and it's the Texas anniversary boxing, I should get around to building it one day thinking about it.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

 

Kind regards,

 

Dazz

[ernestf]

2 hours ago, Dazzio said:

Looking good there ernestf.

 

If you can get hold of it the best F-16 kit in 1/144 is from Revell and it's the Texas anniversary boxing, I should get around to building it one day thinking about it.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

 

Kind regards,

 

Dazz

Thanks Dazz

this kit is much simpler than the revell kit, sure I will look for the revell, saw their f-15,16 and 18 the other day, tempting !!

[Dazzio]

To be fair the kit doesn't look that bad and you are doing a cracking job with it. 

 

I was looking at turning one of the F-16's that I own into an F-2, but realised that would be a lot more work than I could be bothered to do (I am a lazy git) the same with the Trumpeter F-22, I wanted to turn one into an F/B-22 - thats a good kit if you can find it.

 

The Revell F-15E, F-16C and F/A-18E/G's are modern-ish kits - if you already know this then completely ignore me - my gf does .  The F/A-18C is an older kit but still an enjoyable build (I think I have made 4-5 of them).  However being in Singapore you might have more luck finding the "Ace" kits, which as I understand is just Revell for the Asian markets or a joint venture with Academy?  I forget which one it actually is.  I have noticed that Academy are releasing some of the Revell 1/144 kits with multiple decal options (unlike Revell).  For example, I have the Chinook and that has loads of decal options (around 6 iirc), which is handy as I purchased a joblot of Chinooks years ago without any decals.  The Hawkeye is the same I believe and has a JMSDF example in it... I just realised that the F-16C kit is 10 years old now... wow I remember reviewing on my now long dead blog... god I feel old...

 

Anyhow, looking forward to seeing more from this kit.

 

Kind regards,

 

Dazz

[ernestf]

On 22/03/2023 at 00:18, Dazzio said:

To be fair the kit doesn't look that bad and you are doing a cracking job with it. 

 

I was looking at turning one of the F-16's that I own into an F-2, but realised that would be a lot more work than I could be bothered to do (I am a lazy git) the same with the Trumpeter F-22, I wanted to turn one into an F/B-22 - thats a good kit if you can find it.

 

The Revell F-15E, F-16C and F/A-18E/G's are modern-ish kits - if you already know this then completely ignore me - my gf does .  The F/A-18C is an older kit but still an enjoyable build (I think I have made 4-5 of them).  However being in Singapore you might have more luck finding the "Ace" kits, which as I understand is just Revell for the Asian markets or a joint venture with Academy?  I forget which one it actually is.  I have noticed that Academy are releasing some of the Revell 1/144 kits with multiple decal options (unlike Revell).  For example, I have the Chinook and that has loads of decal options (around 6 iirc), which is handy as I purchased a joblot of Chinooks years ago without any decals.  The Hawkeye is the same I believe and has a JMSDF example in it... I just realised that the F-16C kit is 10 years old now... wow I remember reviewing on my now long dead blog... god I feel old...

 

Anyhow, looking forward to seeing more from this kit.

 

Kind regards,

 

Dazz

Thanks Dazz for more info. I indeed built my F-22A end of last year and this was actually the model which brought me to airplanes modelling. 

 

Not heard of ACE but there are people selling Revell 1/144 here so I might go get a few after the F-16 work. 

 

Progress has been slow, hope to catch up soon. 

 

Regards

Ernest

[ernestf]

Weather has been unstable here in Singapore, managed to do some masking this morning, but it is storming again outside. 

Less chance to get the paints on today. 

[ernestf]

Managed to airbrush the kit in between rains today.

[Martin1962]

That's remarkable and quite stunning. I've never gone down the 1/144 scale route myself - way too small for me - but this looks like it will build into a fine model.

[ernestf]

8 hours ago, Martin1962 said:

That's remarkable and quite stunning. I've never gone down the 1/144 scale route myself - way too small for me - but this looks like it will build into a fine model.

Thanks Martin. It is small for me too - need to operate with magnifying glasses  I will sure build a bigger F-16 in future. 

 

Prepared the last part today, which is the landing gears and once again, like the previous build F-22A, I have mis handled the nose gear and broke one of the connector. Glued it back to one piece and hope it stands.

 

There is no lead weight required in front to avoid tail sitting

 

 

 

[ernestf]

First round of decals.

With the experience from building the previous Trumpeter 1/144 F-22A, I have applied decals very carefully this time. Tried to apply a few in different area first to avoid any interference between them before complete dry. The decals is very thin, which is both good and bad. It has a nice effect after applying successfully on the surface, but easy to damage during the application.

While they have been fixed on the correct position, applied a few drops of softener and leave it for a day.

 

[exdraken]

looks rather nice!

especially for 144!!

[ernestf]

On 30/03/2023 at 15:05, exdraken said:

looks rather nice!

especially for 144!!

Thanks for nice words.

 

Decals pass 2. This round included a number of thin lines which require some patience to get in right. 

Also found that I have misplaced the two decals in front of fuselage near canopy for the left and right side, luckily there are spare from the kit so I can re do mine.

 

 

Applied decals adhesive and softener, leave them overnight.

A few more logo and couple of lines to go for the next pass. 

 

[ernestf]

Decals done.

 

Let it dry for 2 days, before the next steps - glossy coat and weathering to follow. 

[ernestf]

Singapore has been raining, delay the gloss coating to mid week. 

Fri here and I can start working on weathering with Mr Weathering brown, light grey, blue and yellow. Pass 1 : 

 

Followed by Pass 2 :

 

Hand paint XF-1 black on the little wheels, inner exhaust port and air intake. 

Once landing gears and main gear doors are installed, will run one more round of wash with AK landing gear wash. 

 

[ernestf]

While the weather is good, quickly installed everything together and applied flat clear coat. 

You can find the completed kit here :

 

Thanks for viewing and comments !

 

Ernest