F-16C Block 25 148thFW (Tamiya)

[Navcom]

Time for me to get my thread started for the build I've been waiting for! I'm going to be doing the Tamiya F-16C Block 25 1/48th scale version of the Viper. Mine will be done up in the Minnesota ANG 148thFW based out of Duluth, MN USA.

I did this build last year, finishing it up late this past fall. I was not completely happy with the results so I'm going to start completely over...fresh plastic, fresh accessories. This time I have a much better understanding of this particular Viper so hopefully the results will be even better than the first go at it.

The 148th Fighter Wing is an Air National Guard unit. Back in the 90's, they transitioned from F-4's to the F-16A model. In 2002, they upgraded their Vipers to the F-16C Block 25 version. Finally, in 2011, they took deliver of the newer Block 52 aircraft, which they currently utilize. I will be making the Block 25 version in the paint scheme used around 2006 (since that is the only one I can find decals for! ). It also happens to be the aircraft I'm most familiar with. I'll be doing tail 83162. It's the aircraft in the back in the photo below. The front aircraft has the paint scheme used before about 2005. It was also the scheme used on the older F-4's as well...




Here's some past 148th aircraft...

F-4D Phantom...



F-101 Voodoo (in memory of two 148th pilots killed during a training accident in 1971)...



F-51...



And now the stuff. First the box...



As with most Tamiya kits, the plastic is top notch. Pieces are crisp, full of details, and molded correctly with very few visible ejector marks. The kit comes with two canopy versions...standard clear and RCS Have Glass tinted. I'll be using the standard clear. The canopies do have the silly mold seam right down the middle, although it's pretty tame and will easily disappear with a little sanding and polishing. Comes with lots of pointy exploding thingies too. I'll will most likely only utilize some sidewinders for the wingtips and the external fuels...



I will be upgrading the cockpit and the nozzle with some resin. These worked well last time and I'm looking forward to even better results this time around now that I know what the heck I'm doing (last time was the first time I ever used resin parts!)...



While Tamiya makes superb kits, their decals are horrible and the ones supplied with this kit are no different. Glad I'm using aftermarket decals for this build...



I will be building this bird with the feet up in cruise configuration as it will be displayed on a stick, although I will not be doing a pilot figure (always hated those things!). I have refreshed my paint bottles as I ran out of a few during the last few and am now ready to start hacking and wacking! Looking forward to the build as well as watching what everyone else comes up with!

Jeff

[Avgas]

Nice choice, will be watching with interest.

[Navcom]

...And, were off! Got some critical basic stuff done last night and also this evening. First off was getting the rear engine inlet put together. Since my finished aircraft will have the wheels up and the doors closed, no need in putting lots of detail work into the gear bays, so only structural components will be assembled...



Then the rear inlet assembly is installed into the bottom fuselage. The horizontal stab "bearings" also get installed...



Next the forward inlet assembly gets put together...



...and the nose gear door is also installed at this time...



...and then the top inlet items are put on...



Next the resin cockpit needs to be prepped so it will fit inside the fuselage. The fuselage pieces also need some trimming. The top fuselage gets trimmed around the rear cockpit where the canopy mechanism and the rear of the ejection seat sit against it. The protrusions that hold the factory cockpit assembly must be removed from the floor of the bottom fuselage. Lots of sculpting on the resin cockpit itself to get it to fit perfect...especially along the bottom. Note that I broke through the cockpit floor (that's how thin it needs to be)...not a big deal...the ejection seat will cover it...



A little off the front end as well as the back end. Lots of trial and error until it fits perfectly...





Of course it goes without saying that with all this sculpting, something will get broken. In this case it was one of the ejection seat rails.
Not quite sure how to fix this. I tried to glue it back on but then lost the piece to the carpet monster. I'm thinking I will just break off the other one as it will be a closed cockpit and it will be hard to see anyhow. I know what that sound was...it was the sound of some of you gasping in disbelief!




That's it from Minnesota. Hopefully will continue to have good luck getting time to work on this bird by the weekend.

Jeff

[Navcom]

Got the cockpit mostly finished today...





Will definitely be cleaning off more of the wash. Looks like the damn thing went off-roading with the canopy open. Also will be adding HUD and belts after it's installed in the fuselage right before the canopy goes on. Not going through what I went through last time with bits falling off and getting lost.

Have a great week folks!

Jeff

[MarkVerploeg]

Nice work so far Jeff
i like the cockpit ,that looks really good
and from what i have seen in the box that reain exhaust looks nice too
keep up the good work

[gaz45]

Great work on the cockpit mate

[rwsmith14]

Cockpit is looking good !!

[Navcom]

Another evening with time to work on the Viper. Loving it!

Got most of the fuselage glued together...





Everything going together like magic...which is SOP with Tamiya kits. Most of the hack-n-whack required has to do with the resin cockpit, not the kit itself...but even that has went very well. So far loads of fun!

Jeff

[peppie]

Looking great so far Jeff

Everything going together like magic...which is SOP with Tamiya kits.

Gotta get me a Tamiya kit someday...

[qeialto]

Looking great so far, this is probably going to be my next built, I'll steal with pride!!!

[Navcom]

More fuselage work. Got lots of tedious stuff done...





The inside of the intake is white except for the rim around the front. I decided to leave off the rim, paint the interior, paint the rim, and then assemble them with a bit of touch up afterwards. Not sure if this is the smart move or not. I had a bugger of a time getting it to work on the last version with the rim installed first...



Vertical stab assembled and ready for a bit of sanding and primer...



That's all from the left side of the pond. Might get a bit more done tomorrow. Have a great weekend folks!

Jeff

[DBMiller]

There is something to be said for spending more for a better kit! My block 25 from Academy is nothing compared to this! I'll be watching this build not only to see how it comes out but for pointers on this kit!

[Navcom]

External tanks, bits, and pointy exploding thingys assembled, sanded, and ready for primer...



Also got the canopy masked and installed. Seams are filled and mostly sanded. Looks much worse than it actually is. Should look fabulous once the primer is on...



Also decided I should probably attach the front of the air intake. Originally I thought I'd leave it off until the interior was painted white but I second-guessed myself and put it on. Just have to buckle down and do the hard masking...



Next up...finishing the sanding, attaching the vertical stab, and then giving her a good coat of primer. Till then, have a great night and a wonderful week!

Jeff

[Navcom]

More work done...this time finishing the tasks required before I'm 100% ready for priming. First up is to install the wingtip rails and all the little sensing/probing thingies..except for the nose pitot tube. That will wait till after painting as I'm sure I'll whack it off if I don't...



I also attached the engine shroud on the tail...



Just need to finish sand some areas and fill a few small missed seams. I also got the engine parts primed and painted...



The nozzle ring and nozzle leaves were painted with Alclad gold titanium followed by a real light airbrush dusting of Alclad exhaust manifold to give it just a tad feeling of corrosion. The inner nozzle ring and the inside of the tube were painted with Alclad steel followed by a real light dusting of Tamiya flat white...again for the feeling that it's been used. The rear turbine blade and PE cage were painted with Alclad steel.

Another view of the nozzle assembly after it's been assembled...



Still have to glue down the nozzle leaves to the inner ring...if I can. I tried last time and no matter what I did, the silly things sprung back after a few hours.

It was another productive session! Can't wait to get her all primed and ready for painting! Till next time...wishing you all favorable tailwinds!

Jeff

[Navcom]

One last detail before priming...painting the inside of the air intake white...



...and then the masking experience from hell!...



It took me the better part of an hour to mask that intake opening. My hands are just not quite small enough to navigate the tape.

And then finally!...the primer!...



Decided to use the Badger Stynylrez like so many others on the forum...my first time using it on an aircraft. I used it the first time on the Sherman I built last month and absolutely loved it! So easy and the quality is fantastic. No different this time. Super smooth finish and almost foolproof spraying.

Just a couple small areas to sand and re-prime but otherwise a great step forward! Later!

Jeff

[peppie]

Had the same problem masking up the intake

Looking great up to now. Looking forward to your paintjob

[Navcom]

Got round 1 done of the actual painting. Did the first layer of light gray and will follow up with a second layer tomorrow...





Noticed that my re-scribing around the nose was absolutely horsesh*t! Note to self...scribing on black primer is different than scribing over unpainted plastic or just regular gray primer.



I will need to revisit this tomorrow and perform some tender loving care body work on her.

[Avgas]

Looking good Jeff, I'll have to get some of that Stylrez stuff. I left the intake front bit off of mine until I'd sprayed it, same with the nose. I found as well that it's very nearly a tailsitter so put a couple of fishing weights in the nose.

[Navcom]

Sunday evening update...

Refilling and sanding the nose looks completely hideous!...



Here it is repainted. It's better than before the work but still not up to my expectations. I may have to call this one for lack of fixer-upper skill. If I feel brave, I might refill and sand one last time. I'm afraid if I do, things might get a bit too much paint on them. At least I got the horizontal stabs and the external tanks painted at the same time...one success to chalk up tonight...

[Navcom]

...and more filling and sanding fun!



This is starting to bring back nasty repressed childhood memories of fixing my car's quarter panel with bondo and a grinder.

I refuse to let the styrene win! I choose to fix the nose not because it's easy, but because it's hard!

[Navcom]

Nose fixed and rescribed! Well...fixed enough anyway. I'm afraid it will never be like it was, but I'll call it battle damage. In a way, it does sort of look like a well used Viper. My only concern is what that canopy is going to look like when the tape is removed.



Next the final masking is complete and the bird is ready for a color bath...



External tanks get the first round of weathering before clear coat...



...and then the glorious paint job!...



Finally, a clear coat is applied and we are ready for decals...




Next step, apply the stickers (as my wife calls them ). They're so cute when they act all innocent.

[rwsmith14]

she's looking good !!

[Navcom]

Back at it again on a Saturday morning. Prepped the bird for decals and ready to apply!...




The top is done for the most part outside of a couple "no step" stickers...



Just need a little more work with some coats of Micro Sol and a needle to pop a couple air bubbles. The goal is to get the decal work done this weekend but it's gonna be hard. We are supposed to have almost 60F temps today and those are record highs for Minnesota in the February! Usually about 28F this time of year!

I'll be outside boys, walking the woods! Catch you later!

[ScaleArmorBuilder]

Coming along well. Reminds me I need to paint the intake on mine white.

[Navcom]

Coming along well. Reminds me I need to paint the intake on mine white.

That intake is deceivingly buggery! The masking is so awkward!

[ScaleArmorBuilder]

Coming along well. Reminds me I need to paint the intake on mine white.

That intake is deceivingly buggery! The masking is so awkward!

Hoping I can paint mine with a hairy stick.

[DBMiller]

Very nice!

[rwsmith14]

Back at it again on a Saturday morning. Prepped the bird for decals and ready to apply!...




The top is done for the most part outside of a couple "no step" stickers...



Just need a little more work with some coats of Micro Sol and a needle to pop a couple air bubbles. The goal is to get the decal work done this weekend but it's gonna be hard. We are supposed to have almost 60F temps today and those are record highs for Minnesota in the February! Usually about 28F this time of year!

I'll be outside boys, walking the woods! Catch you later!

Jeff, would you be interested in the Have Glass V decals for the 148FW..I'll send them to you after I'm finished with mine if you want.. I do not plain on using them...

[Navcom]

Jeff, would you be interested in the Have Glass V decals for the 148FW..I'll send them to you after I'm finished with mine if you want.. I do not plain on using them...

Thanks for the offer! I think I'm fine. No plans for Have Glass at this point. Thanks much for the offer though!

Jeff

[Navcom]

Decals done, missiles/fuel tanks/pitots attached and painted...





Getting close to putting a fork in this one! Next is a seal coat, a tiny bit of weathering, and the final semi-gloss coat. Hopefully done in the next week or so!

Jeff

[jelliott]

That looks great! I have been thinking of building an F-16 from MN as well; however, I want to try my hand at the Have Glass II scheme. I saw a couple of these birds a couple of years ago at the Mt. Home AFB airshow. I have a couple of pics of them for good reference shots.

[Navcom]

That looks great! I have been thinking of building an F-16 from MN as well; however, I want to try my hand at the Have Glass II scheme. I saw a couple of these birds a couple of years ago at the Mt. Home AFB airshow. I have a couple of pics of them for good reference shots.

Thanks! I know many of the folks from the unit as we've worked with them over the years...plus my wife is from Duluth so there's a personal attachment as well. One of the most beautiful areas in the country and one of the best airports to fly into.

[Navcom]

Viper finished this evening! I'll post the pix in the reveal section tomorrow.

Whew!

Jeff

[ToddS]

Good looking build..