Tamiya 1:48 - F16C

[shortCummins]

I’ve decided to try my hand at a “modern jet”. Some time ago Paul was having a clear out and one of the kits up for sale was this Tamiya Lockheed Martin F16C (block 25/32) Fighting Falcon ANG



The kit offers 3 schemes, two California and one Arkansas based National Guard aircraft.





The California versions can be either block 25 or 32, the Arkansas is block 32. I’m going for the California black 25 scheme, love that big black Eagle

The kit also contains a nice set of armaments



I fancy having her fully loaded!

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Zen]

I'm always in for a Viper build!

[Avgas]

I've built that kit John and it's superb; in fact I've bought another one I enjoyed building it that much.

[shortCummins]

I've built that kit John and it's superb; in fact I've bought another one I enjoyed building it that much.

good to know, thanks Dave

bye-the-bye will I need any weight in the nose?

rgds
John

[Avgas]

I put some in because I had the nose cone closed, about 20 grams but I don't honestly know whether it needs it. I tend to put lead in all of my trike gear a/c.

[Smiffy]

Will be watching with interest. This kit is screaming out "buy me, buy me now Matt". I have been resisting its evil lure so far...

[shortCummins]

I’ve made a start by building some sub-assemblies, the cockpit, pilot, seat and air intake. These have been given a coat of black Ultimate primer…



…and white Ultimate primer



The inside seam was tided up with perfect plastic putty and a damp q-tip



Next I’ll be painting the cockpit

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[AdamLuscombe]

Nice start, good luck with the rest of the build

[Zen]

Nice start, good luck with the rest of the build

Second that!

[shortCummins]

Thanks guys

[chief5437]

thats a sweet kit, i used the same one in the f-16 gb. i cant remember if i needed weight in the front though, sorry

probably best to put some in, just in case?

good luck with the rest of it buddy

[shortCummins]

I started with the base colour, Tamiya XF-20, for the cockpit


and then picked-out the panels with XF-1, flat black



The seat was also given a base coat of XF-20


I then added the other ‘base’ colours



The pilot was given a base of Tamiya XF-65


I then added the other base colours



The intake fan was painted with a mixture of X-7 (1) and XF-56 (5)



I now need to add some depth to the pilot, pick out the dials and then weather the seat and cockpit

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

So I added the detail painting and some light weathering to the cockpit…


The decals for the IP fell apart so I painted the screens


The bang seat



The pilot, I’ve painted his visor with Tamiya smoke



The seat positioned in the cockpit tub…



…and the pilot in the seat




Next is the main landing gear well

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Zen]

Great looking pilot!

[shortCummins]

Great looking pilot!

thanks Zen

its the first time I've used a pilot, I'll certainly consider using them in future builds I'm sure with practice I'll get closer to what I saw in my minds eye

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Stokesy44]

Very nice pit and pilot Sir.

Should look good under that big canopy.

[Always48]

wow that office is looking crazy good

[Twokidsnosleep]

I agree with everyone...great cockpit and super pilot
You are knocking out a real beauty here

[shortCummins]

Very nice pit and pilot Sir.

Should look good under that big canopy.

wow that office is looking crazy good

I agree with everyone...great cockpit and super pilot
You are knocking out a real beauty here

thanks guys, I'm really pleased with the pilot figure, I only decided to use it as I hadn't acquired any aftermarket and I figured he'd hide most of the cockpit detail

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I’ve given the landing gear bay a coat of Ultimate white primer


…and joined to top to the bottom



the cockpit in place


I’ve also painted the exhaust nozzle, the interior was painted with Ultimate white primer and once masked I gave the outside a coatt of Ultimate black and then Tamiya X-32 Titanium Silver


I then masked the main petals and spayed a coat of vallejo 77.723 Exhaust Manifold


The interior petals were then painted with a mix of Tamiya XF-7 red (1) and XF-56 metallic grey (5)



Next I’ll be adding the upper fuselage bits and pieces and starting the landing gear

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[TommyKillander]

Great job, it looks fantastic


Tommy

[Zen]

Great job, it looks fantastic


Tommy

Sure does, nice work.

[shortCummins]

Great job, it looks fantastic


Tommy

Sure does, nice work.

thanks guys, much appreciated

[shortCummins]

So after a short delay I’ve been able to get back to the workbench, time to crack on with this build!

I’ve been working on the stores hung under the aircraft, I’ve decided to have a ‘fully loaded’ aircraft with AIM-9M Sidewinders, AIM-9X Sidewinders, AIM-120C AMRAAMs, GBU-12 Paveways, AN/AAQ LITENING II pod, AN/ALQ-184 ECM pod and a couple of 370 Gallon wing tanks.

After building the payload they were all given a primer coat of Ultimate black and then an marble coat using their base colours…




I’ve also given the landing bay doors a marble coat


These were then given a ‘blend’ coat…





The Paveways were given the same treatment using Tamiya XF-62 olive drab, I forgot to take photos of the marble coat


The LITENING II pod was painted with Hobby color H305 gray FS-36118


Detail painting, the white needs another coat on the AIM-120Cs




These now need a coat of aqua gloss in preparation for decals and weathering

For more details on blackbasing have a look at Doog's excellent series of "how to's"



Next I’ll be starting the landing gear

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I’ve made a start on the landing gear.
After a coat of Ultimate white primer I added some fuze wire to represent some plumbing to the main landing gear

and then a coat of Tamiya flat white

then a I detail painted the added wiring


after a coat of aqua gloss I used some Tamiya panel liner to bring out the detail



The same process was repeated for the front wheel





The wheels were first given a Ultimate black primer coat and then masked for a coat of Tamiya flat white

then Tamiya panel liner and the mask removed

They still need a coat of ‘tyre black’


Next I need to add the remaining bits’n’pieces to the airframe in preparation for paint

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Fridgy]

Mate looks awesome

[demarcation]

Very very nice!

[shortCummins]

Mate looks awesome

Very very nice!

thanks guys, its a 'typical' Tamiya kit, it more or less builds itself, and whats not to love about the look of a F-16

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

Finally got her built, the undercarriage and weapons will be added after paint, decals and weathering.
I used Tamiya masking tape for the windshield and pre-painted exhaust

The wheel bays were masked with sponge, Tamiya tape and Mr Masking Sol (used to hold the sponge in shape)

The tail sub-assembly

For some reason I had real problem getting my camera to focus on this!?


Once all the bits’n’pieces were nailed in place everything was given a coat of Ultimate black primer I LOVE THIS STUFF!!





I’m going to let the primer cure for 24-48 hours, probably not necessary as there wont be too much masking but it ‘fits’ with what “life” has got planned for me over the week-end, and then I’ll start on the marble coat.

Do checkout Doog’s series on black-basing, very informative and a great ‘why-to’ as well as ‘how-to’
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 02r6rV7KIS


until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[DarrenCo]

I will be following your build with interest, looks good!

[shortCummins]

thanks Darren

[shortCummins]

I started with the lightest paint first, Hobby Color H308 - GRAY FS 36375
First the marble coat, darker marbling using Tamiya XF-82 and Hobby Color H305



A blend coat of highly thinned H308…




Next colour Hobby Color H306 - GRAY FS 36270
Marble coat, darker marbling using Tamiya XF-82 and Hobby Color H305




A blend coat of highly thinned H306…




Final grey Hobby Color H305 - GRAY FS 36118
Marble coat, darker marbling using Tamiya XF-63 German Grey



A blend coat of highly thinned H305…

with the tail loosely positioned

a close up of the top panels


rear stabilisers



Next I’ll be adding some of the detail paint and giving everything a coat of Aqua Gloss in preparation for decals and weathering.

Checkout Doog’s series on black-basing, very informative and a great ‘why-to’ as well as ‘how-to’
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 02r6rV7KIS


until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I’ve finally managed to get some “bench-time” and I’ve made a start on getting the landing gear nailed into place.
Lead-wire was used to add some pipework to the landing gear struts



the landing gear bays were given a coat of aqua gloss and then Tamiya panel line (black)



The wheels were also treated to aqua gloss and panel liner


There were two or three landing struts that needed painting white, I missed them when I painted the gear bays, so I’ve got to wait for those to dry before I can complete the landing gear.


Once the gear is installed I’ll give every thing a coat of aqua gloss so that I can start the decalling and weathering

until next time
as always, any suggestions or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

So I’ve spent today decaling and adding panel liner.
Here is the tail with decals…

…and then panel liner

here’s the rear stabilisers, left with panel liner right without

left without, right with


top of aircraft decal’d and panel lined



underside




I need to give everything a dull coat, while I’m waiting for that to dry I’ll finish up the ordinance

until next time
as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I’ve been working on the ordinance, lots of decals, 53 in total.
The ECM Pod and LITENING II Pod

AIM-9M Sidewinders

AIM-9X Sidewinders

AIM-120C AMRAAM

Paveway II’s



These will need a dull coat, and then I’ll add them to the aircraft and continue with the weathering.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

I decided to use a dot filter to try and add some subtile variation to the overall solid grey paintwork.
I’ve not used specialist oil paints, these were from the pound shop, 10 oil colours £1.
For the lighter grey I’ve used white, black, brown and blue. I use cocktail sticks to add dots of colour over the surface…

then I use a wide paintbrush moistened with odourless turpentine to brush out the colours in the direction of the air-flow

I keep dragging the brush over the dots/streaks until they are fully blended

This is a really subtile effect, the photo’s don’t really show it to its best but it really does give a nice tonal variation to the paintwork

the underside before the dot filter

and after (you’ll notice I’ve knocked off the pitot tube and wingtip pylon)

the top side before

and after, colours used white, dark brown, dark blue, black and brown

the tail before

and after



Now I’ve got to add the undercarriage doors and ordinance as well as the stuff I’ve knocked off, then she should be close to being finished.

until next time
as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[DougvH]

Amazing work John

[shortCummins]

Amazing work John

thanks Doug, its been a bit of a stop start build, nearing the ned now

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Avgas]

nearing the ned now

Ah the Ned, I always get horses comng up near the end of a build too. Sometimes the yard is full of them.


Looking great John although I have to say I can't see any difference between the before and after dot filter pics. Could be one of two things, my old eyes and monitor or the pics haven't picked it up well. Having said that I can see the difference on the first three pics where you demonstrate how to do it.

Re the pitot probe and pylon, I thought I was the only one to do things like that...

[shortCummins]

nearing the ned now

Ah the Ned, I always get horses comng up near the end of a build too. Sometimes the yard is full of them.


Looking great John although I have to say I can't see any difference between the before and after dot filter pics. Could be one of two things, my old eyes and monitor or the pics haven't picked it up well. Having said that I can see the difference on the first three pics where you demonstrate how to do it.

Re the pitot probe and pylon, I thought I was the only one to do things like that...

the ned, my fingers are too fat to type my excuse and I'm sticking to it

The dot filter is very subtile, it doesn't notice too much in the photos but 'in real life' you can see it I'll try to take some close-up photos as I think they'll show the effect better

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

here's some close-ups of the dot filter effect...

top of wing

under wing and pylons

flying falcon graphic

underside rear of aircraft


hopefully these photos show the effect a bit better, the effect is really quite subtile

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[Avgas]

Yep got it now, thanks for putting those up.

[shortCummins]

So I’ve added the bits back on that I keep knocking off (again) and all of the ordinance. As this aircraft is a Air National Guard aircraft from the 144th Fighter Wing it would be in reasonably pristine condition so I’ve only added a few oil and kerosene stains as I don’t believe that any aircraft is squeaky clean 5 minutes after it rolls out of the hanger.
I gave everything a thinned coat of vallejo matt acrylic varnish just to fully blend the dot filter and she’s done.

Here’s a sneak-peak…


You can see the rest of the rival photos here…
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=22431


until next time
as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[DrSprue]

Wow just really amazing. (as I put my Revell part # 85-5421) back onto the shelf. By your remarks and this series, this Tamiya kit seems great and again awesome work!

[Graham910]

nice build I like this aircraft