1/72 Hasegawa: F-16C

[xSCAR45]

Hello folks!

This will be my first build in a number of years. I bought this kit mainly because of the price. It was only $10 so if I make mistakes it won't be a big deal. Don't get me wrong. I like the F-16 but I've been dying to build an F-35A. Don't want to mess it up so I went with the Fighting Falcon for now. Impressive jet as it still is used throughout the world today.



After opening the box I was greeted with an easy to understand instruction sheet. This should be a quick build. I'm guessing with painting included it will take two weeks, tops. The decal sheet is large and nice. I hope the decals are good quality. I looked into getting AM decals but it would cost more than the kit itself so I decided not to order AM decals.

There are five sprues if you include the canopy piece. They all look good and they should since this kit was released only a couple of years ago according to the box and decal sheet.

I'll start working on her tonight! Until next time...





Pardon the yellow sprue shots. They're grey in reality.

[shortCummins]

I love the F-16, however I couldn't cope with 1/72, my eyes are far too old

good to start on a 'mule' kit before you start on the 'real' build

I wish you the best of luck with this one, I'm sure you'll enjoy it and learn/relearn the skills needed, I'm 3 years back into the hobby and learning every day

rgds
John(shortCummins)

[xSCAR45]

Thanks for the kind words Shorty. Now... on to business!

I assembled the cockpit and hand painted it. This took a total of about 2.5 hours. There was minor flash that needed to be taken care of but nothing major. The fit was good for the cockpit. After cleanup of the pieces it was a pleasant experience. After assembly and paint I broke out the decals. The decals, so far, are good. Not too thick, not too thin and they stuck well with a little help of some fixer agent.

I'll try to put in more time on the bench this week. I've been somewhat neglectful of this fine bird but as long as it comes out alright in the end I guess that's all that matters.

That does it for this update. Next I install the cockpit into the jet and join the upper and lower fuselage together. Shouldn't be a problem. Until next time...

[xSCAR45]

Well, its been awhile. Time for an update!

Today I finished Step 5 and am now letting the glue cure before moving on to Step 6. I started first with attaching the cockpit to the fuselage. The cockpit is a little off center but you can't tell unless you have a real close look at it. Once the canopy is attached, you'll never know.

Next was Step 3: the Air Intake assembly. This was a bit tricky. I had to bust out some Tamiya tape to keep it together before applying glue. Worked like a charm. After some careful and steady application of glue I let the Air Intake set for awhile before moving on to Step 4.

Step 4 was simple as simple could get. Before gluing it together I broke out the airbrush and Tamiya's Flat Aluminum and sprayed until satisfied. Let the paint cure for a day and then glued together.

Step 5 was applying the Air Intake to the fuselage along with some fins to the undercarriage. I don't know what to call them other than fins so please bear with me.

After that was all done I toke some pictures which are down below. I'm leaving the Exhaust off the fuselage until the fuselage is painted. This just makes it easier for me rather then masking.













That does it for this update. Hopefully I'll get the wings on in a timely manner. Been telling myself "Oh, I'll do some modelling later." and never do.

Until next time fellas...

[xSCAR45]

Quick update!

So I went ahead and assembled and glued on the wings and stabilizers. Wasn't too tricky. Took a bit of cleaning on the dorsal wing as the sprue gates were pretty thick there. Also the dorsal wing needed some finesse to attach to the fuselage as the fit was loose. I might add some putty to the main wings as the underside has a small 0.5 mm gap that somewhat bothers me. We'll see how it looks after I assemble and attach the landing gear. My only real complaint is the cockpit seat. It is misaligned and I did the best I could to line it up before attaching and gluing the fuselage together. When you look close its very obvious the seat is misaligned. Oh, well. Its only a $10.00 kit.

Anyways, here is a couple pics of my progress. Not much, I know, but that was all that had to be done before the landing gear steps. Hope you are enjoying my slow progress through this build.

Until next time...

[styrcrazy]

Hi there,

I am enjoying you build thread. I don't mind the slow pace. I am used to that. My own builds take a loooooong time. Too little bench time i'm afraid.
I have the "Thunderbirds F-16A Fighting Falcon" kit in my stash, which is from the same tooling as your kit here, so i am following with interest. I have a resin ejection seat for it. I'll keep in mind the misalignment issue when i place it.

rgrds,
Frank

[DrSprue]

Oh great an F-16 build! Cool and no problem with a slow one as well. I got a few that have been running a while also.

Like styrcrazy, Not the 16A tho, I have the Hasegawa "Top Gun F-16N" version kit in my stash, which is from the same tooling as your kit here as well as his I think, so i am following this with interest too. The only thing I can see different is yours is an Air Force bird and mine a Navy one and changes only in the decals.
Looking good so far and Ill keep that in mind with the 0.5 mm gap in the wing.

[TommyKillander]

Great job sofar!

It'll be interesting to see how this kit is compared to the Tamiya F-16CJ.


Tommy