Greetings all,

I've been working on this guy for the past two weeks. Kit was a gift from my wife, and she paid full retail for it up here in Canada, so the build is going to be OOB, with no improvements over what the kit has to offer. Plenty of other builders will go to town adding wiring to landing gear bays and so on, but I can't see any way of improving the gift she gave me. I have however been given special permission to use some aftermarket decals on it. At any rate, enough blubbering, here are some pics of what I have completed so far:

Engine:



Intake:



Engine Bay:



Exhaust Nozzle:



Cockpit:



Cockpit with IP assembly and pilot installed:


Constructive criticism welcomed.

Cheers,

Kevin

I love the F-16 and have a Revell 1/32 scale model waiting to be built myself. You've done an amazing job so far. What make of kit is it? I can't wait to see the fininshed product if it's as good as what you've done so far it will be amazing.

Thanks Chris, muc appreciated. As per the topic title, this is the Tamiya kit of the F-16CJ Block 50

It looks splendid so far. The painting on the engine is outstanding, as is the engine bay.

You might want to cover the HUD glass with some clear green

Looks great so far! Pilot is a tad glossy. Looking forward to further progress photos.

Thanks. As mentioned, the cockpit pic was pre-flat coat. That has since been addressed.

Back with an update. Airframe is complete, and the basecoat has been sprayed.

Before:



After:


Still some post-shading to do, then I'll get it ready for decals.

Looking great. I have one in the stash and am just waiting for my skills to improve so that I can do it justice.

What paint and color did you use on the seat? That looks realistic enough to want to sit in.

Cary, go ahead and build it now. Kit is so well engineered, you will have to actively try and muck it up.

As for the seat, I used the kit painting suggestion, so Tamiya XF-49 (Khaki). A litle drybrushing and a wash, and it looks good enough for me. I have been told however that the color is incorrect, as Viper seats range from OD to Dk. Green. Considering I have the pilot in there, and very little of the seat will be seen, I'll leave it as is.

Quick update, as the post shading is complete, so it looks a bit more interesting than before. I didn't do anything fancy. The Neutral Grey areas were given a mist of Light Ghost Grey, and the Gunship Grey areas were given a mist of Neutral Grey and Tamiya Dk. Grey in a somewhat a random pattern. Those areas were then given a highly thinned mist of the original base coat color. Fairly simple, and I like the results they gave. Unlike previous builds, I didn't go nuts with the post shading, and I think the results look just about right. I also toned down the radome, as I didn't like the contrast once the base coat was sprayed. A few pics to demonstrate.





And with the close-up of the cockpit, you can see I didn't shake my Gunze Flat Clear well enough before spraying the pilot. I guess I'll have to gloss him over again and re-spray. Oh well. Stuff happens.



Next round of pics will be when the decals are on. See you then.

Well, with the hockey game going on in the background last night (GO SENS GO!), I was able to get all the decals on the airframe. The TwoBobs decals behaved flawlessly. This was my first time using TwoBobs, and needless to say, I was very impressed.





A few little bits of detail painting to do, plus the ordnance, then it will be ready for weathering. Next you see her, it will be done. See you at the finish line......

Looking good so far, keep up the good work, This reminds me i must dig out my 'Thunderbirds Version' and start weathering it.

sweet. I can't wait for finished photos! good job

Thanks Christopher. You can see completed pics about 10 threads down

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