Tamiya 1/32 F16 CJ bloc 50 Fighting Falcon.

[boatman]

You are lucky John. My missus won’t have my models in the main house and even in the garage woe betide me if I allow my stash to stray outside the designated area. Should I suggest to visitors they come and have a look then i get told ‘no-one is really interested in your stupid models’. So my there is only me to look......

OH that's a shame barry as I would be havin a look an im glad my missus understand about my love of models
chris

[boatman]

Seriously..... Someone needs telling "it's my house too". I take it that she has no hobbies/interests....
I dont plaster the whole house with the things I build but I am "allowed" to have a couple in the cabinets in the main part of the house. Oddly enough, visitors to the house often comment on them (some even in a positive manner!).
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1108712[/ATTACH]
One sexy aircraft!

YEA that's right Ian poor barry I sympathize with him on that account
chris

[rtfoe]

So far I have the landing and nowhere else is allowed so I understand Barry's marked territory except my Missus encourages friends to see my work.

Cheers,
Richard

[BarryW]

Seriously..... Someone needs telling "it's my house too". I take it that she has no hobbies/interests....
I dont plaster the whole house with the things I build but I am "allowed" to have a couple in the cabinets in the main part of the house. Oddly enough, visitors to the house often comment on them (some even in a positive manner!).
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1108712[/ATTACH]
One sexy aircraft!

Ahhhh but I just live there!!!!

She just likes the outside and is bored being inside, cant sit still for more than half hour...

In her mind the only pasttimes worthwhile involves walking, running.....................

[BarryW]

Here are pictures of the rather substantial sub-assemblies so far done.











Note the extra pipe work in the wheel well done with lead wire. I will be doing the same for the main wheels.

[Guest]

Do the fuselage parts go together with screws? It certainly looks like that from those photos.

[BarryW]

Yes Jakko. Lots of screws.

[BarryW]

I was in and out of the garage yesterday painting various metallic shades on the exhaust. I decided to paint that before installing the engine for ease. I will mask it up before pulling the airframe components together. It will need weathering at the end.



Three metallic shades were involved,


As you can see I also painted the front wheel well.

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Sounds as if you're enjoying this. Seems fair after the issues with your recent builds. Details so far look superb. Are the screws used because of the size at this scale? Is it just Tamiya or do other makes use screws?
Jim

[BarryW]

Size and strength. Also the engineering ensure some sections can be removed so it avoid supply’s cement ‘leaking over’. Typical Tamiya thoughtfulness.

[Guest]

Is it just Tamiya or do other makes use screws?

Though I’ve never built a plane kit like this one, I can only remember Tamiya kits that have them — the small number of of 1:12 scale bikes I built (25+ years ago) all had them, some of their 1:24 car kits did, their 1:35 T26E3 Pershing tank kit has screws. But I don’t recall building any other manufacturer’s plastic kits that came with screws.

[BarryW]

I have joined the subs so far completed.




The main wheel well components fit like a glove.




I will detail the wheel wells with lead wire then paint them.

[BarryW]

I am getting on with some internal detailing


Above you can see the pe set. I scraped of detail ready for it and then base painted

[BarryW]

I have been working on cockpit detail...

The seat has been detail painted and had a sealing semi-matt varnish applied. I still need to attach the seatbelts and do washes.






I am working on the i.p. and side panels. This is the first time that I have used one of these Eduard p.e. detailing sets. In the past my use of p.e. has been seatbelts and an 'kit' p.e. and have never really got on with it. It did feel odd scraping and sanding off detail ready for the p.e....

The i.p. has two layers, I did the bottom layer last night, top payer tonight.


I invested in some specialist tools for doing p.e. and the ones that I am using for this are:
Tamiya file specially designed for p.e. - I have found this much more effective to use compared to the standard needle files.
Tamiya p.e. snippers, these have a sharp point so they can get right into a fret. I also find that by positoning them carefully I can cut right close to the part minimising the sanding.
A pick-up pencil, essential in handling these.
Gator Grip - in the past I have used c.a. but I decided on this for practicallity. You have to allow for its slow drying but I think it is a good choice for this.
Standard pointed tweezers, more for adjusting the position of the piece.
Finally and most important tool of all - patience and resisting that urge to keep on adjusting....


I also cleaned up the upper fuselage parts, screwed and glued them together.


Superb fit.

[yak face]

Great progress barry ,its one of the best looking modern jets and Tamiyas f-16s in all scales are superb examples of the kit makers art ( except the Italeri rebox which is yonks old ! You can tell the tamiya own tool 1/72 by just looking at the price difference!) Loving the decal choice too , fifty years of ‘ ygbsm’ wild weasels ( as one of the pilots reputedly said when told of the mission they were going to be doing ‘ you gotta be shittin me ?!’ , the acronym has stuck ever since and is the un /official motto of the wild weasel units) cheers tony