Tamiya 1/48 F16C Aggressor

[topgazza]

Big fan of propellor aircraft but this looks a nice kit. Love the cockpit Bob

[scottie3158]

Bob,
Great work on the bling.

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers gents.

I moved on quite well over the long weekend. First up was getting the IP painted and PE added, tehn teh bang seat and pilot were painted. Once dry everything was added to the pit and the canopy fitted. The instructions would have you do this as a last step, but I wanted everything sealed up in preparation for painting.



With that done and while the glue dried I moved on to getting the forward intake and fan/nozzle together and painted.



So this is how she looks now. Still quite a few lumps and n=bumps to add, including a fair bit more PE but starting to look like a Viper.

[Steven000]

That's really looking great Bob! Very nice :thumb2:
Steven

[yak face]

Coming on great bob , the exhaust looks superb , bet it was fiddly though , bending all that pe into a round shape!

[JR]

That's impressive PE work Bob.

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers guys.

Tony, the nozzle petals weren't too bad as they were all individual pieces, but the fan was a nightmare. The middle p[art had to be pulled up and twisted, then the outer part dished to fit. I'm amazed I didn't break it.

[langy71]

looking mighty fine Bob,

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Chris.

[Mr Bowcat]

Good morning all.

The build portion is now almost complete, all of the PE has been added, other than the pitot & AOA probes and the static dischargers which I will most likely add after painting. I do still have to paint the rails and ordnance, but will do that in between painting sessions and add at the end.



The other part I completed last night was the exterior petals of the nozzle. For this I went with a set from AMUR Reaver which I haven't tried before. The petals are steel, and before removing from the sprue they have to be heated red hot to both anneal them and provide heat staining. When removed from the sprue each one has to be formed using a spherical object (I used a marble) by rubbing the back of them against a cutting mat before attaching to the nozzle.

I'm quite pleased with the result, the heat staining looks realistic to my eye and is better than I could manage with paint.

[yak face]

That looks superb bob

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Tony.

[Steven000]

Nice progress, that PE looks very nice!
Have fun painting :thumb2:
Steven

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Steven.

[langy71]

wow, i'm liking that effect Bob, looks more realistic than paint...... :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: :thumb2: