Tamiya 1/48 F16C Fighting Falcon Block32

[Mickc1440]

Toothpaste works mate! (And it's cheap!)
Steve

I do like cheap :smiling:

[Ian M]

I have never had to use any compounds for canopies. I sand them off with a fine sanding stick, then follow up with a 1000, then 2000 polishing pad. If need be I finish with 4000 and then a dip in the old Johnson clear.
It's a good idea to pack the canopy out with plasticine or the like. Follow the profile alternating both along and across the canopy.

[langy71]

I have never had to use any compounds for canopies. I sand them off with a fine sanding stick, then follow up with a 1000, then 2000 polishing pad. If need be I finish with 4000 and then a dip in the old Johnson clear.
It's a good idea to pack the canopy out with plasticine or the like. Follow the profile alternating both along and across the canopy.

This is what I did with my Tamiya F-16 canopy.. came out perfectly..

[rickoshea52]

As above for the canopy.
One of my previous jobs sometimes had me polishing aircraft transparencies. I remember the training video polishing back and forth with one grade abrasive then changing grade abrasive and the direction of polish, this time a right angle and so on until finished.

Or just watch this video -

[The Smythe Meister]

I'm a complete novice when it comes to planes, so can't comment on "cannopy gate",HOWEVER,I CAN appreciate quality when I see it......
..... And that cockpit is the mutt's nuts Mick, superb stuff
Andy

[Mickc1440]

Thanks gents for all your input, very thoughtfully there are two canopies just in case :smiling: I will be going initially with the tinted one.

[Mickc1440]

The cockpit is almost complete and the pilot is now in undercoat. The next section of the build involves the landing gear. I promised myself that when I eventually got round to tackling this project I did want to add a little more bling to it. I have an Eduard undercarriage set which includes hydraulics and various other embellishments. As you can see from the pic these are very fine indeed. Only one way to improve the skill set is to tackle things like this head on and magnifier on.

[scottie3158]

The cockpit is almost complete and the pilot is now in undercoat. The next section of the build involves the landing gear. I promised myself that when I eventually got round to tackling this project I did want to add a little more bling to it. I have an Eduard undercarriage set which includes hydraulics and various other embellishments. As you can see from the pic these are very fine indeed. Only one way to improve the skill set is to tackle things like this head on and magnifier on.
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Mick, your skills are well up to this mate just take your time.

[Allen Dewire]

You'll be Ok Mick, just look back at your Corsair. That turned out fantastic!!! This puppy will be a breeze for you and lotsa fun too. On a wing thingy trip I see and can't wait to see some more Sir..

Prost
Allen

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Mick
I’ll be following this. I’m interested to see what you make of the kit as this is yet another I have in the stash.

The cockpit looks excellent and I’m sure the Eduard details to the wheel bays will make all the difference.

Keep up the great work
Paul

[Mickc1440]

Work is still progressing on my build but as is normal in life there's always something which slows progress. The model builds up really nicely but that's Tamiya for you, one thing that slowed me was keep cross referencing with the PE instructions which resulted in me going on a bit too far and having to leave some bits out of the main wheel bay but it won't be noticed. the other thing slowing me down is working out the painting order of things, there's quite a bit I've already done as the parts become buried as the build progresses but we shall see. Here it is so far with several sub assemblies left off for painting.

[tr1ckey66]

Looking good Mick. The Falcon looks to be progressing really, really nicely.
On the subject of painting/build sequence I always find that, at the end of the build, I would have done certain things differently. But that’s hind sight for you. Builds get finished even if we don’t always take the quickest or most efficient path and the lessons learned can be applied if ever the same kit is built again.

Regardless, this F-16 is looking great
Paul

[Mickc1440]

Couldn’t put this off any longer, the canopy mould line. New blade in the knife, new sanding stick and off I went. I don’t know why I was so worried, ten minutes work and done. Time for paint now as most of the build is finished.

[Allen Dewire]

And a mighty fine job you've done there Mick!!! Never know it was there.............

Prost
Allen

[adt70hk]

Couldn’t put this off any longer, the canopy mould line. New blade in the knife, new sanding stick and off I went. I don’t know why I was so worried, ten minutes work and done. Time for paint now as most of the build is finished.
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Nicely done Mick. Just had a catch-up. That's coming on nicely.

Andrew