F-16E Block 60 - Mike builds a modern Jet

[Mike]

I quite fancied building the new F-16E that Kinetic have released and I've reviewed here, so late this afternoon I broke out the side-cutters and began cutting bits off the sprues.

First up was the cockpit, which went together quickly, although the seat is a bit lack-lustre in detail, and tricky to get to stick together. In the end I used 2 pairs of reverse tweezers to keep it from pinging open. My advice would be to replace it with something resin if you have the funds I primered all that, and while I was waiting for the paint to dry, I began tackling the big intake, which comes in 4 parts and turns out to be quite a good way of doing it, leaving me with only 4 short internal seams to fill, as the fore/aft joint just can't be seen by ordinary people (without eyes on stalks).

With the primer dry I gave the crevices a coat of Panzer Grey and then coated up the cockpit with the correct FS number according to the instructions, which looked ok compared to the pictures I had available. After that I broke out the W&N Series 7 brushes and painted up the panels & consoles with my trusty black substitute, Panzer Grey... it'll be time to open another bottle soon. I dabbed some white on the majority of the switches with a fine brush, then washed the grey panels with a black mix to add a bit of tonal variation. I also used a bit of Mig dark wash for panel lines around the cockpit and on the sidewalls.

The seat was painted similarly, with the ridges on the cushions picked out with progressively lighter shades of grey - the instructions would have you paint it dark blue, but I saw only dark green or grey cushions on my travels round the net. The O₂ bottle was picked out in dark green, and the ejection handles painted an orangy yellow.

Although it doesn't show up on the photos, the MFDs are painted a very dark green, with highlights in the top left to simulate reflections of the sun - the artificial horizon is also painted in half white, half a light earth color. I know it's there, ok? What does show up however is a dirty great ejector pin mark on the back of the seat - must fill that before I glue it in

While I was doing all this (plus writing the review & taking the pictures), I joined the front upper fuselage to the rear, which took a little fiddling to get a decent join, and a further touch of a sanding stick to fine tune the joint. I ran a bead of Vallejo putty around the joint to harmonise the panel line, which I repeated with the other drop-in E Model specific panels. I also removed the panel lines & vents as detailed in the instructions just aft of the starboard side of the cockpit - not as easy as it first looked, but successfully done in the end

That brings me up to date with this evening's work. Definitely should have got a new ejector seat

[shark 64]

Very close to the real thing as far as I am concerned. Nice paint job.

Oliver

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice start Mike, I'll be watching this one

[Stephen]

Very nice work Mike,are you going OOB or using any aftermarket?

Stephen

[Mike]

Cheers guys

Very nice work Mike,are you going OOB or using any aftermarket?

Stephen

It'll be OOB Stephen - an exercise in restraint and a fair appraisal of a kit from the box

[chaoslord]

the F-16I I built was great fun and IMHO a great kit. I am definitely a Kinetic fanboy now

hope you have fun as well!

[Mike]

I installed the pit today holding it in place while applying some low viscosity Filla-glu CA that wicked itself into the gaps.

The intake halves were left overnight with some Milliput sausages pressed into the seams, then smoothed with sculpting tools and wet cotton buds. This morning I applied my collection of Heath Robinson home-made sanding tools to the joints, spending a good hour smoothing things down & polishing out as much of the scratching as possible. A quick squirt of Mr Surfacer followed, and once that's dry I'll inspect my work & get on with sanding stage 2 as required.

[AnonymousDFB1]

I'm liking this one Mike

[Mike]

Note tha appearance of one of the Airfix treacle paint pots from the Starter Set GB?

[Bandwagon 106]

Well, thanks for putting my Vark on hold for tonight!

Nice choice Mike. I have the F (the two seater) as well as the DG/J as re-boxed by Italeri (Flying Tigers this one!). I may well get most of the Kinetic Viper family, a few nice schemes and versions to choose from.

Coming along very nicely

Joel

[Mike]

I had the F too, but gave that to a friend. It's my first F-16, so be gentle with me

[Bandwagon 106]

Welcome to the crazy world of the Viper! Hopefully, you'll do more, there are many camo schemes out there, and some nicely colourful US jets out there. The F-16 is anything but a grey jet!

My very first F-16 was a Matchbox Skymasters die cast of the prototype given to me when I was 6 (30 years ago!) I thought it was something from the cartoon series G-Force, imagine my surprise and excitement when I discovered it was a for real fighter! The first Viper I made was a Hasegawa 1/48 C (V4 I think), the red and white tailled 86th TFW Wing Commanders mount, a Block 25. This was the first of many Hasegawa Vipers, still got lots in the stash,can do these as Block 25s and 30s. Before Tamiya and Kinetic, the best thing to happen to 1/48 F-16s was the release of V10/PT32, the Block 50 which gave the MCIP inlet, beer can antenna, large gear doors and main wheels and LAU-129 launchers.

The new Vipers from Tamiya really have taken us to another level, and Kinetic give a huge choice of non-U.S. F-16s, mainly the two seaters, but a new A, the special Isreali Cs, and the squeaky new E, which is so different from the YF, but still looks like the original(a bit!)

Enjoy the build Mike, I know you'll do it justice.

Joel

Edited April 24, 2010 by Bandwagon 106

[Mike]

I spotted a missing sprue on this the other day while I was building up sub-assemblies, and contacted Lucky Model for support. Couple of days later & I get an email telling me that Sprue U is on its way to me from Hong Kong. Good support if you ask me

Wait a second. I'm building an F-16! I'm rather enjoying it too - just keep that between us though

[Dads203]

Looking very nice that pit Mr W .....

When i build one i hope my pit looks half as good !

[Mike]

Looking very nice that pit Mr W .....

When i build one i hope my pit looks half as good !

Cheers... I hope it looks twice as good!

[Mike]

After a bit of a hiatus, some white paint for the interior of the two sections of trunking, I added in the detail parts for the MLG bay, scraping away the original squirt of white paint where necessary. I glued the rear stage into place last night leaving it to set up with the aid of a couple of Berna clamps applying downward pressure to the mounting lugs. I also added the skin to the front section, which took a bit of trimming to get the joints neat before I could glue them together. Don't waste any time cleaning up the upper joint, as it gets hidden when you install it, so that leaves you with about 1cm of joint for the whole section... a bit of CA and some careful sanding, and I'm left with one oblong panel that needs the detail reinstating.

Next job will be to secure the front intake trunk out of the instruction sequence, as I think it would be easier to do before I close up the fuselage. We shall see

[T-Tango]

Looking very good Mike, you're doing an excellent job there matey.

[Mike]

Cheers Pete... almost OOB. I just added a small strip of brass to that oval "tank" in the gear bay, as it was easier to sand off the original while removing the seamline & replace it later

[janmplat]

Hi Mike,

Interesting build! Received mine today. Do you have parts tree "U" ? Mine is missing.

*edit* i read that you also are missing "U" bought the E from Ebay so i contacted the ebay seller. I also mis V-30, the irst on the nose.

Jan

Edited May 1, 2010 by janmplat

[Mike]

Interesting that you're missing Sprue U too, Jan... Could it be that there's a batch out there? I'll contact Kinetic and let them know.

[Mike]

I thought it was about time I updated this one. Sprue U arrived from LuckyModel this morning, so big for some great service

I decided that attaching the front intake section before joining the fuselage halves would be a good idea, and it was. I needed to fettle it a bit to get a snug fit without distorting other parts - I think I also left the front gear bay bulkhead a fraction of a degree out of perpendicular, which required a quick drift with a sanding stick to sort. Being able to use several clamps to hold it in place while it set up was very handy too, so I'd encourage any builders to break step with the instructions at this point.

Joining the fuselage halves wasn't too tricky, but I always have a faff with my Berna clamps, which like to ping off if you don't get both jaws 100% square to eachother. Once that had set up I added the wing leading edges, which revealed a slight gotcha on the wing root leading edge. They seem a little "deep", and that's left a slight gap where the leading edge parts fit. Nothing too annoying, and a bit of Vallejo filler should cure it, but one to check when you're building yours

I'd previously filled the nose cone with some left-over Milliput and lead(free) shot, so that little package was added, together with the two side panels that help hide the most prominent part of the seamline. These bits didn't even need any filler, they're such a snug fit The rest of the seam is on the underside of the sharp demarkation between top & bottom, and of that only the first inch or so needed any putty, and only a small quantity at that. A touch more filler was used behind the wing root, but I'm not sure that will be seen once the flappy parts are added, so it's precautionary at the moment.

I've started work on the exhaust, and you'll need to take care here, as the instructions mention a sprue that's not included in the kit, and the numbering is off too I ended up choosing the parts that looked like they should be used, but there's a chance I got it wrong - hope not, as there weren't any other alternatives! I sprayed the rear of the turbine face and afterburner ring with Alclad Pale Burnt Metal, which I then tinted with Alclad's Hot Metal Sepia, and a brush with some Mig pigments to dirty it down. The interior of the exhaust trunking is made of 2 halves, leaving a prominent seam down the ribbed "tube". I applied a bead of Vallejo putty to the joints with the long applicator you get on the tube, let it dry for 24 hours, then trimmed the majority of the excess away. I ran my scribing tool laterally to remove the putty from the grooves and sanded things smooth. Not perfect, but under a coat of Lifecolor white and some Mig pigments, it looks ok

I googled up an image looking up the pipe as I've not had to weather a modern jet yet in my short modelling career, and applied some Black Smoke and Tracks Brown pigments as close to that as I could, and fixed them with a coat of Vallejo matt varnish. Here's the resulting job:

[daz greenwood]

Looking good Mike!

And from what I've seen of modern Jets, that engine looks spot on!

[NickParker]

Nice work Mike

Nick

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice work Mike, looks real to me

[Mike]

Cheers fellows.... I'm on shaky ground here, as this is my first modern jet if you exclude the Hawk I did a few years back