1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ

 Fighting Falcon On line build   Part. 13

Weathering, dull coating, and all the little fiddly bits

by Steve Bridges

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The final chapter in this 2 month saga of building the F-16 is to

Weather
Dull coat
Add all the little fiddly bits

For the weathering, I decided to do it rather simply.  I simply ground up some black pastel chalk, and rubbed it all over the kit.  After that was done, I wiped the excess off with dampened cotton balls.

Once the water had dried, I simply sprayed a couple of light coats of Testors Dull Coat over the airplane, weapons, and canopy frame (the clear portion was still masked).

I then painted all the lights after removing the liquid mask.

Once that was done, it was time to add all the bits that I left off during the build.  These are

Flare/Chaff dispensers (more on those in the pictures)
Field Arresting Hook
Pitot tubes (one on radome, one on fuselage)
Static port (on fuselage next to intake)
Insert the ejection seat
Insert the instrument panel
Recognition lights (follow the kit painting instructions)
Fixed portion of canopy
Canopy opening mechanism
Canopy

For the canopy, you can change the opening mechanism (it doesn't get glued in), if you decide to change the position of the canopy.

On to the pictures/final notes!!!

Flare/Chaff dispensers and main gear wells

The kit instructions indicate that the flare/chaff dispensers should be unpainted.  That looked strange to me, so I very carefully put some flat black paint in each of the rescesses.  You get 4 each flare and 4 each chaff dispensers.  3 fit on the left side of the fuselage, and 1 goes on the right.  I put one flare dispenser on each side, and 2 chaff dispensers on the left side.

There is a kit decal for the halon tank in the main gear well (a kind reader informed me as to what it was).

A note from a reader said that the battery box should be royal blue rather than yellow zinc chromate

Click on image below to see larger image

Nose and tail 

There is a small decal that goes on the surface of the intake just forward of whatever that bar is, labeled HOT.  I assume that the bar is part of an engine anti-ice system.

The 3rd picture is from the 2nd Tamiya F-16 I'm building that shows the flame holder painted per the kit instructions

Navigation lights

The navigation lights on the fuselage were painted with Tamiya clear green and clear blue.  For the anti-collision light on the tail, it was painted neutral gray with the exception of the lens, which I left clear

The recognition lights by the speed brakes are silver, as well as the light on the bottom of the fuselage.

There is a small light upper fuselage to the rear of the canopy.  I painted that light white.  I wish Tamiya had included this as a clear part rather than molding it as part of the fuselage.

Cockpit

The fixed portion of the canopy was affixed with Krystal Kleer to avoid any fogging.  It fit perfectly, and no fill was needed

The other 2 photos show the ejection seat and canopy opening mechanism and the instrument panel. 

Some notes on the ejection seat.  A couple of readers of this series sent me an e-mail stating that there are 2 different types of ACES-II seats.  If it has a black headrest, then the air data sensors are folded down against the headrest, and if it has a gray headrest, the air data sensors are extended (like the kit parts) all the time.

I believe that the updated seats also have the black sheepskin cushion.

Not all F-16s have the updated seats yet.

I painted the seat to match the picture in the F-16 walk around book, which has a black headrest, but no folding air data sensors, so as usual, check your references.

Also, check which HUD the specific airplane has.  The block 40 F-16s have a wide angle HUD which is much larger than the standard HUD in the block 50.  I couldn't figure out how to modify/scratch build a new HUD, so I left it alone.

Bombs/Missiles, Drop tanks

A lot of pictures here.

In the photo to the right, you can see how I painted the nozzle of the AIM-9M.  This was done after looking very carefully at a picture of a crew assembling an AIM-9L in the F-16 walk around book.

I'll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves

Click on images below to see larger images

 

The big picture

Here are some final photos of the complete kit, and the anti-static wicks on a stabilizer .

 

Click on image below to see larger image

Wrap-up

I hope I covered everything I discovered during the build, and that everybody who has followed the series has enjoyed it.  I've enjoyed doing this as well.

I'd also like to thank everybody for the kind e-mails I've received during the build.  The information that I've received will make #2 that I'm building come out even better.

There is one specific kit note -- the kit includes the IFF Interrogator that is part of the CCIP program for the F-16.   This is NOT the bolt-on interrogator that was used on the F-16 ADF varient.  The instructions have this part marked as "not used", but I am using it for #2, which is a jet from Spangdahlem that has gone through CCIP.

Based on the parts breakdown, if the kit sells well, I'm sure Tamiya could easily product a F-16D, as well as earlier versions with the NSI intake and P&W engine, and version with the wide-angle HUD.

In closing, I'd also like to thank Steve Bamford for all the work he does in maintaining ARC, as well as TwoBobs for producing such a great selection of decals.

Steve

Photos and text © by Steve Bridges