1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ

 Fighting Falcon On line build    Part. 7   Steps 39-45

by Steve Bridges

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Rather than re-cycling the same main picture of the painted aircraft, I decided to include a picture of my "helper".  Tiger is our 8 month old kitten (yes, he's only 8 months old, and he will be a big cat) who likes to come down into the basement when I'm working on a kit, and camp out on the hutch on top of my assembly bench.  I only let him on the bench when I'm not spraying with the airbrush.   He's pretty fearless, except when the compressor comes on.  I use a 1.5HP 12 gallon Sears compressor for my Airbrush (a Paasche VL).  When the compressor kicks on, he runs, well like a scared cat.   

Loose cat hair isn't much of a problem, but before I paint, I double check what I'm painting to make sure. 

Steps 39/40 -- Assembly of pylons, rudder, and vertical fin cap.

Step 39 are the middle pylons for each wing, the rudder, and the fin cap.  I forgot to take any pictures of the middle pylons, but you will need to fill/sand the bottom for a smooth surface.  I also drilled out the 4 small holes (2 per side) on the fairing where the anti-sway braces go.  I saw a picture in the F-16 walk around book that it looks like they are clearance holes for the adjustment bolts on the anti-sway braces.

The poly caps are there to enable you to change the load carried by that pylon from the GBU-31JDAM to the AGM-88 HARM.  There are enough of the mounts (Part V16 for the AGM-88 and Part V21 for the GBU-31) to do this.

There is some sanding and filling needed on the fin cap, but it's minor.

The rudder fits well together, but putting in the anti-static wick holders takes some time and care, to not launch them somewhere on the floor.  I recommend punting parts E2/E3 on at this point, but NOT putting in the anti-static wicks.

A few notes on the anti-status wicks.

I've been a general aviation pilot for almost 20 years, and have seen 2 types of anti-static wicks.

On most piston powered singles, they are usually a fiberglass color, but on biz jets, I've seen both fiberglass color as well as ones that are rubberized.

Since the F-16 is capable of more speed than the average Cessna Skyhawk/Skylane, I would imagine that they are the rubberized ones.

However, all the ones I've seen have a slight droop to them on the ground, as they are not rigid, but slightly flexible.  I have no idea if the ones on the F-16 are rigid or not.  I might have to take a trip out to the USAF Museum this weekend to take a look at the F-16A out there.

Step 40

The outboard wing pylons needed no fill.  The MB7 rivet makes it easy to paint the pylon after assembly.  Just use a pair of locking forceps to hold it.

I left the pylons off the wing and they will be attached after final decaling and clear coatings.  

I left the HTS off of this specific airplane, as the picture I saw of it (from the TwoBobs decal instruction set for the "Wolfpack" didn't show it fitted this this airplane).

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Step 41 -- HUD and Instrument panel

Assembly of the HUD and panel is straight forward, but I made quite a few notes.

For the HUD, after assembly of the HUD less the combiner glass, I masked off the projector with Ambroid Liquid Mask.  This is so I could spray the HUD flat black, and can leave the combiner off till the very end, and the projector will still be clear.

On the instrument panel, Tamiya's painting instructions are rather basic.  Here are my notes:

I sprayed the entire panel Light Ghost Gray, then once that was done, hand painted the black areas.

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Upper left instrument, right above the MFD is the RHAW.  I painted this Tamiya Clear Green to simulate what it looks like turned off.

Large instrument above the right MFD is the secondary artificial horizon.  From the pictures I found, since this is the secondary, the upper half is a pale blue, and the lower half is black.

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The large instrument in the center of the panel is the primary artificial horizon.  Colors are pale blue for the upper part, and a medium brown for the lower part.

Remember -- gyro instruments don't always stay level when the gyros spin down and start to precess, but sometimes they do, and may not always agree. 

The rest of the panel and HUD controls were paint according to the kit instructions.

After all the paint was dry, I used Microscale Krystal Kleer to simulate the instrument glass and assembled the 3 parts into a panel assembly that will be secured to the cockpit via a poly cap.

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Step 42/43 - Radar and Gun

Step 42

Since I hate trying to glue a part to something that was painted flat white, I decided to assembly the radar bulkhead all as one piece, spray it flat white, and then hand paint the antenna drive mechanism Light Ghost Gray after the flat white was dry.

Assembly of the antenna was done with CA adhesive, and the front of the antenna was left the natural metal color, and the back was sprayed Light Ghost Gray.

The antenna was then mounted to the drive mechanism.  The antenna is designed to be movable in azimuth only.  I don't know if this was simplification on Tamiya's part, or if the real antenna is electronically steered in elevation.

Gun assembly presented no challenges, and was sprayed with Metalizer gunmetal after assembly.

 

 

Step 43 - Mounting Radar and Gun

The only notes I have on this step is that I left the ejection seat, instrument panel, and parts C1 (pitot tube), and C3 (static port) off till final assembly.  I did add part C2 (the small antenna on the upper fuselage) at this point.

I tacked the gun barrel on with some doubled up tape on the bottom side.

 

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Step 44/45 - Leading Edge slats, trailing edge flaps

Step 44 - slats and flaps

No significant notes here, except there are some ejector pin marks on the bottom of the trailing edge flaps that will need to be filled.  I used a Sharpie marker to mark which flap was the right or left flap.

Same notes about the anti-static wicks for the rudder apply here as well.

One thing that I would do different on the next one I'm building is to paint the tips of the RHAW antennas on the slats white before mounting the slats.

I also would paint the hinge area of the trailing edge flaps before installing (both on the wing and flap) to ensure coverage.

Step 45 - installing flaps and slats

I didn't mount them in this step, as I was waiting for the putty to cure on the fuselage where there was some seams to take care of.  

The F-16 Walk around book indicates that the leading edge slats are rarely extended on the ground, so the will be mounted in the up position.  Be careful to remove the proper tabs for the mounting option you choose.

Steve

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Photos and text © by Steve Bridges