Donald Dickson II
OK, so i am doing the single seat version of this plane for a group build elsewhere. The tan and Dark green no problem. What the hell is that funky other green?

Donald Dickson II
Finally finished my other projects and started on this one. And let me tell you, this kit SUCKS. Yes, the molds are from 1990, but I still expected better from Academy. Fit is crappy. The cockpit has ZERO detail. I had to use a resin seat because SOMETHING needed to look OK. Need pe stuff for the control panels as well. I mean look at those crappy decals. Unreal.

You can see the gaps at the wing joins. No pics of it, but the intake made me get up and walk away. And either the decals are WAY too big, or Academys idea of 1/48 is wrong.

Konrad -
Hey Donald another challange to Go through! I have the C Version from Academy so I'm looking forward to your build!

Anyhow I believe at the end with this kind of marking it will be a really nice Eyecatcher 👍!

Jos Jansen
Oh yeah....an exotic Viper, Iam in!

Donald Dickson II
OK, so the first time ever I am trashing a completely unstarted kit. Why you ask? Well, I had two of these Academy kits. Last night I sat down to work out the intake. You can see from the picture there is NO working that out. That is just ridiculous. And yes I am sure I got it in there "correctly". There is no other way. And there are no further parts aside from the vertical support. And I know there are no F-16s out there that look like this.

So I also have two Tamiya kits. So I yanked the seat out of the Academy and will continue on with the Tamiya.

Patrick Hagelstein
I feel ya Donald..... I use the Academy F-16 as my dedicated paint mule, nothing else I would use it for... Venezuela was the first South American country to obtain the F-16 in the 1980s. So this is an original Block 15 F-16 with the extended tail for the para brake. I would hold on to the Academy tail as that is an original F-16A/B tail. There are para brake conversions available or you could extend the tail base with plastic card. On the other hand, the Tamiya F-16C is a Block 50 (at least in your boxing) and is lightyears apart from the early Block airframes. To mention the most obvious changes: GE engine vs. P&W engine which means a completely different intake, completely redesigned tail fin and base, beefed up landing gear with bulging U/C doors, different instrument panel, various additional panels all over the airframe, added hard points to the intake for targeting/navigation equipment and RWR receivers on the wing's leading edges. Not sure how far you want to go to get a detailed build, but engine/intake wise the Tamiya Thunderbird, ANG or Aggressor boxing would provide you at least with the correct intakes and engine exhausts to go off with a decent start.

Donald Dickson II
I was thinking about that. I was just so damned frustrated I grabbed the Tamiya and started painting the pit. LOL I will check the stash a d see what I have lurking aside from that.

Donald Dickson II
OK, after going through my stash, I think this old Tamiya kit will be more appropriate. What do you think Patrick?

Patrick Hagelstein
Welllllll........even the Academy one surpasses that one.... That is a 1976 raised panel line tooling of the FSD preproduction version that went on a world tour to show off to potential customers. It has Tamiya quality buildability, but is quite fictional in the details and even general outline. A little mix'n match of all three kits will get you there, but the most solid base would still be the Block 50.

Donald Dickson II
Well crapola. I am not trying to do a whole bunch of modifications on this. It's totally a what's the closest kit I can manage to do it and be in the right ballpark.

Patrick Hagelstein
Even though those decals are awesome, you might want to go for a Block 50 then as that Tamiya kit literally falls together. A lot of international operators use the Block 50s though, so you might find another colorful attire for it. 👍

Donald Dickson II
I may just go with this and we can keep it a secret.😉

Patrick Hagelstein
Pssssst....... I'll tell noooooooobody.........

😉

Slavo Hazucha
I've heard nothing...😉

Maciej Bellos
I heard somewhere that Tamiya makes good F-16As😉 Seriously though, if it doesn't up the cost too much, you could use Wolfpack's Block 52 conversion. It comes with a small intake and a PW burner can, newer than the A's burner can but... I wouldn't see the difference and I would tell nooobody as Patrick said.

Patrick Hagelstein
The flame holder and the turbine fairing would be the only giveaways between the old and the new engines, but you'll have to peer into the exhaust to see those. If you fill in two doors on the intake sides, that would work too. But I'll be silent like a grave........

Donald Dickson II
I love it when people help me fudge stuff.😉

Patrick Hagelstein
😄 😄 😄

Maciej Bellos
😄

Donald Dickson II
So, I have been working on it here and here. First, I got to the intake. Even thought it Tamiya, it has a noticeable seam. So i decided to try something I saw. I got some latex house paint. Tapped off one end of the intake and filled it up with the paint. Let it marinate in there for a minute or so and poured it out. Straight out of the can turned out to be too thick. Not enough drained out before it start to set. So I cleaned it out, thinned the paint with some water, and repeated. And wallah! Filled in the seam and a nice smooth finish.

Next, I looked at the base of the tail fin. Sticking with the Tamiya part. BUT, either one is small in comparison to the decal. Clearly the decals are not in proper scale. *sigh* That will be an issue to deal with.

The light gray is sprayed on the bottom. It will be gear down. The doors are only tacked in for painting purposes. Top side primed.

Michael Phillips
Looks like I am a little late to the party here... LOL

Looking great so far Donald, nice work on those intakes!

Donald Dickson II
Thank you sir!

Sergej I
Wrong scale, right bird 🙂 Looking great so far, Donald 👍
My go-to way of hiding the seam, I bent then glued in the intake a strip of 0,2 white styrene. Even no painting necessary.

Patrick Hagelstein
Way to go on that intake! Looks incredible! 👍

But....... as far as the tail fin concerns, I think the decal is actually correct! It's the tail that is wrong! Remember that the Tamiya kit is an F-16C (regardless of Block) and that the Venezuelans only operate F-16A and Bs. The actual bird has an F-16A fin with the extended parabrake housing at the rear: completely different than the fin you are using...

Patrick Hagelstein
F-16A/B MLU Vertical Tail Set (Kasl Hobby K48063, 1:48)
This is what you are looking at for this build.

Patrick Hagelstein
See that it's shorter at the front, but extends to the rear?

Spanjaard
Interesting!

Spanjaard
Nice trick with intake!

Slavo Hazucha
Cool job with the intake & seam-hiding. I tried something similar with non-latex color, ended in disappointment, this seems to work perfectly 👍

Nathan Dempsey
Nice! Love that intake trick 🙂

Donald Dickson II
Patrick, I may have to see if I can find that tail fin.

Thanks guys. I wish I could remember where I got hat idea from so I could give proper credit.

Slave, I do believe latex is the key to it working.

Patrick Hagelstein
👍

Patrick Hagelstein
Hasegawa does a couple of extended tailed F-16As and Bs. Maybe a Mate is into swapping a tail fin?

Donald Dickson II
Got the camo on. Decided to go a different route. Free handed all of it and will go back and use the blue tac worms for touch up. Clearly NOT the finished product.

I think I got the right look for that funky light green. I simply added white to the SEA dark green. Looks about right to me. And now is when some random ex Venezuelan pilot shows up to tell me how wrong I am.

Patrick, I think I am gonna just go with what I have and fudge the decals. Get them close and cut the excess and be done with it.

Patrick Hagelstein
You got the camouflage colors figured out, I am confident you'll figure out a way to make those decals fit! 🙂 👍

Donald Dickson II
Because really, can I have a build that has no issues more than one in five times? Like maybe string a couple good problem free ones together?

The pic says it all. So now I have a 16 in near SEA colors and no markings for a plane painted like that. SOOOOOO, the kit came with Tiger Meet markings (which I love). I am not much on what if stuff, but screw it. I will now have a Viet Nam Tiger Meet F-16.

Donald Dickson II
Camo on the tail, touch ups done and glossed. Let it set till tomorrow and decal time.

Calvin Gifford
Very nice!!

Slavo Hazucha
Nice twist & save! Almost looks like you planned it from the start...😉

Donald Dickson II
Thank you Calvin. 🙂

LOL Slavo. Yeah, I PLANNED it! Thats the ticket! LOL

Donald Dickson II
OK, I am totally digging how it looks. As ridiculous as it may be. LOL

Patrick Hagelstein
😄 Well planned and executed, Don! 😉 👍