Cuajete
Following.

Maciej Bellos
In too!

Ricardo Reis
👍

Ricardo Reis
Lots of sun-assemblies taking a lot of time, worsened by the Eduard add-ons

Cuajete
Looking good so far 👍.

Ricardo Reis
Yes, the kit is great and engraving is extremely fine (too fine); Eduard adds finesse but delays progress a lot

Cuajete
Good progress 👍.

Dave Flitton
Watching

Mirko Römer
Very clean take-off!

Ricardo Reis
Thanks - will close soon; meanwhile the Eduard for the exhaust, so I ordered an exhaust from... Eduard; also ordered the masks and a resin seat from Quickboost 🙂

Paulo Costa
I like the seat, I don't know how it looks the original, yours looks coming from a spaceship...!!!😉

Ricardo Reis
Ahahahah, @Paulo, then I guess it doesn't look good at all! 😄

Clifford Keesler
Late to the party, but please count me in.

Patrick Hagelstein
Just like me! I'll follow along. 👍

Harry Eder
Me too! 🙂 Great so far!

Ricardo Reis
Welcome guys, will try to close this (fuselage) today......

Paulo Costa
Are you going to do it with FAP colors???Despite FAP one it is F-16-AM..I guess.

Ricardo Reis
@Paulo, I'll use the "A" color profile in the box, no changes there

Ricardo Reis
After a couple of weeks of interruption, the extras arrived, work will resume now 🙂

Clifford Keesler
Cool extras.

Ricardo Reis
Yes, I didn't like the way the exhaust ended up, and because it is so cheap, I wanted to try the Quickboost chair; in the end, I also ordered the masks! 🙂 Funny thing is the masks cost almost as much as the resin exhaust and almost twice as the seat!!!

Clifford Keesler
Yes the masks sets can get rather pricey, but they are so easy to use, no guessing or trying to follow tiny hard to see lines.

Ricardo Reis
First decals applied; these decals a very sensitive - while you around just with water or Micro Set, it's ok, but as soon as they get Micro Sol they become extremely brittle; as a consequence I ruined decal 19 (refuelling guides) and while now have to source an alternative

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice.

Patrick Hagelstein
Are those the kit decals? Normally Tamiya decals are exactly the opposite: indestructible and quite thick.

Thomas Kolb
Lovely! Pity on the decals, I always thought Tamiya kits had excellent and very resilient decals.

Ricardo Reis
Decals are thick, but as soon as I touch them with Micro Sol, reaction is very severe; even after several hours, when giving another pass of Micro Sol, much to my surprise, the wing star started tearing - I added a few additional photos to show this

Thomas Kolb
Such a pity... will you be using them anyway or will you buy aftermarket ones?

Ricardo Reis
I've contacted Tamiya and they referred me to a distributor; depending on the speed of the answer, I'll either purchase the replacement decals from the distributor of buy a new kit and then sell it without decal 19, to whomever want to make scheme C (A and B use decal 19)

Clifford Keesler
I never have had much luck with Tamiya decals, when I get a Tamiya kit I just order replacement decals. I do not know how the one's are on their new F-14's. I'm sure you will get it all worked out and it will be a beauty.

Ricardo Reis
I have acquired a second kit and already sold it with discount, without decal 19 - the buyer will only be able to build it with scheme C, but still a great kit and my problem was solved in one morning

Thomas Kolb
Great solution - just be careful with this one!

Patrick Hagelstein
Weird..... I had some issues with Tamiya decals, but that was because they were so stiff and wouldn't snuggle into panel lines. I hit them with everything I got; Micro Sol, Solvaset and eventually Mr. Mark Softer only to find that the Mr. Mark Softer was eating away my paint, but not doing anything on the decals! 😄

Ricardo Reis
Yes, Patrick, that was what I was expecting, and probably I facilitated too much and handled the decals too much; to my surprise, they crumbled and broke whenever they were not completely flat and stable...

Patrick Hagelstein
Tamiya never seems to stop surprising us, no matter what the subject is. 😄

Paulo Costa
Hello Ricardo. It is very sad to know that you need to start from the beginning with your F-16.
But now I understand that these things don't just happen to beginners like me. A few days ago, I sent my Project T37 "asas de portugal, to the trash, because I didn't like the final result.

Paulo Costa
What do you mean with the decals "tearing up", after Micro Sol application??? Sorry for the stupid question , but you know, I'm a newbie...😉

Ricardo Reis
Hello Paulo, I'm not restarting, I'll simply use the damaged decal 19 from the new box - the rest is already sold to a friend who will use it to build scheme C, which doesn't need decal 19; Micro Sol is a product you apply over the decal once it is in place; this is aggressive and affects the decal, softening it and making it conform better to the surface; however, usually, you still have some seconds after its application; not with these decals, apparently...

Thomas Kolb
Paulo, just as Ricardo says... decal solutions will "melt" the decal, so it becomes almost like liquid paint for a very short time and then becomes like permanently "painted" on the surface. It will follow the contours much better and sink down into panel lines and such. However, some decals are reacting negatively to the decal solutions by cracking or splitting up in pieces, so it is best to test a scrap decal from the decal sheet before using a decal solution on the model.

Paulo Costa
Hi Ricardo, Hi Thomas.
Thanks a lot for explanation.
I'm using already MicroSol but never happened to me, very good to know it, I will be more carefull in the future. Thanks mates.

Adam Harrington
I feel you with the decals. Iv'e found Tamiya decals very hard to work with.

Ricardo Reis
Indeed. I solved it by buying a second kit and selling it without the needed one, but they are hard to work with. Anyhow, moved on, approaching the finish line now!

Daniel
wheel wells look stunning 👍

Ricardo Reis
Thank you Daniel, Eduard PE makes it look busy, still some parts to add

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice Ricardo.

Ricardo Reis
Thank you Clifford, almost finished now, I'll try to close it next week 🙂

Thomas Kolb
Wow, that is a busy looking gear bay! Beautifully detailed and painted!

Ricardo Reis
Thank you Thomas, the Eduard set makes a difference here

Ricardo Reis
Hi all, finished this one; thank you so much for you comments and support; finished model photos on this same Project, link here: F-16CJ Block 50 | Album by RReis (1:72)

Clifford Keesler
Very nice viper Ricardo.

Ricardo Reis
Thanks Clifford! 🙂

Piotr Sarniński-Górecki
Very nice Ricardo ! I plan to start with this bird as soon as I finish Nighthawk 🙂

Ricardo Reis
Thank you Piotr, it will surely be nice to put them side by side once you finish them both! 👍