F-16A Block 15 OCU Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU)
Comments
36 28 July 2016, 21:23
Maciej BellosItaleri's F-16 is a rather modest kit, seems quite good for a beginner. For the non beginner however, it poses a challenge in order to be built correctly. At first there is a 2 mm misalignment of the top panels to the rest of the top fuselage half. Then, it seems that the fuselage is bit shorter than a Hasegawa F-16, and finally the radome is also shorter. All that translates to about 3.5 mm shorter overall length than Hasegawa's F-16.
There is also a misalignment of the instrument panel cover.
Since I am not in rescribing yet, I decided to push forward the top of the fuselage part and remove a little bit of plastic where the front of the canopy rests. I also removed the instrument panel cover. All the cockpit interior will be replaced by Hasegawa's cockpit. Italeri's cockpit resembles more a block 1-5 aircraft.
28 July 2016, 21:49
Maciej BellosSlow progress on this one. Hasegawa instrument panel cover has been glued into place. Some dryfiting, still some issues to be sorted.
24 February 2018, 21:44
Maciej BellosCockpit glued in place. The instrument panel is about 1mm away from the instrument panel cover. It just wouldn't squeeze further up. But I am satisfied with the result. The HUD projector lens was constructed with some Micro Krystal Clear and aluminum foil underneath it. It looks ok I think.
Next will be the main wheel bay subassembly. Lot's of dryfitting there, there are some gaps there too.
9 March 2018, 18:45
Maciej BellosThank you Clifford.
One other thing that needs fixing is the engine nozzle. Well, you can't fix it actually...! The F100 engine, built by Pratt and Whitney, has 15 turkey feathers. The F110 engine, built by General Electric, has 12 turkey feathers. Both engine nozzles in Italeri's kit have 14 feathers!!! So I am going to use a nozzle from Hasegawa's kit, since they will be built as Block 40/50 machines.
13 March 2018, 20:23
Maciej BellosWelcome Jos. I have been working on and off. Some wiring has been added to the main wheel bays, maybe I'll post a photo or two. My attention is on the Spangdahlem Viper, I have been working on the bits and pices (canopy, landing gear, seats) left. Yesterday I got her on her feet.
4 January 2019, 08:14
Jos JansenCan't wait for the reveal pics Maciej 😄 👍! For your reference, I build an exotic Viper two years ago:
scalemodels-jansen.j..odels/f-16c-block-25
18 January 2022, 11:53
Sergej ILOL at pic #21 and #22 😄
Maybe the pilot could use his head too, somewhere 😉
Good progress, Maciej, can't wait for more 👍
21 January 2022, 06:51
Maciej BellosSergej 😄
Thank you Robert and welcome!
While waiting for the putty on the Eurofighter to dry, I started tackling the intake. It is the biggest hurdle in this kit.
21 January 2022, 08:24
Maciej BellosIn order to have some decent progress on the intake, I got some work done in the wheel bays. More wiring needed before I glue it in place.
27 March 2022, 12:03
VincentI build this kit not so long ago and I know it's a rough build. You did much more than me to fix the problems. Very nice to follow this.
27 March 2022, 17:42
Maciej BellosYes Vincent it's a rough kit and you did yours justice. You made some nice additions behind the seat as well as the oxygen hose looks good and I will try to copy them.
27 March 2022, 18:00
VincentThanks Maciej. The detail on this kit really needed some scratch building. That was one of the fun parts. Good luck with the rest of your build.
27 March 2022, 18:08
Maciej BellosWelcome Ben!
Thank you Clifford. Since I lost the mojo on the Su-57 for the time being, I grabbed the old builds. The goal on this one is to at least close up the fuselage.
28 March 2022, 11:53
Maciej BellosNot much to brag about after all these days, the right hand side of the wheel bay got its wiring and extra detail. Some wiring will be added when the landing gear will be put in place.
9 April 2022, 07:19
Maciej BellosAfter sanding the outer surfaces of the air intake I dryfitted the hand made upper part of the air duct. The kit doesn't have one so I had to make one. Lots of putty and sanding to follow and painting obviously after that. I think it is a good step forward.
14 April 2022, 18:58
Maciej BellosWelcome Panteli!
Thank you WhiteGlint, still some work to do though.
25 April 2022, 15:00
Maciej BellosMain gear bay done! The battery will be added when the bay will be glued to the fuselage. The rest of the wiring will be added when I attach the legs.
6 May 2022, 22:25
Maciej BellosThank you Clifford! Still smoothing out the filled gaps. The first try was so and so and there are a couple of holes to fill.
12 May 2022, 10:37
Maciej BellosAfter spending summer with touching any piece of plastic, some progress on the intake. The photos fail to show what's happening further deep, but all in all I think it'll do. Some issues here and there, might be sorted out, or might not. I'll see.
25 September 2022, 14:13
Maciej BellosThank you Clifford! I think I have come to an acceptable result on the intake trunk.
Since the paintjob is a wraparound camo, I decided to paint the intake and its surroundings before glueing it in place. Much easier me thinks. I will apply some gloss varnish too so as to have it ready for decals later on.
Next big step will be closing the fuselage and masking the canopy. After that I think it will be a straightforward build.
4 October 2023, 10:03
CaptGPFAgree with Clifford - intakes are perfect. One question - why did you cannibalize a Hasegawa F-16 for an Italeri?
14 March, 22:18
Maciej BellosWelcome Guy!
Thank you CaptGPF. That's a good question. I have 3 Hasegawa twoseaters plus some spare tubs and I have an Aires cockpit to use in one of them. So I used a spare tub and I cut off the front instrument panel cover and used them in the Italeri. Yeah, I know it will a pain fitting the aires tub in the hasegawa, but it will be a great improvement over the hasegawa tubs.
As for cannibalizing the Hasegawa, wait until I start building one of them, it will be a carnage!
15 March, 07:15
