A Spangdahlem F-16D
Comments
63 10 October 2018, 18:12
Maciej BellosHi Cuajete! I used ECO Paint Remover to strip the paint so the decals went away too. The whole model was painted with Gunze. Apart from the XTRA decal sheet, I will use the original Italeri decals for the tail, and leftover Hasegewa decals for the stencil data.
10 October 2018, 18:46
Erik LeijdensNice 🙂. Wonder what it will look like after you are done with it!
10 October 2018, 18:52
Maciej BellosWelcome Erik! I think it will look better than it did. Decals silvered, some peeled off, while the glue became brownish. So hopefully it will look better for the next 10-15 years 🙂
10 October 2018, 18:57
Aris GreyI love the restoration so far, great painting and decal work! Pitot updated too?
12 October 2018, 18:20
Maciej BellosThe pitot is the result of some sloppy work. I drilled a hole, stuffed a pin with super glue and then used some masking tape around half the pin. A careful look will reveal the tape demarcation line. Also the base of the pitot has a gap. Since I used a colour mix for the radome I can't paint it again... Decaling is a bit slow, quite some stencil data left to apply.
12 October 2018, 21:10
Łukasz GlińskiVery nice preshading sir 🙂 I wonder if this remover is available down here, looks like it really works!
12 October 2018, 21:27
Aris GreyWell, from a distance, it looks better than the old one, which was very thick and out of scale 🙂
12 October 2018, 22:38
Maciej BellosŁukasz, I spared you from my preshading pictures. I make very thick lines and rather waved. So I don't have much control during the main painting phase and I tend to spray a lot of paint, usually in two sessions. I am glad it looks decent.
Ari, the old pitot was indeed out of scale and moreover broken. So it was the perfect time for an experiment. It looks ok in my eyes and it is strong. I have been rotating the model by holding it from the exhaust pipe and the pitot.
13 October 2018, 19:58
Łukasz GlińskiEven better Maciej, the final effect looks really good. It's not only you, whose preshading is not perfect 🙂
13 October 2018, 20:09
Maciej BellosEver seen a sharkmouth F-16? Yes, there were a couple, possibly only at Spangdahlem.
A tailband needs to be corrected and washing is next.
7 November 2018, 12:01
Aris GreyVery unique Mathios!
Stencils look great!
Can you strip off the refueling decal? I think it needs replacement too. The transparency is yellow or it has darker grey!
7 November 2018, 20:10
Maciej BellosThank you Ari, for the missing stencils. I replaced the refuelling decal, however since it was pretty old, the glue is a bit brownish. The first decal was from Hasegawa and it was a bit darker (and a bit greenish) than the rest of the stencils.
8 November 2018, 19:32
Maciej BellosA short update. It was glossed and washed. Today I got the matt varnish on and it seems ok. Moste of the armament is complete. Now onto the exhaust.
19 December 2018, 13:21
Michael PhillipsWow, this is some serious rehab and restoration... She's really looking great Maciej so far! We shall dub her Phoenix... 🙂
19 December 2018, 20:56
Maciej BellosLOL Michael! Phoenix she is!
I got the exhaust done. It may seem dull, with no variations at all, so my work may not show. I got the all the exhaust painted with Model Master Magnesium Buffing. Then half way to the end I applied a rather light coat (or so I thought) of Model Master Chrome Silver. Half the nozzle looked shiny, half looked dark and a bit dull. The idea was that the feather didn't suffer that much of stressing in terms of heat.
After that I made a mixture of Humbrol 53, Humbrol 33, Humbrol 155 and Humbrol 110 so that it looked like a matt, dirty, brownish, drabish metal. With surgical precision I painted the appropriate part of the feathers. A dry cotton bud was used to correct some errors and make the shiny part, less shiny.
Finall my daughter's rubber band was used as substitute masking, since the magnesium is really fragile to the masking tape glue. Noted for future projects. The area between the fuselage and the engine feather is painted with Humbrol 201 Metallic Black.
I will dry brush the streaks inside the engine exhaust next.
I also made some streaks on the lower part of the engine bay and on the hinges of the leading edge slats of the wings. Pretty subtle I think.
Seats, hud and canopy are next.
4 January 2019, 23:04
Maciej BellosSome progress, seats, canopy (not glued in place), landing gear doors. The streaks under the engine bay and on the wings are more visible in the last two photos (used a mobile, sorry for the quality).
7 January 2019, 10:01
Maciej BellosI tried to emulate the streaks inside the engine exhaust. I am not happy with the result. So I think I will repaint the insides and use strips of masking tape to create some kind of eneven surface, where I will be able to emulate those streaks.
21 January 2019, 20:08
Łukasz GlińskiI can suggest using a blank decal, but not sure how the bending would work...
21 January 2019, 20:10
Maciej BellosBlank decal? Something like doing the streaks on a blank decal and placing it inside the exhaust?
21 January 2019, 20:14
Łukasz GlińskiThat's one option, another would be to paint everything on the decal (you mentioned the inner side of the exhaust is flat). Dunno what decals you have got, but the Techmod white one used to be quite fragile to bending, so be careful!
21 January 2019, 20:19
Maciej BellosTake two on the exhaust.
Weapons loaded.
Two antennas left and a HUD.
25 January 2019, 21:57
Michael PhillipsNow that really turned out nice Maciej, and a fantastic restoration!
1 February 2019, 17:57
Maciej BellosThank you guys! Your words humble me.
I put on the last details yesterday and all I have to do is a proper presentation. I think is my best paint job so far, which means I am improving.
I will also write a few nice details on this specific bird. She has quite the story to tell.
1 February 2019, 20:25
Maciej BellosSo, I kind of messed up my camera settings and I set the white balance for a sunny day, while it was mostly cloudy. So I had to edit the pictures in order to get a somewhat acceptable result. I will snap some better photos when the weather is much better. Enjoy!
3 February 2019, 21:58
Łukasz GlińskiVery nice result for such a restoration of this old kit 👍 How did you fix the exhaust issue after all?
4 February 2019, 07:25
Maciej BellosYes Łukasz, it turned out pretty nice. For the exhaust I used strips of masking tape painted with the exhausts' colour and then drybrushed with black. The exhaust itself was wash with burnt umber and then the strips were placed inside. It probably needs some black wash, but I will leave it as is.
4 February 2019, 20:49
Maciej BellosGlad you like it Ferenc and the other mate that I cannot see. Thank you guys!
20 January 2023, 21:05
Cortexvery beautiful work!
I have a rebox of this kit:
F-16C/D Night Falcon (Testors 650, 1:72)
If you go back in time knowing what it takes to build the kit and the outcome, would you build or sell the kit?
21 January 2023, 07:22
Maciej BellosThank you Dave!
Thank you Cortex for your kind words! Fitwise it's not that bad of a kit and with a little love it turns out ok. Its drawbacks are the poor seats and cockpit, the closed canopy, the missing 'wing beer cans' and the odd shaped AIM-9s. Obviously there are better kits, starting with the hasegawas. When I built it, the hasegawa was pretty expensive, so I had no better choice than the Italeri, which was better than the airfix and the Esci. Today, I would sell the kit, but keep the decals. The single seater shark mouth is rare. The good about this kit is that you can build any F-16 variant up to Block 32, all with the small mouth intake.
21 January 2023, 08:39
Cortex@Maciej Bellos Thanks, apparently you're an expert on the F-16 : )
Looks like I'm gonna give it a try and build, don't think it'll pull good $$! Also it shouldn't consume lots of paints.
21 January 2023, 18:29
Maciej BellosApart from a cat lover I am a viper lover 😉 Cheers Cortex and go at it. When you start it, send me a PM, I would like to see the build.
Thanks Cuajete!
21 January 2023, 20:33
Dean HarpsterGreat work! I love the detail you put into the armament, it really makes your build stand out!
8 April 2023, 01:35
Maciej BellosThank you Gustavo, JohnnyB and Dean!
Yes Dean, you are right, the little things give that bit more for the eye to explore!
8 April 2023, 07:35
