F/A-16W Block 70

[DogfighterZen]

So, suffering from Viper syndrome has me building F-16s all the time, i  guess there's always one on my bench and this time it's the twin-seat, attack variant of my F-16W...
My first real kitbash! Hasegawa's 1/72 F-16I SUFA, Italeri's F/A-22 Raptor Wings, Italeri F-35A's Tails and nozzle...
Being a twin-seat variant, it's got a few other different characteristics, starting with the control surfaces layout and the 3D TVC/LOAN nozzle...





And this variant will also have the Diverterless Supersonic Inlet, AKA DSI. But this time i'm not sculpting it out of Tamiya putty, i've got the Lonestar Resin Parts conversion set that already made this build, at least, 6 months shorter than the first one... 



The fit of the Lonestar DSI is perfect, but it's only on the Hasegawa F-16 kits. It's not yet glued, will only be so after painted on the inside.
I'm also going to use Eduard's cockpit PE set, a first for me, never used Eduard's sets, my first experience with PE sets was an awful one with the Airwaves 1/72 F8F Bearcat cockpit set for the Monogram/Revell kit that i built for the In The Navy GB...

So, next steps are painting the cockpit section and tub, then put the PE on it, let's see how that goes...

[Snowtrooper]

Sounds and looks promising

[Tophe]

this time it's the twin-seat, attack variant of my F-16W...

For fully appreciating this starting project, it is useful to direct to the first F-16W, so wonderful:
http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,39268.90.html

[KiwiZac]

Promising, very promising! I love that inlet! Very DreamStar.

[DogfighterZen]

Good to know this is of interest to you, gentlemen!
Thanks for linking the 2 builds, Tophe, should've thought of that myself.
Zac, it is a beauty, isn't it? That's why i went through the task of sculpting one on the single seater, it just looks so much better than the old intake.

I've done a bit more on this one, glued the main gear bay walls, cut a few bits off here and there and drilled a bunch of holes, all specific to the F-16E/F/I parts on the kit's fuselage. Also painted the cockpit tub and i should be able to make a start on the Eduard PE set tonight...

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, haven't been totally caught up with the GB, this one got some attention during the weekend, the main bits of the cockpit are done, weren't many, btw...

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, after more than a month later, i'm back to work on this baby.

Today i got the joysticks added on the side panels of the tub...



Got the HUD and the smallest bits ever on top of the IP covers... sorry for the blurry pic but my eyes were totally crossed up by the time i took the pic, clearly showing the effects of PE...



Also assembled and glued this box for the main gear bay but i'm starting to think it's gonna be very tricky to paint... 



Hoping to get some bench time tomorrow so i'll try to paint what is needed and move on with the build.

[PR19_Kit]

Also assembled and glued this box for the main gear bay but i'm starting to think it's gonna be very tricky to paint... 

Yes, an F-16's main gear is a pain to paint, there's always something in the way.

I've done two of them (neither of which was actually used on an F-16 of course  ) and found it best to paint the legs and bay BEFORE the were assembled, that way you can get to everything easier.

[DogfighterZen]

Also assembled and glued this box for the main gear bay but i'm starting to think it's gonna be very tricky to paint... 

Yes, an F-16's main gear is a pain to paint, there's always something in the way.

I've done two of them (neither of which was actually used on an F-16 of course  ) and found it best to paint the legs and bay BEFORE the were assembled, that way you can get to everything easier.

I normally leave the gear legs off for the end phase of the build, by i guess it may depend on the kit's engineering. The problem i see in what i've done is that the box inside the railing that holds it is to be painted either red or blue, at least from what i've seen in pics, and the railing itself is white.
I'm going to paint it before the gear legs go on so space to reach it shouldn't be a problem, on the other hand, my hand brush painting skills aren't brilliant, to say the least...

[PR19_Kit]

There's always one advantage about painting gear wells, they're almost without exception on the BOTTOM of the model! 

[DogfighterZen]

There's always one advantage about painting gear wells, they're almost without exception on the BOTTOM of the model! 

That's why i won't be displaying models on top of a mirror anytime soon...
Sitting at the bench right now, on the lower half of the fuselage i sprayed some XF-2 matte white in the gear wells, all of LG bits still attached to the sprues, inside of the nozzle and on both intake parts, Xf-20 on the ejection seats, cockpit's outside and inside areas and then covered the outside with XF-69 nato black.





Now, the rest of the afternoon will be spent painting details so i can assemble the cockpit and close up the fuselage.

[DogfighterZen]

Well, after a few hours of swearing every 10 minutes because of PE bits being snapped off by my fat and clumsy fingertips, the cockpit is done and fuselage closed. After that i also glued the intake in place...





Maybe i'll still have time tonight for some more progress...

[Captain Canada]

Oh that looks nice ! I love the grey on her as well.....

[silverwindblade]

This looks like it's going to be good! Time to set my chair up and follow this
Inspiration for me to do another 48th F-16!

[DogfighterZen]

Oh that looks nice ! I love the grey on her as well.....

This looks like it's going to be good! Time to set my chair up and follow this
Inspiration for me to do another 48th F-16!

Thanks, guys. 
Haven't done anything on it since but i've got it in front of me right now...