F/A-16W Block 70

[DogfighterZen]

Well, slow progress around here... wash was cleaned off, painted the wheels and landing gear bits, got the decals on the AIM-120 missiles but the Python 5 missiles will have to painted again cause i'm not happy with how they came out... 
Regarding the interiors, the photo etch HUD came off without me noticing it and it disappeared into oblivion so i'll have to use the HUD provided by Hasegawa in the kit's clear parts sprue...  Canopy frames also have to be painted... I should've finished the interiors before but i got so hyped about getting the bodywork done on this thing that i just left it for later...
Also have to put a gloss coat on everything before final assembly, but if all goes according to plan, i should be able to finish it this weekend.

[TheChronicOne]

I ain't had the privilege of messing with PE parts yet....  but I have some and can see how itty bitty they are and stuff. It's a shame it disappeared but trying to find it would be a fruitless effort in most cases!

It's so cool how enthused you are about getting this done... to the point of detriment but I love to see people having fun with their hobbies. 

[DogfighterZen]

I ain't had the privilege of messing with PE parts yet....  but I have some and can see how itty bitty they are and stuff. It's a shame it disappeared but trying to find it would be a fruitless effort in most cases!

It's so cool how enthused you are about getting this done... to the point of detriment but I love to see people having fun with their hobbies. 

Get a magnifying glass ready! I'm going to buy one soon, one with a led light so i don't wreck my vision more than i have so far, and i've only used PE a few times...

Well, things didn't go according to plan but i don't wanna take things to the point where i'll look back and be disappointed with the result because of rushing, so i'm taking my time and enjoying it.

It's on it's wheels and already fitted with the air-to-air loadout...



Still have to paint the pilots, apply a matte coat on everything, glue the large AGMs on the pylons, and maybe try tinting the canopy, but that will be left for last because i'll have to practice on an old Italeri F-16B canopy to avoid ruining this kit's canopy.

[TheChronicOne]

Ahh yeah... I know what you mean.. rushing leads to bunk results. Taking the time to do it right has it's own merits and is rewarding in its own way. It's nice to "hurry up" to get to the end result but, like with so many movies, video games, etc, a rush job can equal trash.

I've also entertained getting some type of magnifying device to help me sort the tinier aspects of builds. I have stellar eyesight but that doesn't make things BIGGER. 

I'm VERY interested in this canopy tinting bit.... keep us appraised of this. I've read up on such things as mixing food coloring with Future. I tried once mixing diluted acrylics in with it and didn't get anywhere with it. I didn't have any food coloring............

[zenrat]

I've had limited success with food colouring & future dipping model car windows.  It's hard to get a consistent tint across a window and re-dipping just makes it worse and gave me runs (on the windows not the toilet type).  Brushing gave streaky results.
I have the full range of Tamiya clear colours ($1 each - thank you going out of business toy shop) but haven't tried them on windows or canopy yet.  I suspect they will give a consistent but not completely optically clear tint.  I plan to try green on the RW 1/72 Huey roof windows.

[TheChronicOne]

That's the thing with the floor polish stuff... it seems like it would pool up a bit around detail areas or wherever the lowest part is.  It makes for inconsistent "darker here lighter here" tint. 

There has to be a product out there for this.... and I bet it's in the arts and crafts dept.  Maybe something for making faux stained glass that people hang in their kitchen windows or lightbulb paint or... something. 

You should break out an old spare canopy and try your Tamiya clear colors! I'd love to see the result.

As a side note... I have a glider kit that came with the canopy tinted...not real dark but it's definitely tinted and it sure looks nice. So, I wonder, if any other kit makers do this type of thing for certain planes that have tinted windows?  I've never seen an f-16 or modern figther kit come with any so I dunno... ::::shrug:::

[DogfighterZen]

That's the thing with the floor polish stuff... it seems like it would pool up a bit around detail areas or wherever the lowest part is.  It makes for inconsistent "darker here lighter here" tint. 

There has to be a product out there for this.... and I bet it's in the arts and crafts dept.  Maybe something for making faux stained glass that people hang in their kitchen windows or lightbulb paint or... something. 

You should break out an old spare canopy and try your Tamiya clear colors! I'd love to see the result.

As a side note... I have a glider kit that came with the canopy tinted...not real dark but it's definitely tinted and it sure looks nice. So, I wonder, if any other kit makers do this type of thing for certain planes that have tinted windows?  I've never seen an f-16 or modern figther kit come with any so I dunno... ::::shrug:::

There are a few tinted canopy models, Academy's F-16, in all of the 1/72,1/48 and 1/32 scale kits. Tamiya's 1/32 and 1/48 Vipers have the tinted canopy but not the 1/72 kit...
Also, a few F-22 and F-35 kits come with tinted canopies, too.
I have the clear tamiya colors but i didn't wanna use them on this one, i left that for another build, don't feel like risking it now but the tests i've done before were done with future and tamiya clear green and although i wasn't done properly, i realized that the best results will be achieved by spraying it on with the airbrush, it just spreads everything more evenly. I will eventually do it again but not this time.

This is the result of the first test i've done a while back, front part dipped and left to dry for at least 5 times, color wouldn't cover evenly, so i poured the future/tamiya clear green in the airbrush and sprayed the whole thing with a light mist and it settled down even on all spots.
The canopy in the pic was just to test the idea and although it's far for perfect, i came to the conclusion that the sprayed option is the best.



It looks awful, i know, but i helped me to choose the way i'm going to approach the task, when i get to it, that is...

Well, i'm not totally satisfied with the result but it's always like that...   it's finished...

"In 1997, the Israeli Air Force sent a proposal to Lockheed martin. The Israelis were after a lightweight strike fighter with a longer range than the range offered by their F-16 fleet. The proposal consisted of using the design basis of the F-16 variant that was studied for the UAE, before the conventional design E/F Desert Falcons were chosen. The main requirement was that the new fighter had to have 30-40% longer range and a larger payload. Although the fighter was to be built, assembled and tested in the U.S., most of the avionics and other electronic systems were built and installed in Israel by Elbit systems, including an AESA radar, derived from the APG-81 AESA radar, IRTS sensor on top of the radome and the EOTS type sensor on the underside.
This would be a very different variant of the viper, with a trapezoidal wing, copied from the F-22 Raptor's wing. The wings were exactly the same as the F-22's wings but were redesigned and strengthened internally, for heavier loads and a new weapons station on the outboard section.



Initially, the engineers at LM were maintaining the original design with the traditional single vertical stabilizer but, the Israelis wanted to take the design one step further and add a few more details.
First were the twin tails, a modification that was already in test for a possible F-16 upgrade pack intended for the older F-16 fleets in service around the world. The twin tails were originally tested on wind-tunnel models but the single tail was chosen as it proved to have more directional stability than the twin tails but, with this new wing, wind-tunnel tests showed that the twin tails would be much more effective due to the change in airflow direction because of the new layout.





The intake would also be revised and the Diverterless Supersonic Inlet(DSI) was chosen because of the clear advantages over the old design, including reduced radar cross section, lighter weight and absence of moving parts, making maintenance time and costs smaller. This intake had been tested in 1996 on a Block 30 F-16C, to study the intake layout for the F-35 Lightning II but, because of the modular construction of the original intake, the DSI was able to be retrofitted to any F-16 airframe.



The engine was another issue, because this variant would be heavier than the normal F-16 variants, the Israelis asked LM to study the feasibility of adapting the Pratt&Whitney F135-PW-100 on the F-16. LM engineers found it to be an easy task but the request was frowned upon by USAF officials and US congress members but, after a couple of months of negotiations, the Israelis managed to convince the Americans into selling them the engine and also, the LOAN nozzles that are used with the engine on the F-35.
With thrust going up to 34.000 pounds with afterburner, this engine would also help increase the range of the Viper, following the requirement of longer range over the previous F-16 variants. To further increase the range, Conformal Fuel Tanks were installed, increasing the range around 43,5%.





The first flight of the newly designated F/A-16W was on the 23 rd of December, 2003, at Forth Worth, Texas, and deliveries to the IAF began in February of the next year. The F/A-16W designation would later be changed by the Israelis to F-16I Sufa..."











Well, another one finished...  Not my best result but i'm happy that i got my first real kitbash done, and i also enjoyed the more complex and colorful camo scheme. Looking back, should've been more careful with the assemble PE parts because it's way too much work to glued them cleanly in place, just to have them snap off into oblivion later in the build...
Could've been more thorough with the PSR as there are some bits i'm not happy with, could've rescribed lost panel lines better, tint the canopy... but i didn't and so, i'm calling it finished because there are many more ideas to build.
Hope you like it and thanks for looking in.
Next in the modified Viper line, will be another single seat Viper and i'm already gathering the parts needed...

[jsport]

ultra super badass. great work creativity.

[proditor]

That is gorgeous and insane. 

[Captain Canada]

Oh yeah ! That is wild a certainly turned out top notch ! Love all of the lumps and bumps, ords hanging everywhere, the new wing, the colours.....you nailed it !

[PR19_Kit]

That's amazing. 

Anything less like an F-16 is difficult to imagine!

[DogfighterZen]

Glad to know you like it, gentlemen! Thank you for the generous words!

Anything less like an F-16 is difficult to imagine!

I do have a few other versions in mind... stay tuned! 

[zenrat]

You've done a great job DFZ.
See, colour is your friend. 

Re. your comments at the end of the post - Sometimes I (we?) rush to finish in order to start the next one to the detriment of the build but I don't know if putting them aside until later is the answer as then there is a risk of never completing them.
Plus if you had done that you would have had complaints from the cheap seats (i.e. me!).

WRT stained glass effect spray paints, i've tried using one type on model car windows and it came out cloudy.  I think due to the rattle can's lack of finesse plus it not being intended to provide an optically clear (albeit tinted) finish but to look pretty when hanging in the sun.
I must admit I didn't try very hard with it.  I might be OK is decanted and airbrushed.
Hasegawa do a self adhesive mirror film which is basically a very thin version of what they use on 1:1 car windows.  Being mylar it has a degree of stretch but asking it to go smoothly around a blown cockpit shape might be too much.  Plus due to the mirror finish every single speck of dust looks like a huge rock is trapped between it and the "glass".  I've never managed to use it successfully on a windscreen but it's great for chrome firewalls on Hot Rods and makes for really shiny trim on 50's cars.

[Snowtrooper]

There are a few tinted canopy models, Academy's F-16, in all of the 1/72,1/48 and 1/32 scale kits. Tamiya's 1/32 and 1/48 Vipers have the tinted canopy but not the 1/72 kit...
Also, a few F-22 and F-35 kits come with tinted canopies, too.

Monogram's ancient 1/72 F-16XL also comes with a tinted canopy, though it's smoke-gray instead of gold or green and it's the single-seat version.

But your interpretation of a evolved Viper is simply amazing nonetheless. Love the busy nose absolutely filled with lumps and bumps. And the finless spine somehow gives her a very Star Wars-y look, that the GPS dome already resembles a R2 unit is the icing on the cake.

One thing I certainly don't envy are the poor loaders who must fit the AMRAAM's in the missile wells without resorting to the removal of landing gear doors...

[zenrat]

...One thing I certainly don't envy are the poor loaders who must fit the AMRAAM's in the missile wells without resorting to the removal of landing gear doors...

A couple of saw horses under the wings and raise the undercarriage?