Lockheed Martin F-16W - FINISHED - PAG.13

[kerick]

This is an awesome build! It took me a while to read everything to get caught up on your progress.
I've got a couple of ideas that this will help with. The vectored thrust engine in particular. One will be an IDF F-16XL and my whiff medium bomber.

[Wardukw]

Keep it going Doggy man..looks better every time I see it   

[DogfighterZen]

Thanks for the support, gentlemen.

I've got a couple of ideas that this will help with. The vectored thrust engine in particular. One will be an IDF F-16XL and my whiff medium bomber.

IDF F-16XL sounds very good... good to know my build can help yours! Get them going!

[kerick]

I'm trying really hard to finish some stuff before starting new builds. Of course then I started the Yellow Submarine. This is like quitting cigarettes or something!

[DogfighterZen]

I'm trying really hard to finish some stuff before starting new builds. Of course then I started the Yellow Submarine. This is like quitting cigarettes or something!

Yeah, i understand, i'm doing the same thing with the this F-16W and the PoAF Hunter. It's just that when someone announces a Viper whif, i get excited to see and want to see what it looks like...  
I finished my XL in PoAF and the F/A-16W in IDF markings and camo so my next XL will belong to another country but no idea yet.

[kerick]

I'm trying really hard to finish some stuff before starting new builds. Of course then I started the Yellow Submarine. This is like quitting cigarettes or something!

Yeah, i understand, i'm doing the same thing with the this F-16W and the PoAF Hunter. It's just that when someone announces a Viper whif, i get excited to see and want to see what it looks like...  
I finished my XL in PoAF and the F/A-16W in IDF markings and camo so my next XL will belong to another country but no idea yet.

I'm planning on taking all the lumps and bumps from the Hasegawa IDF Sufa kit and transplanting them to the XL, including the spine and CFTs. The XL fuselage is longer so some PSR will be involved.

[DogfighterZen]

I'm planning on taking all the lumps and bumps from the Hasegawa IDF Sufa kit and transplanting them to the XL, including the spine and CFTs. The XL fuselage is longer so some PSR will be involved.

That's what i did with the F/A-16W and this one got both the Sufa's and the F-16E's bits, altghough that was based on a regular F-16D airframe. I've another Sufa in the stash to donate it's bits for the Lonestar resin twin seat XL so, i'll just have to extend the CFTs and spine.
I also have plans for a single seat XL with CFTs but i'm not sure which parts i'll use as i also have another 2 kinetic SUFAs that can donate parts... that's in 1/72, in 1/48 i have the Skunkworks XL, Kinetic SUFA and F-16F but, i wanna leave the bigger mods for the 1/72 kits.
I wanna build a twin seat Block 70(big mouth intake/GE engine) with the SUFA's and F's sensors so, the Kinetic F will be the base kit and the SUFA kit will still have CFTs and spine so, something else will come up for it.
I already chose one of my single seat 1/48 F-16 kits to build another twin tail Viper but i'm not sure if i'll attempt to build the DSI for that... if i do, it certainly won't be from Tamiya grey putty like on my first F-16W, when i didn't have the guts to try it with styrene  or have resin parts for it. Looking back now, i believe i ended up choosing the hardest way cause, today i'd feel much more comfortable doing it with styrene instead.

[kerick]

I was thinking of doing a two seat F-16XL with the Sufa parts. That might help with the short spine problem. It's been awhile since I tested the parts.

[DogfighterZen]

I was thinking of doing a two seat F-16XL with the Sufa parts. That might help with the short spine problem. It's been awhile since I tested the parts.

Well, not really cause the spine is for the twin seat F-16 so, if you're doing a twin seat XL, the spine and CFTs have to be extended to match.
Which kit will you be using?

[kerick]

I was thinking of doing a two seat F-16XL with the Sufa parts. That might help with the short spine problem. It's been awhile since I tested the parts.

Well, not really cause the spine is for the twin seat F-16 so, if you're doing a twin seat XL, the spine and CFTs have to be extended to match.
Which kit will you be using?

Hasegawa Sufa in 1/72nd plus the Monogram F-16XL.

[DogfighterZen]

I was thinking of doing a two seat F-16XL with the Sufa parts. That might help with the short spine problem. It's been awhile since I tested the parts.

, if you're using the Monogram XL, this is how it compares to a normal Revell F-16A MLU kit in length:



Fuselage length difference is clear so you don't have to worry about that and, assuming the Hasegawa F-16A/B kits are of the same size as the Revell kits, this may help to visualize what will have to be done to the twin seat Viper. The SUFA parts are for the normal sized F-16 so. PSR sessions will be needed.
I have the recent Hasegawa 1/72 "What-if" Mitsubishi F-2A with CFTs kit and at first i was thinking of using those on the twin seat Lonestar conversion kit but i haven't tested them on the kit yet.
Still, i think it amkes more sense to use the parts from a Kinetic SUFA cause the extended CFTs of the F-2A were designed for that kit and, considering that i'd probably have to do some work to adapt the F-2A's parts to the resin fuselage, i'd rather use the Kinetic parts and build the F-2A with CFTs as the Whif OOB kit it already is.

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, the gaps were filled with Magic Sculp, the two part epoxy i used to sculpt the Blue Thunder's crew figures, now i'll let that dry up.



Gotta get that canopy masked, cockpit aft section repainted cause i messed it up a bit during the build, glue the HUD in place, make two new pitot tubes for the ejection seat's headrest cause i snapped off the first pair i made during the build...
Also, get the wing tip missile rails glued on and take care of the nose. It wouldn't make sense to omit the nose tip pitot cause the F-16E has a modified radome with a much smaller pitot on it's side and i preferred to maintain a normal radome so, it will get the normal nose tip pitot tube.

 

[DogfighterZen]

Well, the main part of the build is finally complete!!!

Sanded the CFTs smooth around the tails....



Now, i'll glue the wingtip rails on but leave the pitot tube and air data probe off till later in the build.

Also raided the spare weapons box and selected some of the ordnance, including the Hasegawa Mitsubishi F-2A's 600 gallon underwing drop tanks but i'm still not sure if i want to spoil this birds' lines with those big tanks so sooner or later i'll have to decide.
Also going to try assembling a pair of the Attack Squadron's resin AIM-9X missiles but with the missile body being split in 3 parts, i'm not feeling very confident about the outcome but we'll see.
The AIM-120C/D came from the Revell F-22A and the pylons/rails are from Hasegawa and Revell F-16 kits.



Another detail on which i also have to come to a decision is the scheme and markings... i have a few ideas but again, still to be decided...

[Tophe]

It is good that the completion is in a near future

[DogfighterZen]

It is good that the completion is in a near future

Finally...    My plan is to, at least get it ready for painting this weekend but going by the way my plans normally (don't) work...