Lockheed Martin F-16C Block 25/32, 188th FW "Flying Razorbacks", Ebbing ANGB, 2006



Now I know what some of you are thinking....another F-16?..I know, just can't seem to stay away from them, especially if there's a different scheme to be had...! And, well it's that 188th FW "Flying Razorbacks" that have done it this time, and one from the Tamiya box too..just look at that red fin and 'Hawg' motif - simply just has to be done.



This time though, I'm going to add a few resin and etched parts to help provide some insight into that area of scale modelling for those of you who want a bit of a steer there? If not, hope you like the build for what it is. Thanks for looking...!


Here's the Aires resin cockpit set.


The Eduard pre-painted etched set is superb and if you don't want to go the whole way and replace your entire cockpit with the Aires set, then this will dramatically improve the Tamiya kit parts. As it is, I will only pick a few of the handles and other small parts for this project.


Wiring up the landing gear can be a bit of a chore, although I do like to do it. But this time I'm going to give this new etched set from Eduard a go - and it is pre-painted too! Can't be bad...


I think to finish off, I'll add the Eduard etched crew boarding ladder - should provide a nice bit of extra interest to the completed project? And it can always be removed for variety as and when needed.


The kit cockpit side walls need to be removed so I scraped them off with a wood-modelling chisel. The Aires set has nice resin replacements that have more depth and detail, but the tub needs to go in too and this requires excess plastic to be removed.


Aires cockpits always seem to need quite a bit of fiddling, sandinga nd test-fitting to stand a chance of going into the receiving kit. But as you can see here, this one goes in quite well and should look good when painted up?

Got a little carried away when sanding the moulding block off the bottom of the resin cockpit tub, but no matter, the Aces II seat will cover this hole!

The next step is to remove the resin parts and spray much of it US Interior Grey. Then the cockpit sills, internal canopy framing and forward instrument coaming are sprayed Revell dark grey No.9 (is good). Straight black can look a bit too dark in model form. Just like tyres...should really be dark-ish grey.


Masking the cockpit sills and rear decking keeps the surrounding plastic and detail preserved and saves time later, especially if you are into pre-shading because you will only want to darken the panel lines and not large areas of fuselage.

The Aires cockpit is pretty much there now. I used a Gunze acrylic 'smoke' wash and then the grey was dry-brushed using a very light grey enamel. The cushions were drybrushed using lighter shades of the base colour.



I think that the RBF tags add a little extra interest...[TIP - use 1:72 scale pre-painted Eduard tags, they are much nearer the correct scale]and the Eduard pre-painted straps really finish the whole assembly off. So, just the resin cockpit walls to be finished and then it will be on to the main construction...

Great relief...
The completed tub fits perfectly into the Tamiya kit fuselage. I had test-fitted it before, but I'm always nervous at times like these! The separate resin side walls can be slid into place after the tub is secured with cyano (superglue). The seat will of course be left out until the end of the project, as will the main instrument panel - which also slides into place nicely.





Finally managed to get back to the modelling bench after after really busy summer with my real job!

Adding all the Tamiya etched steel 'detail-up' parts here. They fit superbly, but the steel is so tough it is very hard to bend - especially around the forward fuselage. The remainder of the parts can go on with cyano unfolded. You might want to consider the excellent Eduard etched brass set? It will easy to work with and has a whole host of other useful parts for the cockpit and fuselage - including these items on the Tamiya fret!





Next up are the weapons pylons. These are very ingenious and take their design from the huge 1:32 scale offering of this aircraft by Tamiya. The pylons have clever poly caps inside so you can change your stores around for a varied look - could be very good for those of you in scale model clubs / IPMS branches? Could add some good variety to your stand at the next show...



More to come soon!