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I finally started
building aircraft models after a few year hiatus of building mostly car models,
and since I am an F-16 fanatic, what better aircraft to start with? I had picked
up the excellent "OIF Vipers" sheet from TwoBobs recently, and looking
through my F-16 kit stash, I found that I had already started on kit
V-104(Misawa), and I figured, why not just finish it? I had to cannibalize
several parts from a CJ kit however, since the aicraft I wanted to do 87-0284 is
a Block 30F, and also has some mods done to it. I got in touch with ARC's own
Stephen Chapis, who loaded the actual jet in theater, and he was able to point
out a few things, and help me get an accurate loadout.
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The changes to the
airframe were rather simple, I used the MCID(big-mouth) intake, LAU-129 wingtip
launch rails, RWRs (beer-cans) for the wings, and AMRAAMs, all from the CJ kit.
Next order of business was to figure out what other mods needed to be done.
First was the LITENING II pod that all ANG units in OIF used. None was
available, and I started this project before the release of the AV-8B kit, which
includes a LII pod, doh! I filled in some panel lines to match the pics I had,
and reworked the cooling intake. Next were the Pod Integrated Defense System (PIDS)
on the bomb pylon. This mod was rather simple just some plastic card added the
rear of the pylon, and I used some plastic mesh from a 1/24 rally car kit, and
voi-la! A PIDS.
Other small mods were needed,
such as the lightining-shaped external reinforcement plates, or 'scabs'. Block
30 Vipers only have the two near the fins base installed. I drew up some in CAD
and printed them out, taped them to some .010 plastic card, cut them out, and
applied them to the spine.
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The rest of the
build went as straightforward as you can get. I painted the wheel wells with
Tamiya white primer first, then TS-26 pure white. I preshaded the panel lines
with black, and then added the new two-tone grey scheme used by USAF Vipers of
neutral grey and gunship grey. The radome was painted a darker grey that was
achieved by just adding some black to the gunship grey. I sprayed a base coat of
the greys, and then added a little black to each one, and postshaded the panel
lines. Added 2 coats of future, and added the decals, followed by another coat
of future. I had never done panel lines with oil paints, and I should have
experimented on another model first, because when I tried it, I think I used to
much turpenoid, and it attacked the paint! Doh! Well I cleaned it up as best I
could, and redid the lines with The Detailer premixed acrylic wash, and that
worked much better. The canopy was adorned with the Verlinden F-16 canopy frame,
and I also painted up the ACES II seat form the same detail set. As Chappie
suggested, I used the common loadout of two AIM-120s, one JDAM, and two GBU-12
PGMs. Also suggested was the ALQ-131 pod in the center station, no.5. A quick
raiding of the Hasegawa Weapons Set B got me the ECM pod, and the D set supplied
the GBU-12s, JDAM and the TER. Dullcoat was added to the entire model.
Weathering was added with black chalk, and some tidbits were added. One thing I
find missing in many F-16 models are the radome mounted AoA 'spikes'. I added
these by simply cutting off a pinpoint, and attaching it with CA. A small detail
that adds a lot to the look of the Viper. One other thing, is the misshapen
strobe on top of the fin. I cut off the molded in light, and cut and sanded one
out of the clear sprue to an accurate shape. There she is folks, I'm already
working on another F-16, as I got Viper on the brain, so stay tuned. I would
like to take this opportunity to thank SSgt Stephen Chapis for his help on this
project, and more importantly for his service. This project is dedicated to him.
As for the model, enjoy everyone!
See ya on the board!
Daniel "Habu"
PerezVertti
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