1/144 Revell F-16C and F.3 ADV

Gallery Article by Daniel Butcher

 

These are my two latest projects, both from Revell in the 1/144 scale; a USAF F-16C and a RAF Tornado F.3 ADV, the air-to-air fighters for the UK and USA together.

Both kits are nicely detailed, especially the Tornado, the panel lines are great, lovely paint scheme, swing-wings and the parts fit very nicely indeed. Only one area was a problem, putting the gear doors in the closed position. The F-16 has some nice panel lines also.

 

Click on images below to see larger images

Both kits come with an array of armament, including fuel tanks aswell as sparrow and sidewinder missiles. I chose to only use fuel tanks on the F-16, I prefer my models this way. The fuel tanks on the Tornado were quite large and restricted the movement of the swing-wing, so I opted for no stores of any kind.

One area of warning for the F-16 kit though. The kit comes with two tails, and the instruction sheet tells you to use part D5, and ignore part F1. So I followed the instructions and finished the kit. At which point I looked at
some photos of the real article and found that the correct tail is part F1 that they tell you not to use!
 
I painted with the usual Humbrol paints, weathered with watercolours and used microset to fasten the decals. Both matt and gloss varnish were Humbrol as well.

Another little tip for weathering that I found out, instead of using tissues and Q-tips to wipe off the excess watercolours (as can be seen on the F-16) use your finger to wipe away the paints. This is how I weathered the Tornado and the difference is clear to see.

Both exhausts were weathered with a light brown, dark brown and black, and cannon fire stains were both done in dark brown.

The stands I mounted them on were from some 1/144 kits I had many years ago, purchased cheaply from a £1 shop! I found them lying in a box so I decided to put them to use! I also moved the tailerons on the Tornado to coincide with the fact the stand has the nose pointing up.

Landing lights on the wing tips of the tornado were gloss white paint, and the red/green colours were put on with a CD marker pen, to give a slightly
translucent glass effect.

I hope you have all enjoyed my little models. Next on my list is the 1/48 B-1B! Should keep me busy for a while! ;-)

Thanks to Chelmsford Cameras for the use of a digital camera for the pictures. Visit their website at www.chelmsford-cameras.co.uk

Daniel Butcher

      

Photos and text © by Daniel Butcher