1/144 Revell F-16C and F.3 ADV |
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Gallery
Article by Daniel Butcher |
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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
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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.