1/144 Academy General Dynamics F-16

Gallery Article by Greg Kerry (chinagreg) on June 24 2015

 

      

This marks my first attempt at an ultra-small scale aircraft model. It was an attempt to make one of my air-ground dioramas with the plane in smaller scale than the vehicle. If viewed from ground level, it works - but overall I can't say I was too impressed.

 

Click on images below to see larger images

The Academy kit, I guess, is not one of their latest. It's really the kind of product that gives this small scale a bad name. The intake and nose are horrible shapes, as is the canopy which is also so thick that I couldn't squeeze any part of a pilot under it (I ended up painting a white blob to represent a pilot's helmet on the inside of it as the best of a bad job).  Then there are the decals: only one scheme and many items out of register.

The tank is a Trumpeter 1/72 item and is also not one of the best. It lacks the characteristic extra fuel tanks carried on the rear, and the rubber band tracks are too short.

Everything was painted with Tamiya acrylics, washed and drybrushed with artists' acrylics.

The base was a wooden offcut. Groundwork was my usual glue-soaked tissue paper and real dirt.

Greg Kerry

Photos and text © by Greg Kerry