1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ

by Rob Knox

--------------------

 

Hi everyone this is my first submission to this great site. I love Tamiya kits, so this was a must-buy (even though I'm a 20 year old engineering student on a tight budget).

I have 90% completed this very enjoyable kit, with the weapons and most of the decals remaining.  I prefer to spend more time on detailing things like landing gear, cockpits and engine bays, so I spent the most time on these areas. I didn't use any aftermarket stuff. I used a squadron/signal walkaround and a heap of pictures I found on the net for reference so that I could add details (such as cables in the landing gear bays) in very accurate positions rather than inventing my own details in random places that just look good. Check out a couple of real F-16 pics and compare them to my model and see what you think. Anyway here's some pics:

Click on images below to see larger images

 To achieve a neat result for the square buttons below the HUD and around the displays, I actually just removed the black paint with a modelling knife. The real buttons appear to be made of a plastic of some sort so i guess its fair enough to do this. The yellow canopy jettison levers on the cockpit side were made by bending thin wire to shape and gluing it into a 0.5mm drilled hole in the cockpit wall. For alot of my wiring, including this case, I use individual strands of wire taken from lengths of the cable used to hang wooden picture frames. Since I didn't use the pilot figure, I stole the oxygen hose from him and used it for the section of hose which sticks out of the right cockpit console.

 

Click on images below to see larger images

You will notice that I didn't use the centre pylon, I didn't want it getting in the way of the landing gear bay that I spent the time on! I also don't like putting too many weapons on my aircraft models as it takes away from the sleek lines of an unladen fighter plane. Most of the landing gear bay wiring was done with the wire mentioned earlier. I also used single strands taken from some scrap Tamiya mesh. Solder was used at the back of the rear landing gear bay. For the rings around the rear landing gear struts I simply scraped off the white paint back to the bare diecast metal and I think it looks alright.  

Click on images below to see larger images

Some wiring was added to the engine bay bulkhead. The yellow-green tube on the right of the engine bay is Tamiya vinyl tubing stiffened with wire.   My email address is rob_k16@hotmail.com if anyone wants to ask me anything.  

Robert    

Photos and text © by Robert Knox