1/32 Polish F-16D Block 52+ (from the Academy Sufa)

[doogsatx/]

This build originally started out as a modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/6157/hellenic-air-force-16d-block?page=1&scrollTo=173691, but my first go at the cockpit, with Eduard PE, totally sapped my motivation. The stuff looked flat and terrible, and I couldn't work up any juice to tackle the huge casting blocks on the replacement Wolfpack cockpit I'd ordered.



Rather than shelve the kit, I took a few days away and decided to reset. Instead of a Greek -D, I've decided to come at it as a Polish F-16D Block 52+.



I still have plans to take on a Greek F-16. In fact, I just got a notice that the Tamiya F-16CJ I ordered was delivered this afternoon. It will be built in parallel as a Hellenic Air Force F-16C Block 50, though I have yet to decide if I want to do it up multirole, or as a SEAD Weasel Viper packing HARMs. But that's for another thread.

First up with the Polish job, the cockpit. The Wolfpack resin is really, really good, full of nice detail and textures and, rare in the resin cockpit world, a nearly-drop-in fit.



Between a multi-night cleanup of the resin, I also loaded up the upper fuselage with the dorsal spine and conformal tanks. The extended parachute housing on the tail will take some modifying, since it's narrower than the spine, but shouldn't be that bit a deal.



Also in progress - the intake. The forward section had some nasty sink marks where the forward gear bay resides on the other side.



The other night I got the cockpit truly kicked off with a coat of Mr. Surfacer Black 1500.



This followed by a light coat of Gunze 317:



I'm going to be masking and painting all the control panel areas, but I'm planning to paint all of the knobs and so on first with acrylics, then paint the panels with enamels. Thinner-dipped toothpicks and microbrushes will be used to uncover the acrylic beneath on the various controls. Here's a test I did last night (poorly) as proof of concept.



Stay tuned...more to come.

[Deleted]

Way cool! I'll be watchin!

[deafpanzer]

Count me in... you are brave guy!

[doogsatx/]

Lots of masking last night, and then laying down some white. Next up, details in yellow, red and so on.

[bullardino]

Ok, I'm in

This is going to be pure fun

[deafpanzer]

WOW! That's a lot of masking... I am planning to do the same on my Chally tank over the weekend too. YUK! Keep it coming...

[doogsatx/]

Moment of truth. Sprayed the consoles and IPs with Model Master Aircraft Interior Black cut with a few drops of Gunship Gray.



Next came removing the enamel to reveal the acrylic-painted details beneath. Overall, not too bad, would try again, but I didn't necessarily feel the sense of control some seem to exhibit with technique (i.e. uncovering tiny raised details in a gauge face).

[bullardino]

Nice result, Doogs

[doogsatx/]

Pushed forward a bit further last night with a start on some additional detail painting and so on. Next up, further detail painting on the bang seats, some light drybrushing, glossing things ahead of washes and some Airscale gauge decals.

[Mence]

Great to see this, you have got me excited.

I have one stalled 1/32 build and two others I really want to tackle so this is just the inspiration I need!

[Deleted]

Kit sure has nice detail.

[bullardino]

Will the canopy stay closed?

I agree, details are really fantastic.

[doogsatx/]

Nov 11, 2013 9:21:06 GMT -5 bullardino said:

Will the canopy stay closed?

I agree, details are really fantastic.

It'll be open, most likely.

[dupes]

Two at a time? With a third in the wings? Dang!

Still interested in your Eduarded (yep, that's a verb) pit if you think you're going to toss it. Wouldn't look bad in a closed-canopy build IMHO.

[heico]

Looking good so far! Allthough i personally would have build the Sufa

[doogsatx/]

dupes - PM me your address and I'll get it your way. May be a few days, though. Life here is absolute crazytown at the moment.

heico - for some reason Israeli aircraft do absolutely nothing for me. Actually that's not entirely true...I'd love to do an Israeli Skyhawk one day...

Very little to add over the past couple of days. Since Monday I've been felled by whatever bug is going around. Thankfully I just got the vaguely nauseous + headache + terrible achiness variety, not the vomit-til-you-dry-heave kind. But it's kept me from the bench all the same. I was supposed to go back out tonight, but laying down in front of the fire for a few minutes turned into a few hours...

Still, I was able to test-fit the Aires gear bay that came on Tuesday. And...SHOCK! It fits perfectly. Better than the kit gearbay, even. This is not something I'm at all used to, particularly with Aires. So, nice surprise!



Hopefully more real updates will start up again tomorrow.

[heico]

Wow, i really like the resin bay! Too bad it always costs so much. But for these big projects it definitly add's something!

[venom1]

Looking fantastic so far Doogs! Really like what you did with the cockpit painting, may have to give that a crack myself....

Cheers,

Sam

[bullardino]

Wow, what details... Painted the right way they will be sooo darn fine.

[doogsatx/]

I need to find another kit to parallel track...this thing is like a curse to my bench time. Out sick for several days last week, then skipped the bench on Saturday night because of this weird freak ear pain (allergies). As such, it feels like progress is absolutely creeping. Finally managed to shake some cobwebs off last night. Got the gear bays painted up as well as the intakes (dealing with the seams is going to be a nightmare).



The cockpit is also coming along. Biggest things that remain now are the seats. I need to finish the buckles, add the O2 tanks, paint the wiring detail on the side, deal with the various ejection handles...not at all happy with the ones on the seat sides so I'm part tempted to remove and scratch my own.





I also need to figure out how to make the seat cushions absolutely dead flat. Probably going to break out the Alclad Clear Flat...hate how it sucks at curing, but nothing goes flatter that I've ever tried.

Blah blah blah...more on the way.

[heico]

Sick or not, i still like what im seeing so far

[bullardino]

It's nice to see some progress on this one

Can't you sort some aftermarket seamless intake? I think it's one of the most needed goodies in modern planes.

[doogsatx/]

Nov 18, 2013 13:35:06 GMT -5 bullardino said:

It's nice to see some progress on this one

Can't you sort some aftermarket seamless intake? I think it's one of the most needed goodies in modern planes.

If only. Doesn't seem to exist for this or any Academy F-16.

And of course, they put the seams on the sides. Which is the narrowest and hardest to access point...

[venom1]

Nov 18, 2013 11:21:21 GMT -5 doogsatx/ said:

I also need to figure out how to make the seat cushions absolutely dead flat. Probably going to break out the Alclad Clear Flat...hate how it sucks at curing, but nothing goes flatter that I've ever tried.

Blah blah blah...more on the way.

Hey Doogs,

Dunno if you have tried it, but I have had a lot of success with Gunze Sangyo acrylic flat. I use it exclusively as my flat coat and it almost always gives me a dead flat finish. I have only had one or two occasions where I have been left with a slight sheen.

Anyway, just a thought. Cockpit looks great by the way!

Cheers,

Sam

[bullardino]

I know, sometimes kit designers can be sadistic

In narrow places I used a scratchbuilt tool made from an arch of iron wire that kept a narrow strip of sanding paper straight. That way it conformed to the shape and made me possible to sand in places where my hands couldn't reach. All this when I built planes, armor modelling makes everything so easy

[doogsatx/]

Sam - my first pass was with Gunze Mr. Color flat (their acrylics are difficult to get stateside)... Does a good job most of the time, but I think the intense texture of the wool threw it off.

Shot some of the Alclad flat last night and it performed flawlessly...alas no pics yet.

[venom1]

No probs Doogs, thought it was worth the suggestion! Pity you can't get it easily over there, it really is the bees knees.

Never used Alclad Flat before, look forward to seeing the final result on the seat...

Cheers,

Sam

[Mence]

Lovely detail, fantastic.

[doogsatx/]

Nov 19, 2013 9:29:02 GMT -5 venom1 said:

No probs Doogs, thought it was worth the suggestion! Pity you can't get it easily over there, it really is the bees knees.

Never used Alclad Flat before, look forward to seeing the final result on the seat...

Cheers,

Sam

Alclad's clears are really something else. I'm not too big on their gloss (but I still have yet to find a gloss that I reliably like - and I've tried like all of them), but their Light Sheen, Matte and Flat are brilliant. If only they cured better (I have one kit that will still take fingerprints nearly a year after completion)...

[macmcconnell.]

This is the sort of thing I love about modelling is learning facts I had no idea that the Polish Air force had F16,S
and a great build too.

Mac