1/48 Italeri IAF F-16C Barak WIP

Excellent Fly-n-hi - i'll be along to watch both.

I'll be particularly interested in a Raptor WIP. I've avoided buying a Raptor so far, a the painting schemes appear to be quite complicated.

cml

I really like this build.  The colourful camo scheme, the shading, the weapons - it all comes together so well.

Congrats on a great build. I hope you keep posting more of your WIPs in the future too, I certainly learnt a few things by reading along.

Thanks for sharing and going to the trouble of providing ongoing updates for us all to enjoy.

The next build will be a 1/144 Revell C-17 that I was working on for the Mighty Mini GB.  The GB is basically done, though.  Unfortunately I didn't get 'er done.  It is assembled, primed, pre shaded and just about ready for the base colors so it should be finished fairly quickly.

The next build after that I think will be a 1/48 Hasegawa F-22A Raptor.

I really like this build.  The colourful camo scheme, the shading, the weapons - it all comes together so well.

Congrats on a great build. I hope you keep posting more of your WIPs in the future too, I certainly learnt a few things by reading along.

Thanks for sharing and going to the trouble of providing ongoing updates for us all to enjoy.

Alrighty guys, I'm calling this one DONE!

Before I post any pics, let me say that I really aprreciated the compliments and the words of encouragement.  Thank you!

Anyway, after a long hard battle with this kit here's the finished product (Well...I might touch up a couple of things...).  I'll post a couple of pics here and a bunch of pics in a new thread.  Hope you enjoy!  And BTW, I apologize for the amateurish photos.  I'm better at building them than photographing them.

This one is a bit blurry.  I had to hold the camera above the model and didn't use the tripod.  You can also see that the right main wheel didn't set correctly on the strut.  Oh well.  Considering the obstacles I had to overcome with this kit I can live with it.

I need to adjust a couple of the static wicks on the wings but that will be very easy.

Dre

Despite all the setbacks and the kit itself fighting you, this has turned out just great.

Watching this come along has been far better than watching Bob Ross make happy trees.

Dean30

That looks far better than almost all other 1/48 F-16s I have seen built, it shows you don't need a high price Tamiya kit to have a really great model.

Update:

I should have some final pics here soon.  I've attached everything now except for the GBU-31 (I still need to weather it) and the clear parts.  I also need to cut out the glass for the HUD.

That looks far better than almost all other 1/48 F-16s I have seen built, it shows you don't need a high price Tamiya kit to have a really great model.

Despite all the setbacks and the kit itself fighting you, this has turned out just great.

Watching this come along has been far better than watching Bob Ross make happy trees.

Ok, here's the F-16C with some stuff hanging from it.  I've attached the wheels, the main gear doors, the pylons, targeting pod and the fuel tanks:

I added one more streaking filter to the botom of the center fuel tank.  I think it was one too many.  Its just a bit too dark now and it lost a little of the random spottiness.  Oh well.  

I noticed in several pics that it was just the bottoms of the fuel tanks that were the filthiest, so I tried to make them dirtier than the rest of the plane.  I may have overdone it a little bit.

Dre

I think that those grease stains are what gives this that 'real' look- I've never thought to detail that sort of thing (but now I am thinking about it for the future).   Likewise with the heavy staining behind the main wheel well and on the drop tanks.

It's apparent that you've spent some time thinking about where and how to weather this.

Jim Barton

I like that scorpion!

Its a decal but there is a company that makes masks for IAF F-16s that includes several of the squadron art on the tails and the Star of David insignias on the wings in case you want to paint them (and some other markings, as well).  I thought about buying them but earlier in the build I decided not to put too much into this kit because it was being such a PITA and I didn't think it was going to turn out well at all.  But now I kind of wish I had done it.

I like that scorpion!

I think that those grease stains are what gives this that 'real' look- I've never thought to detail that sort of thing (but now I am thinking about it for the future).   Likewise with the heavy staining behind the main wheel well and on the drop tanks.

It's apparent that you've spent some time thinking about where and how to weather this.

Dre

Absolutely great weathering going on here, Fly.   It doesn't just look dirty, but believably dirty.

Truly a masterpiece!

Thanks for the nice compliment, Dre!  I'm glad you think it looks believable because that is exactly the look I'm trying to achieve.

dflu78

Yup. This is just phenomenal actually. The weathering is gorgeous. Are you using oils for the streaking? If so what color exactly?

I can't wait for your F-4 build....that kit is in my near future as well.

Yes, I used oils for the streaking.  All of the weathering since the decals/flat coat has been with oils.  The oil paint I use is Mig Productions 502 Abteilung.  That particular color was Engine Grease.  I had never used it for streaking stains behind hinges before and I think it looks pretty convincing.  

The 502 Abteilung oils are really nice.  They have a very fine pigment and make great washes as well.  The color range is incredibly useful although it is more armor focused than aircraft..

I'm still waiting on the F-4.  I bought it online and it hasn't arrived yet.  But...it will be a few models down the list.  I've got some stuff that's been on the bench for a while that I need to wrap up so I will probably be joining the GB a little late.  I'll be looking to you guys for build tips and ideas.  I'm looking forward to it, though.

bvallot

Fly-in-high: Are you applying this weathering with a brush or airbrush?

Fly-in-high: Are you applying this weathering with a brush or airbrush?

Yup. This is just phenomenal actually. The weathering is gorgeous. Are you using oils for the streaking? If so what color exactly?

I can't wait for your F-4 build....that kit is in my near future as well.

Absolutely great weathering going on here, Fly.   It doesn't just look dirty, but believably dirty.

Truly a masterpiece!

Here's the Voyager replacement pitot tube attached and painted:

Ok, here's where I'm at now...

I've applied clear flat to the model and applied the first 2-3 filter layers.  Here are the horizontal stabilators and the pylons.  These are pretty straight forward:

Here are the fuel tanks.  Now I really wanted to get these dirty!  Reference pics I looked at showed these to be very filthy, especially the bottoms...and especially the bottom of the center tank:

In the pics above I tried to show the difference in the level of filthiness between the tops of the tanks and the bottoms.

And here's the upper side of the F-16.  I've added one filter to the camo and added some grease streaks at the hinge points:

And here's the bottom.  I've applied 2-3 layers on this side and applied some streaking.  I've tried to replicate the dirty area behind the main wheel well like I did on the F-15E:

The filters are very subtle and the flash is drowning them out a little bit.  I really need to learn to take quality photos.

bvallot

Just beautiful.  The ordinance is still quite impressive.  Glad to see you bounce back. =]

Dre

With the decals on, this looks even better than before and I know that it'll be even more impressive once you're finished with the weathering process.   This is a top-shelf effort!

Aviator93

Amazing! :O

dflu78

Looking really good. May have to try one of these some day. Those colors sure do look nice on that plane.

Thank you, dflu78!  Yeah, the IAF colors are really nice looking.  Its nice to get away from overall grey aircraft every once in a while!  I pulled the trigger on an Academy F-4C so the SEA camo on that one should be fun!

Looking really good. May have to try one of these some day. Those colors sure do look nice on that plane.

Amazing! :O

With the decals on, this looks even better than before and I know that it'll be even more impressive once you're finished with the weathering process.   This is a top-shelf effort!

Just beautiful.  The ordinance is still quite impressive.  Glad to see you bounce back. =]

I mentioned earlier that I busted off the pitot tube on the nose.  So I filed down the tip, drilled out an opening and bought a metal replacement pitot from Voyager.

Obviously I'm going to have to CA it into place and touch up the paint.

Alrighty, I've put on most of the decals.  The decals left much to be desired.  Several of them did not fit or were sized incorrectly.  They also tended to silver pretty badly.  I had to use a fresh #11 blade and poke holes in many places to get the Micro Set/Micro Sol to flow under the decals.  

Also, the instruction sheet was terrible.  The sheet just had a line that pointed to the general area where the decal was supposed to go.  I had to look up pics on the internet of just flat out guess where exactly they went.

There are a few small stencils that I need to attach but for the most part this is how she's gonna look:

It doesn't really show up in the pics but I washed the wings with Pro Modeler Dark Dirt wash.  It looks good to the naked eye.  It filled in the rivets nicely.

The pylons:

Here are the AIM-120Bs, AIM-9Ms, GBU-10, AN/AAQ-14 targeting pod and the fuel tanks.  The GBU-31 still needs to be decaled:

I will need to go over the panel lines covered by the decals with some Mr Color Smoke to weather them consistently with the rest of the panel lines.  Then the next steps will be to wash the landing gear and wheel wells, flat coat the whole thing and then start with the weathering filters.

dflu78

Ack!!! Sorry to see you had problems,but seriously....not blowing smoke at ya...you recovered beautifully. I'd never have known without evidence. :)

It feels really good to overcome that monster inside of you that pushes you to want to chunk a kit at the wall if something goes wrong. I used to be that guy too. Then one day I just realized that most anything can be fixed with some patience. My first disaster I overcame was on my 1/32 Tamiya  Spitfire. I spent a few days painting and building up layers and post shading the underside and then I dumped a whole airbrush cup of enamel paint on the bottom :D instead of pushing it aside I spent another several days stripping paint and doing it all over. anyway...I know the pain and the satisfaction that your little mishap has brought you. This one is looking stunning so don't stress it :)

This wasn't my first rodeo.  I had a 1/48 Monogram F-20 all finished and when I put the clear flat coat on it it reacted with the Future coat and cracked up really bad.  I stripped the whole thing down and did it all over.  It sucked but it ended up being totally worth it.

Ack!!! Sorry to see you had problems,but seriously....not blowing smoke at ya...you recovered beautifully. I'd never have known without evidence. :)

It feels really good to overcome that monster inside of you that pushes you to want to chunk a kit at the wall if something goes wrong. I used to be that guy too. Then one day I just realized that most anything can be fixed with some patience. My first disaster I overcame was on my 1/32 Tamiya  Spitfire. I spent a few days painting and building up layers and post shading the underside and then I dumped a whole airbrush cup of enamel paint on the bottom :D instead of pushing it aside I spent another several days stripping paint and doing it all over. anyway...I know the pain and the satisfaction that your little mishap has brought you. This one is looking stunning so don't stress it :)

I'm actually doing a phantom and a thud for that GB. I'll be glad to see you in there. =]

Yeah, I'm starting to think that with an aggressive post-shading, that pre-shading is pretty much unnecessary.  But... it is the foundation that everything else builds off of, so i don't plan to quit it anytime soon.

Still, that's a mighty fine bit of recovery.

Nice recovery! I probably would have given up after that setback.