F-16 Thunderbird Team Lead in 1/32 scale

That masking job seems like it turned out great, definitely better than using a decal/s. I have an unbuilt 1:32 Mirage IIIc to do, so I'll definitely follow this thread!

Kien

Looking very nice!

Thank you gang! I can offer up this, it really feels good when you see the finished product. Makes the time up front worth every minute...It is a struggle in the moment though.

will be finishing up the red this weekend and then the engine and little finishing details

Returned from a week of travel and finally got a chance to finish up the colors. Most of it is still in pieces so it'll be later before I post any big picture updates. For now I've got a first look at the cockpit. Going to gloss coat the pilot, do a pinwash, and then add the decals to his shirt. I used 3 diferent shades of red on him but once I looked at the closeup I could tell it really wasn't showing. I think the pinwash in brown will do it. That will finish up the office! 

Looks great!  I gave up on painting the pilots a while ago, lol.  I would always land up making a mess of them anyway.  Can't wait to see it all finished!

Keyda it seems like every time I turn around there's more little stuff to do. 

Got the wings all fitted up tonight! Put the smoke piping on the tail, found another spot of blue to fix (fortunately I can brush it), and repainted the exhaust nozzle after doing something stupid and scratching it 

Hello Mongoose, 

I just went through this build.  You are doing some incredible work.  Mind blowing detail in the cockpit!  I love the engine treatment too.  WOW!  Two thumbs up!   Watching this space...

Well;

 I just don't understand it . You are doing  in paint what I couldn't do with Decals . Not fair ! No , Really she's looking beautiful !

The paint job is just amazing!!!

Your friend, Toshi

Mmthrax im glad you enjoyed going back and looking thru the build! Thanks for the engine coment btw. I kinda figured it was one of those personal preference ideas and so no one was commenting. Glad you liked it.

tanker-builder you know the only reason I ventured this toute was i hated the decals on the F4, wherever there was a curve they overlapped and that changed the color.

Toshi thanks for your support, I’ll keep posting!

I built a 1/72 T-bird that I was proud of until I viewed yours here. GEEZ I'm not going to show mine to anyone now.  Fabulous work Mate.

Jay Jay you're too kind. I've seen your work which makes me really appreciate the compliment!

She's ready for her top coat! To quote a cult classic, Down Periscope with Kelsey Grammar, She may not be the youngest girl at the ball... but she'll turn a head or two...

Best model I've ever built. Now wish me luck with the clear coat please. I practiced on a test part I've been using through the whole process and it looks good, even the decals had no problem, so I'm optimistic.

Everything is out of the box except the flag and the stop watch on the instrument panel. Here's a few shots prior to the big unveiling this coming weekend. I'll pull the tape off the canopy once the clear is on and then take some shots with a uniform background. Let's start with the money shot...

Very nice!  Can't wait to see it all finished up.  I did a 1/48 back in 2016 before I knew what I was doing in the hobby.  It is begging to be trashed and a new one built.  But first I must do another Harrier, and shoot the first example, lol. 

That is just extremely awesome, The paint job is amazing!  Do you use Tamiya tape to get edges that cleanly?  Again, Awesome job!

Your friend, Toshi

Mongoose, that is really something.  Layer after layer to look at and enjoy.  You should be very pleased.  Top drawer build sir. 

Toshi

That is just extremely awesome, The paint job is amazing!  Do you use Tamiya tape to get edges that cleanly?  Again, Awesome job!

Your friend, Toshi

 

Toshi I use 3M fine line tape and Maketar paint masks primarily. The 3M fine line gets down into the finest panel lines and keeps anything from bleeding through...short of me not burnishing it down well, and makes curves(the larger curves I freehanded with the 3M). I use tamiys when I’m not worried about a crisp edge, like along a canopy rail or a wing root. I tried the green frog tape from home depot but it’s too thick to do more than straight lines. The yelow tape from HD works just like Tamiya tape I’ve found so i keep a big roll of it handy.

Thunderbird Leader is all finished! What surprised me, and I am really happy with the effect, is that the gray panel line accent showed up darker after putting the clear coat on her. I use the classic Testors Clear. No matter what I've always had great luck with this stuff. You can just watch it flow and level out on the model.  

This is the 1st red uniform I've done. Much harder to shadow red compared to the classic blue. I stuck with the instructions and so the canopy is removable. I like that with the detail in the cockpit but on it's own it is just a little shy of sitting down tight.

I spent some time on the fan trying to get a good worn look so I had to find a way to get a glamour shot. The intake isn't completely seemeless but it's close, you have to look to see it on the one side. I tried a method using cement to melt the plastic at the joint. With more practice I think i will work like the tutorial for me. 

The white really glossed up. I used RCW gloss paints and they make a great foundation to add clear too.

Here's how the panel lines look in a close-up. 

Last, here is the tail with flame on! The afterburner exhaust effect I think turned out good on the finished model. I may add some fine cotton ball threads in there for some smoke effect once I clean up the stand.

Very nice!  I agree on the panel wash. The gray shows just enough to be effective. 

That looks great!  Nice job.

I finished up the final stand and presentation for the F-16. I had a picture from airwingspotters that showed the jet in a vertical climb with vapor trails coming off the leading edges of the wing. Here’s my attempt at duplicating it...

What a fantastic build and paint job ! 

I wanna do one too but i have a couple of questions and forgive me if I missed the answers in the text but I did read everything you posted 3 times.

First of all, which brand kit did you use ? i saw some 1/32 Tamiyas on Ebay for like 160 bucks...PHEW too rich for my blood.

You mentioned Maketar masks, are they for the over-all exterior blue T-bird and fine line stripes or did you make your own masks for that ?

I met the pilots in person and they all wore Navy Blue suits. Am I missing something here with the red flying suits that you depicted in the model ?

Thanks in advance for the info.

Hey Jay Jay! Meeting the pilots sounds awesome. I haven’t found a specific reason why they wear red or blue uniforms yet but that’s a good question for them. Have looked several times and just don’t seem to have the right search words i guess. The instructions in the Tamiya Thunderbird kit give you the option of red or blue For the 2003-2004 show season. My other 2 Thunderbirds have blue uniforms so I took the red option this time. the bird i did is from the 2004 season. It’s the Tamiya Thunderbird kit as you indicated. Hopefully they will rebox this kit because it’s hard to find now. 

What I did with the masks was to scan a copy of the decal sheet, then print it out on the plain mask paper. That made it alot easier to make clean crisp lines. I also used some 3M ultra fine line tape for some of the curves, like the red and blue on the nose where the masks were tough to get around the pieces sticking off the side of the fuselage.

let me know if i just created more questions for you lol, I’ll be glad to answer them :-)

Thanks for all the info Bro. Very good idea to scan and print the decals for a mask, i never thought of that and will add it to my tricks arsenal. I wonder if you can print the scanned decals on frisket paper for the mask ?

I am a security guard at the Daytona Speedway and all the pilots came through my gate together. I had the wonderful oportunity to chat with all of them and they where all a bright,personable,articulate and humble group of young men and women. They all loved flying the F-16 and called it a sports car you strap on rather than get in to fly. I literally got chills watching them fly-over the speedway. An experience I'll never forget.