1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ Block 50

converted to F-16CG Block 40

by Jed 'Jedi' Jenson

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Greetings all.  This is my second submission to ARC and also my second attempt at the mighty Tamiya Viper.  I love this kit.  Seeing as I am from Utah, I have always had something for Hill Air Force Base.  I went to airshows there all my life with my dad and brother.  So when I saw that Afterburner Decals made a 1/32 sheet for the 'Blackwidows' of Hill AFB, I just had to do another Tamiya Viper.  I'm not one to go into debt for aftermarket accessories, and rarely do I do so, but in order to accurately depict a Block 40 variant, I needed to get a few additional things.

First of all, I needed the decals from Afterburner Decals.  These decals were amazing.  They went on very smoothly, and were clear and crisp.  Perhaps the coolest thing that I liked about Afterburner Decals was the amount of information they provided me.  Not only did they have information on the sheets they sent, but on their website they provide you with links of photos of the actual planes the decals are depicting.  Click here to go to a link with pictures of the plane I modeled.  If my model appears too dirty for an Air Force bird, take a look at those pictures!  Also from Afterburner Decals I ordered the Scab Plating needed for Block 40s.  These worked out very well and I am pleased with the result.

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Next up was the LANTIRN Pod and the weapons that these Block 40s used during their deployment (GBU 12s and GBU 31s).  For these items I went to Luckymodel.com and there you can purchase the weapons sprues separately from the Academy Viper, which had the weapons and pods I needed, as well as the decals for the kit and weapons.  I used Academy's GBU 12s, AIM 120Cs, GBU 31 JDAM and LANTIRN Pod.  Seeing as the wingtip launcher rails were left empty for most of the Blackwidows during that deployment, I used Academy's because the detail was a little better.  But for the gas bags and the other weapons pylons I stuck with Tamiya's.

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 In order to have a WAR HUD for my Block 40, I turned to Black Box for their resin cockpit set.  It didn't come with any glass for the HUD, and I got sick of trying to make it, so I just left it without...  This was my first attempt EVER to do anything with resin, and I was disappointed.  I just cant understand with all of the modern technology we have, why in the world must we have some MASSIVE block of casting stuck to some little piece???  I broke just about every piece there was to break...  I was quite disappointed with the detail in my particular set as well.  It was not very crisp and there was lots of flash and little bits of junk in all of the hard-to-reach areas...  In fact, detail on the ACES II was SO poor, that I stuck with Tamiya's seat.  All in all it turned out nice and looks the part,  but it caused myself tremendous stress and frustration. Besides, this kit doesn't need an aftermarket cockpit in my opinion, and when I do another one it will be straight out of the box!

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For the plumbing in the landing gear bays, I used guitar strings and various wires which I found around the house in broken electronic devices. 

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Paints used were Tamiya acrylics for all of the little details, Model Masters for the 2-Tone Camo scheme, and Model Master Metalizers Burnt Metal for the burner can.  My airbrush uses a can of the propellant stuff, and therefore isn't very accurate when it comes to fine lines, thus I preshaded the kit using a black Testors Acrylic Paint Stick thingy, which turned out well.  For weathering I used a wash of Burnt Umber and for the sand/dirt look I used some of my wife's powder makeup, which dusted on nicely and gave it the look I saw in the pictures.

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This kit is great!  Hope you enjoyed!

Jed 

Photos and text © by Jed Jenson