Completed : Academy 1/48 Lockheed Martin F-16A Fighting Falcon ‘TOPGUN 51’
Kit Info Brand: Academy 1688 Scale: 1/48 Media: Styrene Markings: TwoBobs ‘F-16 NSAWC Vipers’ 48-069 The Subject The Lockheed Martin (originally General Dynamics) F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter. It currently serves in at least 25 nations, with over 4,400 aircraft built. Commonly known as the ‘Viper’, it...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 A-4F Skyhawk Pt. 1 – Construction
I’ve been wanting to build an A-4 Skyhawk armed for an Iron Hand (air defense suppression) mission for a while now and have heard good things about the Fujimi kit. Let’s see how it goes together shall we? The ejection seat has very fine belts molded on but I replaced them with 0.7mm masking tape …...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.6 – Painting & Finishing
So we finally come to the meat and potato parts of the build: painting and finishing. I begin with a base coat of Mr Hobby Black Surfacer 1500 thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner which results in a smooth and semi-gloss surface. This is now my go-to base coat when I can spray outdoors. For the …...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.5 – Construction
It’s been a long WIP but it’s finally the last post for this one. The kit only comes with decals for the console details although it comes with detailed foot pedals. Very odd choice by Academy. There’s no open canopy option although I’ve always intended to keep this one closed anyway so I’ll live with...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.4 – Construction
Since I took the time to correct 1 aspect of the kit, I inevitably had to go ahead and try to correct the other more obvious ones. Unlike the Hasegawa kit, the missile rails here are separate but was designed to fit in a strange way with the connecting point being visible. The tab also …...
Completed : Hobbyboss 1/72 Grumman F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41 Black Aces’
Kit Info Brand: Hobbyboss 80276 Scale: 1/72 Media: Styrene Markings: Wolfpak Decals 72-048 ‘TAC-Air’ The Subject The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft developed for the United States Navy’s Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.3- Construction
Work continues wiith corrections and making my life easier after assembly. The Aggressor F-16A usually flies clean without any pylons and stores. The kit comes with the holes for the pylons already open and will need to be filled. First I closed up the holes from the inside with plastic plates. I then inserted sprues …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41’ Pt.4 – Finishing
OK it’s time to finish this kit and I can call another one done. I painted the missiles on the side while everything was going on. Hobbyboss provides black missile bands for some odd reason but I’m now used to simply mask and spray them instead. Wolfpak only includes the markings relevant to the subject …...
WIP : Hobbyboss 1/72 F-14A Tomcat ‘VF-41’ Pt.3 – Painting
My painting process has been quite standard now for a while with minor variations depending on the subject at hand and how ‘beat up’ I want the end result to be. As usual I began with a stealth coat of black. For this buld, I sprayed Mr Surfacer Black thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner outdoors. …...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.2 – Construction
More work with plastic plates in this post. Let’s get to it. The gearbays on this kit are all bare. This is especially obvious when comparing them to the ones on the Tamiya kit. The intake when fitted leaves a noticeable step on the port side joint. Luckily it’s only a matter of trimming the …...
