Wait. I thought I had already built a Block 30 F-16C already? Alas, I made a mistake with that one: the exhaust is that of a Block 25 Viper but carries the correct markings of a Block 30. I also really don’t like how I dealt with the walkway markings on that build. I’m now considering stripping the markings off that one and repaint it as a correct Block 25. In any case, onwards with this build first.
The usual dressing up of the ejection seat was done with masking tape and plastic plates.
After some careful painting and decal application and washes. I’m one of those who aren’t too bothered with decals for console details as I always build my aircraft with the canopy closed.
Looks busy enough under the closed canopy.
Now the crux of this whole build: the Block 30 exhaust. This kit doesn’t come with this part but a later boxing of the Block 50 F-16CJ does. Like the original part, this one also has part of the fuselage molded on so I have to pre-paint and mask it off before attaching to the kit.
This is my fourth go at this kit and I can pretty much build it without looking at the instructions. The only modification is how the horizontal stabs fit as the kit’s way is not ideal.
This will be built as a Viper that served during Desert Storm and will be configured for SEAD. At this time, the HTS pod wasn’t carried and the F-16 was used primarily as part of a Hunter/Killer team with the F-4G Wild Weasel. The AGM-88 and adapters come from the Academy F-16 kit and are quite nice. I added some extra details to the fins of the kit AIM-9 missiles and the ALQ-131 pod is from a Hasegawa Weapon Set.
The pod is mounted on the center pylon. The one in the picture below is the kit part that’s used by the centerline fuel tank. Note that I’d attached the main landing gear already. I get a stronger fit this way compared to only during final assembly. I do this for the pylons too.
The pod butt joins to the pylon which is not ideal.
I added brass pins to the pylon to get a stronger join with the pod. I also noted that the pylon should be shorter (which I marked out in blue).
A test fit after trimming the pylon.
But what is this? The pylon barely clears the landing gear.
I went back to check references again and noted that the pylon should be thinner so I went ahead and trimmed the part.
The clearance is much better now. I’m not entirely sure this is accurate but it’ll have to do.
I replaced the kit HUD with thin triangles cut from 0.18mm plastic plate for the mount and a small piece of thin acetate for the HUD itself. Looks much better.
The canopy rail was painted up and some masking work further done for the black trim. This part is always hit or miss for me as I can only see the result after I remove the masking tape in the last stages. There should be a more ‘guaranteed’ way of doing this. Also note the discharge lines on the side of the nose in front of the AOA probes which were done using stretched sprue. They are somewhat oversized but should look fine under a coat of paint.
There’s clean-up in the usual places like the wingroots, intake and exhaust join line but otherwise, it’s all straightforward from here. Painting is next.
Build Log
Pt.1 – Construction | Pt.2 – Painting & Finishing
