Now to document more pitfalls. Yay.
Part A7 in Step 4 has an alignment circle that is supposed to ensure it attaches to the rear upper fuselage. Remove it. Aft fuselage has a nice lip to glue A7 to. Without that circle can press the parts more firmly together and lessen the seam. Here we install either part C59 for MLU or C58 for non-MLU. With C58 glued in I had to use Tamiya putty because there was a 1/2mm gap on all sides.
Note: ignore part E6 though it looks like C59.
Speaking of seams, Step 7 will introduce you to a whole host of possible seams to bedevil the modeler. We join the fuselage halves in this step and install the various optional side panels in front of windscreen.
The upper fuselage chine overlaps the lower fuselage chine. In my experience with the F-16I using tape will not work to maintain adequate pressure to keep the parts close while the glue sets. Plus I wasn't paying as much attention to this area like I am with the F-16AM. Clamps will only for the back part on each side. The curve of the upper chine defeats clamps so I had to physically hold the parts close while applying glue. Following photos will show this.
Finally one more bit of info. As the halves are being test fitted look at the fuselage where the speed brakes are. On the F-16I and this kit the lower fuselage angles out a little here. Nothing major, just noticeable. A little sanding should fix it.
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
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1. Gap before pressing close and gluing.
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1. After pressing the parts together, gluing, and holding. Much smaller problem.
2. Only filler so far.
