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F-16AM Block 15 323 Sqn Klu

Started by David Odenwald · 60 ≡ · ↻ 2 months ago

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Spiros Pendedekas said 5 months, 2 weeks ago:

Excellent job on the chute, my friend @kahu! Looking forward to your progress!
David Odenwald said 5 months, 2 weeks ago:

Thanks Spiros @fiveten. Vipers are not my usual choice and my last foray with the Kinetic F-16I resulted in a kit of disappointment.

Managed to cut the Eduard boarding ladder out and only had to superglue the handrail back on. Instructions say RLM80 is a paint option.

Think will try to get the vertical tail finished, then paint and decal to motivate me for rest of kit.

Another interesting bit of info is how the main wheel hubs seem a glossy black but nose wheel is white.
David Odenwald said 4 months, 2 weeks ago:

Step 2 and 11 concern the main landing gear. C47 and C49 are installed in Step 11 but I fitted them here in Step 2 to make sure things align, not glued them in. C46 and C50 are the gear bay bulkheads, had to sand and scrape the inner curved surfaces for a good fit to intake trunking. Then I painted it all with Tamiya Flat White.

Just as an FYI, parts C47 and C65 are shown in the instructions but no part number is printed. Hence my notes. I hope with the new Kinetic F-16 kits they don't have these issues.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
George R Blair Jr said 4 months, 2 weeks ago:

This looks like a really great contribution to the F1-6 Group, David (@kahu), especially with the special markings on the tail. Looking forward to the rest of the build.
David Odenwald said 4 months, 2 weeks ago:

Thanks George. Next on my list is the vertical tail. Got it all glued together, need to prime and fix any errors found. Once that's done on to a white base coat followed by doing everything to apply the Diana decals.
John vd Biggelaar said 4 months, 2 weeks ago:

Good approach on the main landing gear, David @kahu
The flat white looks very nice.
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 months, 2 weeks ago:

Great progress, my friend @kahu!
David Odenwald said 4 months, 2 weeks ago:

So getting around to the cockpit with Eduard PE and the fun continues as I finally take a close look at what Kinetic calls an ACES II ejection seat. I have seen sharper details on a scoop of ice cream. So aftermarket it will be.

On the 'bright' side, Kinetic includes two ejection seats in the kit and of the same sharpness of detail.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
David Odenwald said 4 months ago:
Well slowly making progress and finding more pitfalls in kit and instructions.

Parts J1 and J2 form the outer intake skin. In the photo there are little triangular plastic bits that are not mentioned in the instructions, in fact the instructions do not explicitly show the modeler what they are for. You will only need them if your MLU F-16 carries the SNIPER and ECM pods on these intake stations. So had to remove them for my build.

Test fitted the main gear bay and intake trunking in to find another issue, it would not mate flush with lower fuselage thus leaving a gap on aft gear bulkhead and fuselage. So had to open up the square locator holes so the square pins would fit. Then clamped each side of intake to fuselage and glued. Once that was done the bulkhead gap vanished.

Another problem is the amount of flash I keep finding. Just enough to make things not fit right. Then there is part C5 which is 1mm long and attaches to nose gear. Why did Kinetic make a part so small it almost looks like excess plastic on the sprue tree? Don't know but managed to lose it.

So that's where I am at. Stay tuned.
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Intake station attachment point.

2. Left side intake attachment point.
David Odenwald said 4 months ago:
Well I found another fit issue, at front edge of the wings there is a gap that prevents the upper and lower wing from meeting. After studying it for a bit discovered the issue.

Part A7 which is the forward upper fuselage part has a bit too much, how do I say this, plastic where the leading edge slats glue into. The solution is to trim it down until it is flush with upper wing.

Here are before and after photos. Right side shows this issue. Left side has been fixed.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Gap!
1. No gap
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 months ago:

This kit is definitely giving you fit issues, but you tackle them in an excellent manner, my friend @kahu!
Louis Gardner said 4 months ago:

David Odenwald (@kahu)

I just read your entire build journal from the very beginning to now. I like the choice of markings you picked out for it... It will definitely draw some attention. Sorry to hear about the troubles you are having with the fit of some parts. Hopefully you will get things sorted out and it will not be too hard of a fix. Looks like you are on your way to doing this.

Keep it going, and I look forward to seeing your next updates.
John vd Biggelaar said 4 months ago:

Clearly not the easiest kit, David @kahu
For sure you will tackle those issues.
David Odenwald said 4 months ago:

Spiro@fiveten.
This is the second Kinetic F-16 I have banged my head against so I am proceeding very slowly and triple checking things. Which is preventing some of the issues I had with the F-16I. But causing me find others. So much winning. Maybe I should just get a Tamiya F-16 and start from there.
David Odenwald said 4 months ago:

Thanks Louis.

Keep plugging away slowly and surely I will get an F-16 right? Right?

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F-16 at 50

F-16AM Block 15 323 Sqn Klu