1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ

 Fighting Falcon On line build   Part 5   Steps 27-34

by Steve Bridges

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Steps 27-34 involve cockpit assembly, ejection seat, and assembly of the upper fuselage.

Step 27 -- Main Cockpit

The 1st step I did was the base painting of all the parts in this step.  I used MM Dark Gull Gray for the cockpit tub sidewalls, consoles, and rear bulkhead.  While I was going through the F-16 walk around book for details on the switches, the color in the book  looked lighter, possibly Light Ghost Gray (which is what the instructions called for).

Also, part G14 should have the main rod painted Tamiya Titanium Gold, with the base of it aluminum.

There are no surprises in this step, except that the throttle lock is missing

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Step 28 -- How to cut out photoetch parts

This step is left out from this article

Step 29 -- Ejection Seat

I'm glad that Tamiya finally included belts in one of their jet kits.  With all the F-15s, F-14s, and F-4s I've built from them, I've always replaced the kit seats with aftermarket seats due to the lack of belts.

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From looking at the F-16 Walk Around book from Squadron, I noticed that there were 2 possible seat cushion colors.  One of them was a black sheepskin cushion, and the other one was an off-shade of green.  I searched high and low for a close match, and finally came up with an old bottle of Floquil British interior gray green.  Since the bottle was old, and paint extremely thin, it gave a nice worn appearance.

I assembled all the parts except for the ejection trigger (part G6) and sprayed the seat Light Ghost Gray.  This gives a nice contrast to the dark gull gray cockpit.

The bailout bottle of oxygen was painted Willow Green for the bottle, Light Ghost Gray for the mounting bracket, Titanium gold for the valve assembly, and aluminum for the gauge (the gauge itself has a black face).

After the seat detail painting was done, I added the belts (which I painted a light gray) and the bailout bottle.

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Step 31 -- Lower fuselage parts and rudder pedals

No surprises here.  I lightly drybrushed the rudder pedals with some aluminum to give them a bit of wear.

 

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Step 32 -- Installing cockpit

The only note of caution in this section is to paint the area of the lower fuselage under where the cockpit goes the color of the cockpit.  If the ejection seat is removed, then the different color from fuselage is visible through the hole in the bottom of the cockpit below the seat.

All the screws holding the cockpit down will be hidden (the forward one by the rudder pedals, and the rear one by the ejection seat rails.

 

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Step 33 -- Upper fuselage assembly

Take your time fitting B28 to A1.  If you are careful, there will be no seam and no step between the 2 parts.

After assembly, I sprayed the cockpit sill Testors MM Flat Black.

I also questioned whether the aerial refueling receptacle slipway door should be painted flat black, so I didn't paint it

I skipped a bit ahead in the instructions and installed the vertical stabilizer mounting hardware here.

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Step 34 -- Interior of upper fuselage

Take your time fitting parts A9, A10, A11, and A12.  If you are careful, there will be no seams to putty after joining the upper and lower fuselage halves in Step 35

I sprayed part F44 flat white after gluing in it, as well as the area where the square access panel where the M61 will go. 

Steve

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Photos and text © by Steve Bridges