1/32 Tamiya  F-16CJ

by Jed ‘Jedi’ Jenson

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This is my 1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ that I completed some time ago.  This kit was a blast to build.  Much has already been said/reviewed about this particular kit, so I just wanted to post some pictures.  

I’m just a poor college kid w/out gobs of $$ and seeing as this kit cost me all of my text books for this semester, I can’t afford aftermarket debris. So I had to do some scratch building stuff here—which was just all of the plumbing in the landing gear, the engine/intake covers and the pitot tube cover thingies. This was my first attempt to ever scratch build anything.  I tried to follow the references here on ARC as closely as I could.  Personally, I felt that this kit was just fine OOB, and didn’t really need a lot of further attention. 

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 I painted it using MM enamels, and the decals are straight from the box.  Testors Gloss Clear Coat was sprayed so the decals would go on smooth, then I coated over that with Future.  I like to do an enamel wash, and because Future is an acrylic, the wash won’t eat through to the paint.  Then I sprayed Testors Dull Coat for the final touch.  

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I saw my wife using this pencil thingy to draw around her eyes for some of her makeup.  This particular type of pencil is called “eye liner.”  It has very, very soft lead, and when I poked it on to several rivets, I found that rubbing my finger across it produced a cool oil streak stain.  The more you rub it, the lighter it becomes, and you don’t need water or anything to get it off.  So I weathered the aircraft using this and the enamel wash.  Some people might think that it’s a bit too dirty, but I like dirty looking planes.  

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Two things to note:  I thought that the “bird slicer” antennas looked really, really cool, so I stuck them on.  And after I painted the plane, I read that they no longer use the 3-tone paint scheme…  But I still like the looks of it.  

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This kit is amazing and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it!       

Jed

Photos and text © by Jed Jenson