1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ

 Fighting Falcon On line build   Part. 12

Decaling the weapons

by Steve Bridges

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For decaling the weapons, I used the kit decals.  Comparing the AIM-9 markings to those on the TwoBobs shows that  most, if not all the markings are included.

I used the Testors Gloss Coat on the weapons as well.  I've never had a problem with it yellowing for those of you who are wondering.

The Tamiya decals respond well to Microsol and Microset.

As you can tell from the photos, I tend to use hemostats and toothpicks a lot to hold small parts when painting or spraying.

The mounting recesses on the missiles in the kit work great with a toothpick with the tip cut off.

Drop tanks 

For the 370 gallon drop tanks, the decals were a mix of kit decals and decals from sheet 32-031 from TwoBobs.

The stripes on the sides of the tanks are 3 part decals.  A yellow/white part, a blue part, and the wolf's heads.

I couldn't quite tell where the stripes started and ended.  I placed them in various locations, but decided the aft end of the strip should butt up against the fin on the drop tank.  To my eye, this looks the best.

After the first part of the decal was completely dry I put the blue section on, and waited for that to be completely dry before I put the wolf's head on.

The kit decals to mark the filler ports and the lift points responded well to Microsol/Microset, and I didn't have any silvering problems.

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GBU-31

There are minimal decals for these -- 2 stencils for each side of the tail assembly, and a yellow stripe for the nose.

 

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AN/ALQ-184

There are quite a few stencils for this, including 5 little up arrows for each side

AIM-9M

Finally, Tamiya gives us proper markings!  I checked some of my older Tamiya kits, and they used a curious mix of live and inert markings.

 

 

AIM-120

No special notes here

Steve

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Photos and text © by Steve Bridges