Building An Aftermarket Arctic Bandit in 1/48th Scale

By  Ed Kinney, IPMS# 2989

Cast of Characters: Tamiya F-16C, Block 25/32 and Detail up set MSRP: $38.94 and $11.00 Supplied by: Hobbylink Japan, www.hlj.com Tamiya F-16C, Block 50 MSRP: $60.00 Supplied by: Ed Kinney's Wallet! Aires F-16C Cockpit Set MSRP: $27.95 Supplied by: Aires, www.aires.cz Afterburner Decals F-16 C Aggressors MSRP: $20.00 Supplied by: Afterburner Decals, www.afterburnerdecals.com The Modern Viper Guide MSRP: $39.95 Supplied by: Reid Air Publications, www.reidairpublishing.com When a short time ago, pictures of the Alaska based Aggressor Squadron Aircraft were released, my reaction was WOW! For a paint scheme with very little color, that's really striking. Shortly thereafter, several decal sheets surfaced devoted to these subjects, and the one that fell into my lap was the Afterburner sheet previously reviewed by yours truly on the IPMS website. Within the detailed instruction sheets, the explanation of what's needed to create the various offerings and in essence, should you decide to duplicate this effort, you'll want to use the following components: · Tamiya 1/48th F-16C Block 25/32 · Tamiya 1/48th F-16C Block 50 Simply put, parts will need to be exchanged from both kits consisting of the intake and exhaust parts to create the correct Block #30 aircraft used. The good news is that after the swap, you're left with a Block #52 kit, for which there are several nice markings available. (A little F-16ology here, courtesy of Jake Melampy - if the Block# ends in a "0", the aircraft has the large mouthed intake and Pratt/Whitney burner can.) And you'll need the following: · Afterburner decal sheet "Arctic Aggressors" · Aires F-16C Cockpit · Tamiya Detail parts (scab plates and pitot tubes) · ACMI Pod (Hasegawa weapons set # D) · The Modern Viper Guide by Jake Melampy As to construction, both these aircraft have been reviewed on the IPMS website, and I can safely say there are no issues in terms of fit issues, and again, the quality of the kit is outstanding. Images show the scab patches installed prior to painting to be quite nice in appearance and the aluminum pitot tube and SAS sensors are well worth having. Caution needs to be used in bending the radius of the nose patches. I used a large paint brush handle with a substantial taper that worked out well. The Aires F-16C cockpit was used and while more detailed then the kit offering, it required much more filing and fitting to marry the two. Sadly, one side of the instrument panel didn't even come close to fitting and was discarded with the kit decal instruments being used for that segment. A fair amount of Apoxie Sculpt was used to "fair in" the aft portion of the tub. The end result, even with the aforementioned glitches looks quite good and is certainly a step above the adequate kit cockpit.

Time for paint … Model Master Enamels were used throughout, except for the burner can, and the full color instruction sheets are most helpful. The colors used for the camouflage were flat black, lightened 15% with white, camouflage grey FS 36622, and dark gull grey FS 36321. Neutral grey was used for the radome and the burner can was painted with shades of Alclad II. After painting, the aircraft was gloss coated using Alclad II clear (honey colored) primer. Decals were applied in standard fashion, using the Micro Scale System. It needs to be stated here that these decals were printed by Cartograf and are amongst some of the finest I've ever had the pleasure of using. The overseas manufacturers are not limited to the use of certain dyes that we are here in the USA. This translates to a much improved opacity and trueness of colors. The register was right on, and while the decals themselves are thin, they are not so much so as to be unmanageable should one get inadvertently folded over during application. In short, these are super in both appearance and ease to work with. My choice of markings was the 18th Aggressor Squadron Commanders aircraft based at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Afterburner supplies walkway stripes, but in doing research, I found that not all aircraft had these applied. The instruction sheets state that the aircraft were painted in three different facilities, so check your references carefully. After the decals dried, an acrylic wash of acrylic "Davey's Grey" was applied to pop out the details and this followed with Testors Dullcote completes the picture. I liked the finished presentation so much that I intend to duplicate the aircraft in 1/32nd scale using the Academy kit. In conclusion, there are quite a few "Thank Yous" that need to be passed along. The F-16C 25/32kit and the Scab Plate Set were supplied by Joseph Tsai of Hobby Link Japan, the Aires F-16C cockpit set was supplied by David Lajer of Aires, Scott Brown of Afterburner decals supplied the outstanding decal sheet and inspiration for the project and last but certainly not least, "The Modern Viper Guide" by Jake Melampy. My sincere thanks to all these suppliers.

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