TSMC YF-16 1/72

 Hi there.

The Japanese Tokio Scale Model Club TSMC regularly puts out new paper models. They usually are in or about 1/72 and the three models I have made are amazingly accurate in their shape. And if they aren't, then the designers have done an amazing job in recreating the flowing curves in fuselages with the minimum of means and parts.

This time I made their recently released YF-16. Miku-chan, the designer, worried about the difficulty and was not sure whether the complex curves of the model would hold in paper.  (this is a link to the instructions translated to English by the way) 

But they do. I think it is a very good looking model.

 

More on the build after the jump.

Yes, the shape is hard. But then, the F-16 has a blended body shape which is kind of hard to reproduce in paper. The fuselage almost seamlessly flows into the wing and the body from the back end to the front kind of splits into the pilot's section and that air sucker below it.

I think the designer solved that issue in a wonderful way. Let's start with the fuselage main section. It is just two parts, like a Zio plane.
Just by glueing them together, you create the characteristic flowing shape.

The TSMC models all have those typical green glue tabs so you know what to glue. I often cut them off to replace them with inner glue strips to get a more seamless effect. I did the two fuselage halves in that way. I also used little balls to roll the fuselage into a more fluent shape. Then the wings, one big part that has to be folded and glued, is placed below the red chines.

 

 

With an inner glue strip I first attached the forward part of the lower fuselage.
When finally in position, the red part aligns with the upper fuselage's red part.

I rounded the chine with a knitting needle I 'rubbed' along the glue edge after it was drier,
but not yet cured. The glue rseidues were removed after the photo. (-:

The photos right above here, you see the process of addeing the lower part of the fuselage. Two parts that slightly curve along the centre line. The foreward part of the chines toward the wings have to be edge glued. After it was dry to the touch I tried to get a little more of a rounded edge into the chines to blend them better into the wing shape.

 

Now there appeared to be a little problem. The belly is a little bulging in the centre line. That looks really good. And according to the glue surfaces it is like it should be. But the rear piece apparently should be flat. It is a little too wide for that (at least in my build) and so I got this problem when I added the main gear wheel well box:

I solved it by cutting the green surface in two places so I could add the landing gear box on the flattened part. Then the curved lower belly part went over and was glued in place.

This part needs to be folded and shaped in a special way in the back. I made the mostake to make a sharp fold right next to the chines/air brake surface but that needs to be further in. You will see why in a couple of photos.

This needs to be fitted with great precision. I was a little messy here. Also, I should have cut open the two little slits on the blue surface further back on the part. The two protruding small strips in front are best left unglued until the forward part (the air inlet) is in place.
Then you can get the two strips nice right into their place..

The air inlet.Many parts together. Didn't make more pictures of the construction but it actually is really straightforward. Outer part needs to be curved and shaped rightly, then the inner opart is shoved in from the back. On top goes a triangular shape as a splitter between the fuselage and the inlet. I glued that part against the fuselage before I added this part. Mine was a little hard to see, after the inlet was in place because I needed to keep the outline of the inlet and the rear part of the lower fuselage intact.

(does that make sense?

Then: problem. The jet exhaust pipe was far to small for the body. Or rather the other way round: the fusealge was too wide for the pipe. I realised the body didn't have that sharp fold right after the chine into the round body shape but that it needed to be further inward. So I rolled and re-folded the fuselage carefully with tweezers so the fit was better. I didn't use the TSMC ring-part but made my own out of sturdy card:

 

I fitted the engine parts inside and the tapered part of the jet engine was glued to the edges of the ring. I shoved it into the fuselage and glued the top and bottom part first and rounded the fuselage around the ring next. This is how it looked afterwards:

 

Neat. Then the canopy. A multi-petaled part with a bit of an odd colour (the original canopy of the YF-16 didn't have that MLU-orange shine but was clear) but because it was hard to get rid of the white edges anyway I decided to paint it later on in a nice gold leaf colour.

The curving was done by using an embossing ball pen and a piece of chamois leather.
Works like a treat.

Well, next was getting the wheel struts and the wheels into place. I doubled them up on card to give them some mass and sturdiness. I used pictures of the original plane's wheel wells to get the position right because the TSMC photos on their instructions were kind of small and under-detailed.

The two ventral fins were also edge glued. I needed to adjust the upper part a little to get them positioned in the right way. I also decided to leave off the sidewinders. The launch rails of course must be installed. And there you have it. These models are fun to build! And I love the overall right impression of the plane.

 

Up next? Who knows? Who cares? Just wait and see. You will be as surprised as I am.