airliner-civil-aircraft-modeller.com

by **hrtpaul** » Mon Nov 12, 2018 7:30 pm

So you guys should know by now that I have a thing for aggressors by now. I listen to a brilliant podcast (https://www.fighterpilotpodcast.com/) run by ex US Navy F/A-18 pilot Vincent Aiello, callsign “Jell-O”. It turns out he flew the USN F-16A aggressors at NAS Fallon between May 2013 and March 2015 which is the home to, among other things, TOPGUN. So I decided to build one of the jets he flew. I wanna have this done by the 50th anniversary of TOPGUN on 3 March 2019. He sent me all the numbers of the F-16's he flew so at least I had somewhere to start. As it turns out the decals are gonna be the problem. I've got a set coming from Barbados and I won a rare set on eBay last night so hopefully I can mix and match. I can't decide on a colour scheme until they arrive. So I started the construction and the cockpit was first. It's all OOB except Jell-O's oxygen hose which I made by curling 1 wire around another one. I also tilted his head slightly. Unfortunately Jell-O wore a yellow visor and not the usual black one so I had to give him eyes as well as the yellow visor. My figure painting sux so his eyes look a bit weird but they're the best I could do. I painted his tshirt under his slying suit and even added an American flag patch on his left shoulder. I'm pretty happy how the cockpit has come up. As this will be displayed flying, I closed the U/C doors but not before casting copies for another F-16 that I've had on the shelf of doom for years and lost the U/C for it. I haven't figured out how I'm gonna mount it yet. So onto the pics.

Before his pupils are added

Completed cockpit. Not a fan of his eyes

by **hrtpaul** » Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:24 pm

Holy sh*t it's been that long since my first post

This has progressed at a snail's pace and consequently I've missed the 50th anniversary of TOPGUN which was March 2019

Anyway as I said it's been slow progress but since my last post I've given Jello eyebrows which I forgot, closed the fuselage up and fitted the wings. It's currently sitting in primer awaiting a few corrections and then some colour. I want to get this done as I have a few more hangar queens that need finishing before I can start something new. Hopefully the next pic will be with some colour applied.

by **RayS** » Thu Apr 30, 2020 3:21 pm

Well get on with it man! I had forgotten about the one to tell the truth!

by **hrtpaul** » Thu May 21, 2020 2:48 pm

After a few repairs etc I got some primer on this the other day. I have just realised I forgot to prime the stabs so I guess I'd better do them at some stage. Hope I'll get at least the first tan colour on this next week.