Other mods
Tamiya have engineered this kit to allow them to punch out most variants of the F-16. Here we need to remove a panel on the starboard forward fuselage as it’s not needed by any of the variant in this boxing.
As I have now touched just about every major component in this kit, I believe I can safely say it is the most amazingly engineered 1:48 model I have ever built. The fit of the parts is simply stunning. To highlight this fact, you can see here two panels that need to be installed (I assume to allow other variants to be built). Look closely at the panels and realise that I have used no filler or sanding to get this result. The tolerances on this model really are that good. You can also see a couple more panels that needed to be removed for this variant.
I want to put drop tanks on this model, so needed the inner pylons. Here we see the stainless steel pin I referred to earlier.
Here we see the pylon being mated to the tank. The pylon has the pin and the tank has a poly cap inside
As you would expect with a modern Tamiya kit, there is not much extra work that needs to be done. Simple stuff like opening intake vents helps add that extra bit of eye candy to enhance your model. Here we see the intake on the forward edge of the vertical tail base as provided by Tamiya.
With a little effort from a #80 drill and a fresh blade tip, we can open up the front of the vent.
