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Sam_AMD
Community Manager

F-16CJ Build – What I do when I Don’t Play Video Games

I just finished playing Dead Space (Remake) and it was a blast. Loved it! Solid 9.5 out of 10! And have been “coaching” our Chief Inspiration Officer @Wally_AMD  on how to get around the USG Ishimura.

When I don’t play video games I dive into my other hobby; building scale model kits, specifically airplanes from the cold war era.

I just finished building the Tamiya F-16CJ Fighting Falcon Block 50. It was my first 1/32 scale built, and man, I loved it. There is a reason why the kit has a 5-star rating – everything about the kit is awesome, especially the removable engine, and the various weapon load-outs, not to mention the detailed cockpit and pilot.

I’m not a pro, but I humbly believe I did a pretty good job; it took me a little over a month to finish it, and overall, I’m satisfied with the result. I spent about 2 to 4 hours at night, in my garage where I’ve set up a small workshop for my new-found hobby. (I’m planning on building the F-4 C/D Phantom II next – one of my cousins flew one when he was in the IRAF, and I got to sit the in cockpit when I was 6 years old, I’ll never forget it).

Here are a few pics:

Engine and Cart:

Cart_1.jpg

 

Engine_a.jpg

Engine_d.jpg

Engine_e.jpg

Engine_b.jpg

 Engine_c.jpg

 

Cockpit (my favorite part to assemble):

Cockpit_a.jpg

Cockpit_c.jpg

Cockpit_f.jpg



Cockpit_d.jpg

Cockpit_g.jpg

  Cockpit_e.jpg

 

Pilot:

Pilot_a.jpg

Pilot_b.jpg


Pilot_c.jpg
Pilot_d.jpg Pilot_e.jpg

 Pilot_f.jpg

 

Weapons and Seat:

Seat_a.jpg

Seat_b.jpg Seat_c.jpg
Weapons_acc_a.jpg

Weapons_acc_b.jpg Weapons_acc_c.jpg

 

Done (I'll take more, better, higher-rez pics):

Done_1.jpg

Done_3.jpg
Done_2.jpg

Engine_d.jpg

 

What about you, are you into model kits?

Sam
Your biggest fan!
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800XT
16 Replies
rtbh99
Challenger

oh dang you went all in on painting, ive only done that for one model ever, a dornier do-335. its been so long since i made a model plane, but i do have a model space probe i got from japan i would like to build and paint sometime. i guess the most recent models ive done have all been gundam, and those dont require glue.

imported from japan :oimported from japan 😮

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lets talk about rtbh99
Sam_AMD
Community Manager

Ha ha! Nice! How old is that model? When did you buy it?

I have a few pre-built Gundam robots, and to tell you the truth I'm itching to build one and paint it too. 

Sam
Your biggest fan!
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800XT

i did a little research and the model is from 2010! i only got it a few months ago.

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lets talk about rtbh99
Sam_AMD
Community Manager

Be sure to share a few pics when you're done, I'd love to see it.

Sam
Your biggest fan!
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800XT
eebiii
Forerunner

Really Cool!

Wish I had the patience for it. 

Axxemann
Forerunner

Looking good, @Sam_AMD! This Military Aviation geek approves!

When you do the F-4, are you going to do it up in IRAF livery as a hat tip to your cousin?

If I ever get back into scale models again (I was into it when I was a kid) I really want to build a few Canadian fighters. CF-100, Sabre Mk6, CF-105, maybe have a second crack at the CF-101, CF-104, CF-188 and CF-116s that I built and lost long ago.

Performance over Pretty.

🙂

I would like to, but this kit does not include the decals for IRAF (the F-14 does). 

Oh man, the Sabre Mk6 (F-86) is the way to go! A classic, so much history behind that plane. I wish Tamiya would make it in a 1/32 or 1/48 scale. 

Sam
Your biggest fan!
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800XT

The big question for the Mk6 is this: What livery? RCAF European camo? Polished metal? Golden Hawks?

I think the Voodoo would be done in Lynx One livery, the CF-116 as Moose One when they used to do air show demos. The CF-188, man I could pick all kinds of sweet liveries for that one. Any of the Demo schemes, Silver Fox One, the list goes on. I'd also love to get my hands on a couple of CT-114s. Golden Centennaires, Snowbirds, and even an AETE livery.

Performance over Pretty.
tekasza
Adept II

Looks awesome! I used to build models when I was a kid, and I am thinking about getting back into them again. But - I need to keep it to one hobby at a time.

I watched a lot of PLASMO and other model-building YouTube channels for a while. They're what made me think about getting into it again.

I know the "kid in me" is what got me back into this hobby. I didn't have the patience and the funds to do it back in the day. 

I have to ask, what's your hobby?

Sam
Your biggest fan!
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800XT
0 Likes

Currently, my hobby is making custom USB controllers for flight simulators. I'm mostly playing DCS. I'll post a couple pictures of my project below. I am making two consoles that I will mount as drawers in a desk. They're just sitting on boxes now while I test them out, so my setup looks pretty janky. I'm currently making the custom joystick that will go on the right-side console.

The learning curve has been crazy. I never programmed an Arduino before (or anything for that matter), and I had very little experience with soldering. So a few hundred hours has gone into learning - what parts to buy, how best to carve out the throttle and joystick, how to work with the cheap tools I have, how best to wire and solder things, how to program Arduino and Teensy controllers, and how to troubleshoot everything when it doesn't work.

20230521_185531.jpg

 

20230521_185144.jpg

 

Dude... that looks fantastic. I was a big sim geek back in the 90s, but never hand the funds to go with a full HOTAS setup. Heck, my folks thought I was off my rocker because I spent a whopping $80CAD on a Suncom F-15 flight stick. I regret tossing it out when I was in my mid-20s because two of the buttons died. That thing felt so good to use I think it would have been a prime candidate for a USB and sensor conversion.

Performance over Pretty.

Thanks!

I saw some videos on people converting old Suncoms to USB. I was thinking about getting one from ebay and doing the same. They're pretty awesome for their age. It's funny that you can spend $500 to $1000 on a HOTAS nowadays.

@BigAl01 - Yes, I'm about to step out and try a unique solution. I bought a few load cells to make a force-sensing joystick instead of a gimbal-based joystick. I hope I can get it to work since I haven't seen anyone do the same thing. I'll have to post it on youtube if it works well.

BigAl01
Volunteer Moderator

Making something into a learning experience almost always pays dividends down the road.  Maybe you'll come up with some unique solution that others will want to try.  

As Albert Einstein said, "I could have done so much more with a Big Al's Computer!".
0 Likes
BigAl01
Volunteer Moderator

That's a fantastic job.  I don't see an airbrush in your pictures, just the small paint jars.  That suggests that you only use a brush to paint the models.  I used to be into model making, and I had even entered (an won 1st place in the Novice division of the International Plastic Modelers Society) a Panzer III model I made back in 1975.  After a few moves the models were pretty well banged up and the glue started letting go, so I gave it up.  My older sisters husband (who passed a few years ago) was into the Japanese WWII aircraft and he had collected over 1,000 model kits.  He only built about 50 models in total but they were extremely well done.  It was his passion.  Needless to say, my sister had to deal with all those model kits but she got a fair price from someone that took all of them with a U-Haul truck.

 

IMG_1697.jpeg

As Albert Einstein said, "I could have done so much more with a Big Al's Computer!".

Sheesh! That was 4 years before I was born!

Performance over Pretty.