Well guys… As you know, I model in different subject, mainly because it helps me avoid getting burn out from doing the same stuff all the time.
So the last few months I have been doing some sci-fi projects, but lately have been etching to getting back to an aircraft…
I am not a big fan of the f-16, but I fell in love with the Japanese Mitsubishi F-2B two seater. And after building it about a year ago, I started to think about displaying it with an F-16B…
I was lucky to pick up an F-16B Hasegawa kit for only $15 recently, and so I have spent the last few days putting her together…It is the 1/48 kit…
The F-2B kit is also the Hasegawa kit… I have also decided to take the landing gear off the F-2 and I will display both of them in flight on a nice wooded base together…
Actually many think it is… And it does look like an F-16. But it is a completely different aircraft… Its larger in size… Its longer, its wider, and the surface area of the wings are about 1/3 larger. All the electronics are Japanese and avionics are Japanese also…
I do believe though, that the F-2 is a part of the F-16 family however… Hopefully someone can clarify that?
Yeah, I think the story goes that the Japanese were looking for something to replace their aging Mitsubishi T-2A’s and B’s… The problem was they werent able to justify spending the money on a new domestic replacement, and so looked at an existing platform to work off… The thing is, that although they used the f-16 as its guide. The whole aircraft was built and designed in Japan from scratch and including the fact that the US wasnt going to share its secrets. All avionics and fly by wire systems had to be engineered by the Japanese themselves. Thus creating a truelly generic version… When you break it down, and even though it has been included in the F-16 family. The only thing that the F-2 has in common with an F-16, is a basic outline and shape, and thats about it!
I have painted the F-16B, and all that is left is finishing the detail on the cockpit, decals and weathering, and then I will build the base for both the F-16B and the F-2B to be displayed together… Here are the latest pics I have taken so far… In the first pic, you can see the size difference between the two of them. The Japanese Mitsubishi F-2B is about 1/3 larger than the F-16B
Dont let the picture fool you… The F-2 is a big machine compared to the F-16… The fact that the little guy is on front makes it seem that they are similar in size. But they are not…
Hey Chris, that’s some nice work you have there! I think the F-16 looks so silly with two seats!!! You always have such clever ideas for displaying your models. can’t wait to see this one!
Oh, a quick question for you… How do you detail the cockpit after the bird is sealed up and painted?
Thanks TANGO, they look a bit boring at the momment like that, but once I have them sitting the way that I see them in my head. Then I hope it turns out well…
Max… I detail and build the cockpit before I put the main fueselage together. Plus the canopy fits snug, but it isnt glued into place yet. That will be the last thing that I will do… The first thing I did with this kit, was build and paint the pilots. Then I did the seats, and then the cockpit tubs. Once I had them in place, I then put the main fuselage together…
Here is a picture of the cockpit while I was doing it… It wasnt fully done at this stage though…
That is a very nice display with the F-2 and F-16 together. A few noticeable physical differences I noted in the picture is the F-2 has a separate canopy & windscreen with the canopy shaped differently, the horizontal stab is larger and more of a “cut off back corner” along with the vertical fin root extension on the rear. I guess that has a parachute compartment in it???
Darwin, yes, they have a parachute compartment. The more I look at it, the more you can see the difference in them… And yes, it does have a windscreen and a canopy… Infact it looks a whole lot sexyier than the F-16 shape…
Nice job, they’ll make a nice display together. I spent a couple of years as a crew chief on F-16B’s (we called them 'B’usses) strapping students into the cockpits with the 56TTW at MacDill in the late 80’s, working mostly 78-103 and 80-0628, they were both pretty good jets that are now retired at Davis Monthan.
Yes, the F-2 is kind of like the F-16’s second cousin. (You know, that weird one that nobody mentions…) It was terribly expensive (could have almost had F-22’s today) and at least a good proportion of the mods didn’t work out for the best.
Thanks mike… Well I have actually finished the F-16B, and I have mounted them to the base, I am just working out the illustration that I want to display on the base stand… I will take some pics tonight and will upload them…
Instead of putting the planes on a wooden stand, why not make a nice pice of plexasglass. And use the same thing to hold your planes up, and they will look like they are realling flying.
I saw this at a model show once and it really neat.
