Yoav's F-16A, 1:33, with landing gear

[Erik Zwaan]

Next is the nose gear. Very small parts that make up a very well designed part of the GPM model. I also reduced the nose gear to 90% of its size. The instruction drawings show the many number of parts that make up the entire gear. Similar to the main landing struts, the front gear looks fragile but it's in fact quite sturdy.

Originally I made the main wheels 90% in size as well but much to my surprise the model looked like leaning backwards, whereas it should be level. So, in the end I decided to use the original 100% size of the main wheels, which looks better. I superimposed pictures of the model on its 100% main wheels in a copy of the GPM instruction drawing and it's pretty much straight and level now. Perhaps I will sand the bottom part of the front wheel a bit and that's the best that can be done., saves another few 0.1s of a millimeter...

There are still a few details to be done, such as the landing light on the left main strut and applying a bit of weathering and dirt. The rubber black wheels look too clean, as well as the rest of the gear is too white.

I'm happy with the result but on a critical note, in hindsight the front gear is a bit too thick, actually slightly over 4mm whereas not more than 3.5mm would have been better. Main wheels are 6mm thick and for all wheels I detailed the hubs using pictures of the actual ones.

Lots of pictures, and I will post them in two batches. Unfortunately not of making the wheels. I was in a flow when making them and only realized too late I hadn't taken any pictures.

Cheers,
Erik

[Erik Zwaan]

Herewith pictures of the main landing gear. First picture is with the wheels still as rough circles, the last picture shows the final wheels in place.

Regards,
Erik

[YOAVHOZMI]

great....it looks really great.

no more to say.

YOAV

[RagnarTheTerrible]

Thanks for sharing! It's such a clean build, beautiful work.

[Mike1158]

Magic, marvelous airframe.

[Vinalssergio155]

Simply stunning Erik build.

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you Yoav, Ragnar, Mike and Sergio!

Slowly the build is nearing completion and it's now time to start adding the loads. Thought that's wiser to do at this stage and to leave the fragile tiny bits and pieces to the very end.

The large fuel tank and two sidewinders are in place now. Especially the large centre drop tank just barely fits!

The last picture looks rather yellowish, sorry for that, it's due to the lights in the room at the late hour the picture was taken.

Next will be the wing fuel tanks, JDAM bombs and another two sidewinders underneath the wings. I wasn't particularly fond of assembling those rockets, rather boring work.....

Cheers and stay safe in these weird times,
Erik

[MacSongLi]

Amazing work, as always Erik. The landing gear add some nice detailing to the kit.

Looking forward to seeing the additional fuel tanks/bombs and sidewinders. Adding the stores and weapons really make the aircraft look like it's ready for business.



Gary

[Gene K]

What a magnificent thread and build.

Besides marveling at your skills, I am constantly appreciating Yaov's world-class designs and artistry.

Gene K

[YOAVHOZMI]

I'll say it again ... The model looks excellent, just amazing.
well done my friend.

What bothers me a little.....is that the landing gears and the landing gear bays are too white and clean compared to the dirty plane.
Is it possible to dirty a little bit? With brush and paint?

best regards

YOAV