1/32 Hasagawa F-16C Block 40
by Jake Melampy

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Here are some pictures of my 1/32nd Hasagawa F-16C.  This is one of two I bought about a year ago, and it sat in my closet until last October. The other kit was modified into a two-seat F-16D (article coming soon).

The Hasagawa kit was obviously engineered a long time before the "modern" Viper came along.  It provides a kit that, when finished, somewhat accurately depicts a Block 25 or Block 32 F-16C.  Parts are also included to make an F-16A.  I wanted to make a Block 40 F-16C assigned to Aviano AB, Italy, during Operation Allied Force in the spring of 1999.  Several months later, here is the finished kit.

Click on images below to see larger images

THE COCKPIT

I used the Black Box cockpit set for the front office during my F-16D conversion, and honestly wasn't too impressed with it.  Mostly accurate, but the parts that were inaccurate are very visible.  So to build by Block 40, I'd have to scratchbuild the parts I needed.  The only kit parts used were the cockpit tub and instrument panel, although both of those were cut into about 15 pieces before they were re-used.

First, I had to correct the kit's instrument panel coaming.  It was badly undersized and shaped incorrectly.  Plastic filler and scrap plastic made an accurate piece.  The kit's cockpit tub was used, but modified by adding the proper instrumentation layout, cables, lighting, avionics, oxygen hose, g-suit hose, air vents, etc.  The kit's front instrument panel was cut into 6 pieces and then re-assembled to make it as wide as my now-accurate instrument panel coaming.  I also lengthened the HUD control panel so that it stuck out from beneath the panel coaming as in the real jet.  This is one part of the Black Box cockpit that is inaccurate.  I did, however, steal the Black Box Block 40 HUD and rear cockpit deck from my F-16D conversion.  The HUD glass was added from clear "Thermaform" available from Squadron.  The throttle, control stick, and sidewalls were scratchbuilt.

The seat is made from Reheat. It has the older style seat cushions.  Most ACES II seats now have black sheepskin seat cushions.  To change this, I sprinkled cinnamon over the old cushions (wetted with super glue) and painted them black.  The belts were made from the supplied material and buckles.

THE AIRFRAME

The kit had a combination of raised and recessed panel lines. The recessed lines were all in the correct places so they were left alone.  Most of the raised lines were also correct, so they were used as a guide when scribing new lines.  I also scribed many panels that were not present before. 

Block 40 F-16s have many structural stiffeners on the sides and top of the fuselage.  These were added using very thin plastic cut from a "For Sale" sign, and super-glued in place. 

As mentioned before, the kit has parts for a Block 25 or 32 jet.  Since I wanted to build a Block 40 -which is equipped with the GE engine- I had a problem.  The intake was the original small-mouth intake.  I saw no way around this, so I simply made a cover to fit over the intake.  Luckily, this does a nice job of hiding the incorrect intake. Hasagawa did supply the correct GE engine exhaust, but with minimal inside detail. It also suffered from its rear edge being about 7-8 scale inches thick.  Even when sanded,
the edges still were too thick, so again I made a cover to hide the problem.

The RWR antenna on the wing leading edge were not present, so they were added using plastic sprue and filler.  The static wicks on the wing trailing edges and radome were plastic from the same "For Sale" sign.  The Block 40 and up have new landing/taxi lights on the nose gear door because LANTIRN and HTS pods block the older style lights on the main gear.  These were built from sheet plastic and clear "Thermaform".

The landing gear was also strengthened in Block 40 jets.  The wheels are wider, and the main gear doors are bulged to accomodate the newer wheels. These were not included in the kit, and I saw no way to modify them, so I was forced to use the older, incorrect, kit parts....

The open panel on the left side of the intake was cut out and built using sheet plastic and wire to build the inside detail.  I wanted this door open because I had a decal for the art on the inside of the door.