A
few of us modelers like to stick with one scale.
For me 1/48 scale has always been my choice for detail and I am fortunate
enough to have some space. But
every now and then your eye catches a model from a different scale.
My wife had bought me a 1/32 scale Tamiya F-16CJ.
I was tempted to return it like she does with some of the gifts I have
given her. But since this model had
a lot of “hype” among the plastic model world I decided to take a crack at
it. I do agree that the price is
steep!
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With
a lot of parts the model seemed a daunting task but as I began the process of
spending at least 5 minutes a day working on it I found that the parts went
together really well. Although I
don’t plan on displaying the engine I did build it.
There were a couple problems with some fittings but not hard enough that
even the novice modeler can fix with some super glue.
I used both Testors and Tamiya brand to paint the model.
Final assembly was straightforward except for the tedious task of
decaling all the weapons and ECM jamming pod and weathering
One of the only things I didn’t
do with this model is having the radar installed.
The female pilot came from Legends Productions, she is 1/35 scale but it
looks appropriate.
I
chose the 14th Fighter Squadron from the 35th Fighter Wing
and based out of Misawa Airbase, Japan. The
Samurais have a rich heritage and have been flying F-16s out of Misawa since
1985. Operation Iraqi Freedom
“A” day began on March 21st 2003 with the 14th
Fighter Squadron Samurais leading the first non-stealthy strike package over
Baghdad and fired the first AGM-88 Harm of OIF.
Restrictions on types of weapons flown from Saudi Arabia were adhered to
but as coalition forces proceeded toward Baghdad at a faster pace the F-16CJ
Wild Weasel pilots found themselves employing bombs on their jets within a
couple days of the air war. The
smarter weapons like JDAMs and Mavericks were uploaded at Al Jabar Airbase in
Kuwait. Pilots of the 14th had flown several tough missions and a lot
of them in support of Navy F-14 and F/A-18 strike packages.
Although no Iraqi fighters got airborne during OIF an F-16 from the 14th
destroyed a MiG-21 on the ground. Three
14th pilots including one female aviator were awarded Distinguished
Flying Crosses. The 14th Fighter Squadron expended about seventy HARMs about
eighty CBU-103s, more than twenty JDAMs, about ten AGM-65s, and nearly 2,000
bullets while flying 3,700 hours and some 750 combat missions.
I
really enjoyed working on this kit and feel good with the results.
I also enjoyed doing some research and finding out the history behind
what I am building and also pay a little tribute to my buddies in the Air Force.
Bert
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