1/32 Academy F-16C "Strike Phoenix"

Gallery Article by Chuang Xue Qian on Aug 9 2009

  Singapore National Day 2009 

 

Republic of Singapore Air Force 

Hi everyone! 

Here is my latest submission and my first EVER 1/32 scale model. The Academy F-16 Fighting Falcon in Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) markings. Some of you may have seen my RSAF Hasegawa F-16 in the gallery, but this time I wanted to make my F-16 look as realistic as the real one as possible. The particular airframe I had in mind was serial number 613 of 143 'Phoenix' Squadron. I saw this jet last year at the RSAF Open House during the aerial display and was inspired by her capability to take off from a taxiway simultaneously with another F-16 using the main runway to 'intercept' an intruding aircraft. 

I'm not so experienced a modeller as I'm still a full-time college student. But I'm really proud of my finished model as it's is my most realistic F-16 I've ever built as it has everything (to the best of my knowledge) you can see on the actual RSAF F-16 such as the DASH-3 sensor on the canopy just aft of the pilot. Even the serial numbers are not in black but rather in dark grey so I used the numbers meant for the ROKAF KF-16s as they were rather close to the actual numbers seen on the reference photos. So the appearance of this F-16 resembles almost exactly like the current visual appearance of 613 as of 2009. Also since it's my first 1/32, I'm even happier with the outcome.  

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I ran into a few problems during the construction as I was a little foolhardy - oops! - but other than that, the construction was very smooth. The only major inaccuracies with this kit is the glareshield being a bit out of shape (which I did some sanding at the side) and the absence of the RAM air scoops behind the intake. Other than that, this is a very beautiful F-16!  

I also added the pilot to the seat and scratchbuilt some seatbelts from tape. New HUD frames were also scratchbuilt as the kit's one was a little out of shape. It's still not very correct but is much better than the kit's. 

For the weapons, I decided to have a little bit of fun by writing some graffiti on the bombs. I went with my usual full weapons load and chose to arm this bad girl with 2 AMRAAMs, 2 AIM-9Xs, 1 GBU-31 JDAM, 2 GBU-12s, 3 fuel tanks and 1 AN/AAQ-14 LANTIRN targeting pod. The LAU-129 launchers were very nice features but I did some tapering at the tips to make it more accurate.   

The model was completely handpainted with the 3-tone gray scheme common to all RSAF F-16s. A layer of gloss was then sprayed to protect the paint. Weathering was done by giving the big girl an enamel wash and using tissue paper to wipe off the excess wash. This is my first time trying this and I should say that I'm quite satisfied with the outcome. To conclude it all, RBF tags were made to add more realism on this already impressive F-16 kit. 

As for the decals, I used SiamScale ones as they were the only available 1/32 RSAF decals which I could lay my hands on. They were combined with the kit ones as the kit provided the correct warning triangles and arrows seen on actual RSAF Vipers. I decided on an RSAF Viper as the Academy kit is the best option available for a Block 52 as the KF-16C is very similar to the RSAF F-16C in terms of physical appearance except the paint scheme. 

Well, this was indeed a great and wonderful experience for me in tackling the big 1/32. Now that I've conquered the Academy, I hope to be able to do the stunning Tamiya Viper which I hope to be able to afford sooner. And perhaps I'll do a Block 40 with the Tamy as I still have the WAR HUD and towed decoy system still in the sprues and the beautiful 8th FW and 35th FS decals still leftover from the big Cartograf decal sheet. 

So I hope you enjoyed looking at my model as much as I had lots of fun building it. Till next time, take care loads and happy modelling! 

Go 143 Squadron! WE DARE! 

Comments, questions and critiques are most welcome!

 Happy 44th birthday Singapore!

Chuang Xue Qian

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Photos and text © by Chuang Xue Qian