1/48 Hasegawa F-16CJ Block 50 

Converted to F-16CG Block 40 of 31 FW (Aviano)

by Dimosthenis Chouliaras

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This is my first model to appear on ARC, so please be gentle!  It's also my only 1/48th scale F-16C so far (right now I have a Hellenic F-16C Block 50 and a Dutch F-16A in the works!).  It's mainly OOB with the addition of the wider HUD used by Block 40 aircraft which was obtained from an Aires resin cockpit set, decals from Astra of Belgium, the LANTIRN and ECM pods as well as two GBU-12s from Hasegawa's weapon sets and the extra AIM-120s from another F-16CJ (a rather rare configuration, those 4 AMRAAMs, but I have seen it in the reference used to build the model).  I chose to represent the aircraft as it would be on the ground but with canopy closed, the wheels rolling and the pilot "on the job", hence the flaps are also down, which by the way was the only structural modification the kit received. You may notice that the leading edge slat is slightly looking upwards, as compared with the fuselage LERX; this, I can not be sure of, but in many pictures that I went through, it was there, so upward facing they are.

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The model was painted with the classic Humbrol enamels, coated with acrylic W&N coats and further washed and drybrushed with enamels.  I even opted to paint a "repair" on the right leading edge of the wing (it was a combat bird after all, flying over Yugoslavia in 1998).  Coating was not a complete success as you can see from the pics, especially when light hits the surfaces.  Few static dischargers from an old toothbrush (those technique articles here on ARC are a huge help!) and it was ready!

The nice part was photographing this model. I only needed my terrace and a cloudy afternoon. I kept the angles low (to match the look of the real aircraft which you'd rarely see from above 2m) and prayed the clouds would break enough for light to come through. The result looks (to me at least) quite convincing. With the help of Photoshop it was not difficult to even make an "in-flight" photo. The shot is real but it's just my hand that has vanished, hehe. A little more work on PS and the exhaust gases behind the jet are there for the keen eyed to observe, even in this low resolution picture! Hope you like it!

Dimosthenis

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Photos and text © by Dimosthenis Chouliaras