1/48 Hasegawa F-16CJ

Polish F-16

by David Smigielski

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I’m third generation American but I’ve always been proud of my Polish heritage. When the Polish government announced its intent to buy 48 F-16s to replace its MiG-21s and MiG-29s, I knew I wanted to build one for my collection. I was also inspired by a photo in Jane’s Defense Weekly of a proposed Polish Viper fitted with conformal fuel tanks. 

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I used one of Hasegawa’s 1/48 F-16CJ’s and added Cutting Edge saddle tanks for the CFTs. The tail was extended using parts from Hasegawa's Brakeet kit and the bird slicers and various other antennae were scratchbuilt. 

The proposed camouflage scheme was applied using Model Master Enamels. The markings came from one of Hi Decal’s Su-22 sheets. This Viper wears markings from the 6th ELT, which currently flies Su-22s but will be moving to Poznan airbase and converting to F-16s in the next few years. I took some liberty in placing the squadron badge. Weapons were pulled from my parts box. 

David

Photos and text © by David Smigielski