Hey yall!
This is another
entry of my what-if 1/48 Hasegawa RSAF F-16CJ, basically an improvement on the
one that is on this site for quite some time already.
Hope you'll like it!
Imagine this
scenario. Terrorist forces have acquired a chemical weapons capability
and are posing a serious threat to Singapore with the most dangerous threat
coming from 2 missile silos with 2 missiles blue-tipped with Sarin gas and are
aiming at Singapore. The RSAF has been given the order to conduct a surgical
pre-emptive attack on the 2 silos to neutralize the threat. The RSAF considers
this mission to be very dangerous as not only is the target very far away but
also the silos are protected by modern surface-to-air missiles including SA-2s,
SA-6s, SA-8s and SA-14s. The enemy has also been known to have an air capability
flying an unknown number of MiGs.
Due to the large
number of surface-to-air threats, the RSAF outfitted some of their F-16Cs with
HTS pods and HARM missiles to conduct SEAD duties against the enemy radars.
After disengaging from the KC-135 after in-flight refuelling, 3 RSAF F-16CJs
begin tracking the enemy radars while the strike package of F-15SGs and F-16D+s
waited to be cleared hot. Within 30 seconds, the 3 F-16CJs let loose 6 HARM
missiles and all struck home. With the SAM threat removed and a corridor opened,
the strike package is cleared hot and begin their bombing run. Within 2 minutes,
the 2 silos and the control centre used to launch the missiles were reduced to
nothing but smoke and debris. While the strike package were busy dropping their
bombs, the AWACS warns the 3 F-16CJs of multiple bandits inbound to
intercept the strike package and are cleared to engage. Using their superior
flying skills and weapons systems, the F-16CJ pilots were able to quickly take
out the enemy planes from beyond visual range while keeping the strike package
safe.
In the end, with the
silo threat removed, the 3 F-16CJs and the strike package returned to base
without sustaining a single loss to any of their aircraft. Sounds cool huh? This
shows the versatility of the F-16CJ that it can not only pick off enemy radars
but can still attack enemy aircraft and provide cover to other friendly aircraft
simultaneously in one mission.
Click on
images below to see larger images
So anyway, back to
the topic.
Below is a list of
improvements made to the old model.
1. The changing of
the engine nozzle and intakes into the F100 PW-229 turbofan engine and NSI
intakes.
2. Modified the IFF
antenna in front of the canopy. Well, basically it's a very small removal of
part of the 4 aerials as they were a bit too long.
3. Repainted the
AMRAAM and Sidewinder missiles.
4. Repainted the
fillet of the vertical stabilizer. If you look closely, you'll see that the tail
fin looks lighter than the fillet.
5. Changed the
pilot's helmet into the JHMCS worn by today's RSAF pilots. I just modified the
kit's helmet by cutting away the oxygen hose and positioning it on the left side
of the pilot's helmet. I then painted the oxygen mask in the way the JHMCS
looks.
6. Painted the
canopy frames black. I missed that out when I first builded it.
7. Shifted the
DASH-3 sensor back a bit.
8. Painted the
chaff/flare dispensers underneath the aircraft.
9. Rewrote the
technician and pilot's name on decal paper. Well, the pilot's name is actually
my name and I 'promoted' myself to 'Captain'. Haha..
10. I did a bit more
weathering to highlight more panel lines in places where it's hard for the
pencil to reach.
11. Made new RBF
tags for the Sidewinder missiles
When I first
completed this model last year, I was thrilled by the final results only to
realise that I had used the wrong intakes and engine nozzles as the kit was
meant to build into a Block 50 whilst the RSAF uses F-16s of the Block 52
variant. But luckily the kit did provide F100 PW-229 nozzles and NSI intakes.
One thing that I found good in this kit is that you can choose to build an F-16
of either Block 30/32 or Block 50/52 as the necessary stuff like main landing
gear, intakes and engine nozzles are there for you to choose. But the kit decals
are for a Block 50 model of either the 35th FW based at Misawa AB or the
20th FW based at Shaw AFB.
My RSAF decals were
bought separately and they went on pretty well without much trouble. And now my
RSAF Wild Weasel F-16CJ looks almost as good as the real, well not exactly that
good. At least I've included a photo of the actual plane below which I
took it during the recent Air Force Open House.
Enjoy the photos!
Comments and
questions are welcome!
Xue
Qian
Singapore
Click on
images below to see larger images
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