1/48 Tamiya F-16C Block 40 555FS Triple Nickel

Gallery Article by Mark Chen on July 29 2010

 

This is the Tamiya F-16CJ Block 50 kit built as a Block 40 which flew with the 555FS during Operation Allied Force. This particular jet which I modelled was shot down during that campaign but fortunately, its pilot was rescued.

In order to convert the basic Block 50 kit to a Block 40, I used a WAR HUD cannibalised from a Tamiya F-16C/N kit and photo-etch stiffener plates from Tamiya's Detail Up Parts set for the F-16. This set also included a metal pitot probe and metal AoA sensors. To add a touch of realism, I also added a set of Royale Resin F-16 wheels which are a vast improvement over the kit wheels. 

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I painted the model with Gunze's range of paints. The kit was firstly pre-shaded with flat black. Then I used 306 for the FS36270 medium grey undersides and fin and 305 for the FS36118 gunship grey upper fuselage and wings. I also used an enamel wash to highlight the panel lines and rivets. 

The decals I used were from Afterburner Decals which were printed by Cartograf and went on without a hitch.  In order to depict an accurate war load, I used the AIM-120Cs, AIM-9Ms and fuel tanks from the kit, 2 GBU-24 Paveway IIIs and LANTIRN pods from Hasegawa's Weapon Set D and an AN/ALQ-131 ECM pod from the Kinetic F-16.

Mark Chen

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Photos and text © by Mark Chen