1/32 Academy F-16C Block 52

"Republic of Singapore Air Force” 

by Mark Chen

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  Singapore National Day 2008 

 

This is the Academy F-16CG/CJ kit built completely out of the box with exception of the decals. Lots of people have said some rather unflattering things about his kit but, in my opinion, it builds into a really nice NSI/P&W-engined Viper.

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Construction was rather good but the hard part was getting the gun-bay panels to sit properly without the use of putty.

The model was airbrushed with Gunze paints. It was done in the standard 3-tone grey scheme common to USAF Vipers in the early 90s. Colours used were FS36375 for the undersides, weapons and pylons, FS36270 for the cockpit area and vertical stabiliser and FS36118 for the upper surfaces. The radome was a custom mix of FS36270 and FS36118. If you notice, all my Viper radomes are the same colour.

After a gloss coat, Siam Scale decals were used. I chose to model ACFT 610 of 143 Sqn “ Phoenix ” based at Tengah Air Base. I combined the Siam Scale decals with the kit ones as they were better fitting around the refuelling door and the blow-out doors. It was then sealed with a matt coat.

For the armament, I chose to model the plane carrying an air-to-ground loadout so I went with 4 GBU-12s, 2 AIM-9Ms, 2 AIM-120Cs, 2 370 gal tanks, a 300 gal tank and the AN/AAQ-13 and -14 LANTIRN pods. All were from the kit which, I must say, provides a lot of things to hang under your Viper.

I actually was intending for this to be submitted for last year’s National Day but did not finish it in time. So you could call this a belated birthday gift.

Happy 43rd birthday, Singapore!  

Mark

Singapore

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Photos and text © by Mark Chen