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F-16s
in the 5th Air Force have a figure of a Hawk painted on.
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This is a 1/72 Hasegawa F-16C Block 52 built OOB. It
is from the Pacific Air Force 35th Fighter Wing based in Misawa
AB. The tail code of this unit is WW, which stands for Wild Weasels or
something. This could be a demonstration plane or a CO’s mount according
to what I know. |
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The kit comes in 2 decal choices for the 35th
FW or the 1997 Tiger Meet at Shaw AFB. The details are excellent, small rivets
and recessed panel lines; I did not add any aftermarket details like ejection
seats… There are 3 plastic pilots that come along with the kit together with
additional set of Harm targeting pods, sparrows, 2 bombs and wheels that are
extras or for earlier F-16s.
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| I used smaller air intakes that are found in early
F-16s. Block 52s have smaller air intakes than the Block 50s because they
run on different engines. 35th FW does not have Block 52s; I
had originally planned this a/c to be from another air force but the
custom decals failed. Anyway, the fit was ok except for some sanding
and filling. Hasegawa provides decals to detail the instrument
dials, not for those who want nice details but its good enough for me. A
pilot was also added into the cockpit, note that his helmet seems to be of
newer design. Then the canopy is glued on using white glue. It isn’t
treated with Future, can’t find it here in Singapore. If anyone knows
what it is called here, please e-mail me J
The instruction manual requires the wingtip hardpoint to be changed
to a newer one provided in the kit, this hardpoint is capable of holding
Amraams. |
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on image below to see larger image |
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This F-16 is armed with Aim-9L Sidewinders, Aim-120B
Amraams and AGM-88 HARMs. It carries a 300 gal fuel tank on the bottom and a
Harm Targeting System (HTS) pod near the air intake. The HTS pod allows better
use of the HARM missile. After hand painting the a/c with Gunze enamels H305,
306, 307 and 308, I added some weathering effects like fading, patching up with
slightly different colors and some chipped off decals. I show this a/c with
retracted gears and closed canopy to display it ‘in action’. During the
school holidays, I worked on it everyday and took a month to finish it. The
tedious part was painting it and then gluing the parts to the plane, then
filling and patching up some parts.
| The kit’s decals are great! They are printed very
well and fit on snuggly to the surface. Many small decals in the kit
provide as much detail as possible to the jet. During decaling, some
decals were ‘lost’ but not important ones. On one side of the air
intake, there are emblems of the 5th AF and 35th FW.
On the other side are Squadron badges of 13th and 14th
Fighter Squadron. On the tail, there are 2 emblems of the PACAF on each
side. The a/c no. ,AF 90-802 is specially shot close-up. |
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The stand for the plane is made from ice cream sticks
and wooden chopsticks sprayed dark brown. The plane sits on 2 threads strung
between 2 wooden chopsticks. The photos were taken in a study room using my
dad’s digital camera.
Overall, the kit is of high standard; typical of all
Hasegawa kits and is worth my money. Any comments/feedback please e-mail isaacwu@singnet.com.sg.
Cya, Happy modeling!
Isaac
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