The F-16F is the latest version of the F-16. They do not exist in the USAF inventory and are currently an export variant only. Originally, the single-seat version of the General Dynamics F-16XL was to have been designated F-16E, with the twin-seat variant designated F-16F. This was sidelined by the Air Force’s selection of the competing F-15E Strike Eagle in the Enhanced Tactical Fighter fly-off in 1984. The ‘Block 60’ designation had also previously been set aside in 1989 for the A-16, but this model was also dropped. The F-16E/F designation now belongs to a special version developed especially for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is sometimes unofficially called the “Desert Falcon”.
FEATURES:
- Exquisite airframe surface details
- Detailed cockpit
- Detailed nose and main landing gear
- Clear canopy
- Waterslide decals for the UAE Air Force Code: 3001
- Illustrated assembly guide
- Stock Number:Â HSGS7244
- Mfg. Number: 7244
- Skill Level 3
- 164 pieces
- MSRP $64.99 USD
Hello fellow model builders. Here I humbly present you with this finished project that started almost 3 weeks ago. This is the 1/48 F-16F Fighting Falcon from Hasegawa. Among the 3 projects I’m currently working on, it took me about 16 hours to complete this kit.
The Hasegawa F-16F UAE has finely engraved panel lines and rivets on the light gray plastic we are used to from Hasegawa Models. Â Out of the box, the cockpit is well appointed but the detail on the ejections seats is a bit on the shallow side. This didn’t bother me at all because I had intended a closed canopy since I started this project. If you intend to display this kit with an open canopy, a set of resin ejection seats is recommended.
The clear canopy has a thin yet bothersome mold line to deal with as you can see in the pictures below. Â After getting rid of the seam line with an ultra-fine sanding stick, several coats of Meguiars X was used to bring the canopy back to life. Apply Meguiars X and polish as many times as needed.
A word of caution: Using Future Gloss coat or in my case, Alclad 2 AQUA GLOSS 600 over the polished canopy is *not* recommended. Doing so will ‘bead’ the gloss coat. Also, after masking your canopy, use the same fine sanding stick to sand on the canopy frames so the paint can have something to bite on.
There is some minor surgery to be done on this model kit and that’s on the wingtips. The ones molded on should be trimmed off and the proper sidewinder pylon will be ready to be cemented on. Using the back of your Exacto knife or your scribing tool repeatedly over the area will to the trick in no time. There are small parts to fiddle within the wheel wells. But the fit was nice, way better than my Italeri F-16’s.
The supplied AIM-9 and AIM-120‘s are OK but they are showing some mold lines already. They were cleaned and used but I wanted an ‘aggressive’ look on this kit. So I went to my leftover parts bin and pulled out a pair of CBU-87 and MERs from the Kinetic F-16I SUFA.
Side note: Not only the SUFA from Kinetic is a great kit, it comes with a wealth of 1/48 armament and pylons and if you love modern aircraft, this is great because one can cast copies (for personal use) of these often hard to find or not even produced resin equivalents. With a bit of ingenuity and brass wire, one can make the weapons of our 1/48 aircraft interchangeable 😉
The overall fit of the Hasegawa F-16F is very good. The conformal fuel tanks did fall on the fuselage like a glove leaving no gaps to deal with. The fuselage halves in my opinion are designed to fit together better than those on the Kinetic SUFA. Not that it is a big deal on Kinetic’s, but the lower fuselage on the Hasegawa meets the upper one in a male/female fashion whereas Kinetic’s meet halfway leaving a seam to deal with.
This model was painted with Model Master Acryl Light Gray FS-36495 and FS-36375. Decals are of great quality and responded very well to Microsol Decal Solution.
My main issue with this kit was the instructions. The instructions are the fold-out style with 13 steps crammed on 3 pages leaving little room for illustration insets. I found myself going back and forth like crazy and still found on some steps that I had missed small parts on previous sub-assemblies.
As I have mentioned before, I don’t repeat builds of many subjects. Too many models and subjects, too little time. But I have a soft spot for Vipers. This model would be a nice addition to your modern aircraft collection. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this kit to a friend.
Build looks AMAZING George!
The F-16E/F is a virtually new design with resulting major variation in airframe features from even the preceding .50 series jets.
The tail gondola is much broader, the landing gear is different, the lateral inlets alongside the intake trunking are closed off and the radome is both shorter and blended on a diagonal directly into the nose as the APG-80 AESA antenna is not designed to be repaired in the field.
The Hasegawa kit is in fact a retread of a model first released in 1983 or so as an F-16A.15 OCU. As such, it suffers from a lot of prior-generation molding issues such as too broad/shallow hood flare and a resulting, overly wide, nose. With it’s separate radome, it is not and cannot be built as an F-16E/F.
While the Kinetic kit is hounded for it’s own droop snoot outline issues and crude molding in places, it does have the correct and obvious identifying feature of the F-16E/F radome shape.
My own opinion is that, with the dated nature of the Hasegawa, the quick and dirty level of engineering in the Kinetic and the excessively fiddly and unnecessary (no two seater) engineering of the Tamiya with it’s two part upper fuselage and various panel inserts; we have yet to see tooled the definitive, 1/48, F-16 model.
Revell, you’re up!
Thank you very much for your input Glaarg.