This article is contributed by Wong Kwong Yan detailing his fantastic built of the Academy 48 scale F-16C.

Words and pictures by the author himself.

F-16C Falcon – 1/48 Academy  (AC 12204)

By – KY Wong

This Academy kit is affordable and a good introduction to the F-16. Details are decent enough to make a fairly representation of the real aircraft. It has recessed panel lines, and it comes with 6 Mavericks bombs and 4 Sidewnders. It has 3 decal options , 2 for US Air Force and 1 for Republic of Korea Air Force. It also comes with a pilot figure.

The only modification I made is, tint the canopy. I dilute light brown into Future (about 5% paint , 95% Future) , and then spray it on.

The rest of the build is fairly simple, with minor effort required to get rid of the joint and seam lines, especially between the wings and the fuselage. This is really required if you want to produce a nice and neat final result

After taking care of the joint and seam lines, the rest of the build will be very simple. When comes to painting, I pre-shaded with black. After pre-shading, I apply the colors starting from the lighter gray to the darker gray. Once done, a layer of Future is added. The decals are easy to apply, but its advisable to use Mark Softener to achieve a better result.

After letting the decal to set in, I washed the aircraft with a very diluted mixture of black + gray Buncho Watercolors. Streak of stains are added to places prone to leakages. The aircraft is slightly weathered, and is fully armed with 4 Sidewinders and 6 Mavericks.

Overall , this kit is good enough as an OOB. For its price compared to other brands, this is a definite must have and must build.

KY Wong