Hellenic Falcon: Hasegawa F-16D Block 52+
The Conformal Fuel Tanks and avionics added to the Block 52+ were a quantum leap for the Fighting Falcon in terms interception range and bombing capabilities.
Unlike the real aircraft where the CFTs were made from the same materials like the airframe, Hasegawa chose to improvise with resin parts on top of their original 1/48th F-16D mold. Although the plastic part count is low and the surface texture is appealing the combination of a basic model with chunks of resin to a sleek fighter turned the building process to challenging if not a nightmare. I also added resin Legend ACES II ejection seats to the basic cockpit.
Superb job on this challenging kit, Rafi! Excellent painting and weathering!
Thank you Spiros!
Talk about "mission creep" - from "lightweight simple air superiority" (the F-16A) to this monster!
Your usual excellence turns aside all difficulties, Rafi.
Thank you Tom!
A big contrast to the Sopwith Pup but another equally superb build, Rafi.
Thank you George.
A true gem, Rafi @blackmopane
Your usual paint and weather skills are clearly shown on this Falcon.
Well done.
Thank you John.
G’day Rafi (@blackmopane),
Very nicely done F-16.
That is weird about the resin conformals. I built the Hasegawa F-16F (well, nearly done) and the conformals were injected plastic.
I did complicate things by adding a resin cockpit and jazzing up the main wheel wells, but that was my doing, not Hasegawa’s.
you’ve gotta love a theree tone, wrap around camo scheme.
Definately liked!
Thank you Michael.
This was a limited edition of Hasegawa. The worst part of the large resin chunks is that they have different expansion rates than plastic and will leave big gaps with time.
That’s outstanding, Rafi! The paintwork is really next level. Shows realistic wear without looking like it had an internal electrical fire. Greek Vipers along with Sufa’s and US Have Glass block 50/52s are the bomb. It’s interesting that kit came with resin CFTs. I built a Hasegawa block 52 C and it came with plastic.
Thank you John.
The first 52+ kit came with the resin. It is good that Hasegawa replaced them with plastic.
Love it! I have a similar build slated for sometime soon - love the beefy Falcons, especially in colorful schemes other than mono-gray! Excellent paint and finishing as we've come to expect from you.
Thank you Greg!
Great F-16! Love the camo scheme and you’ve done an amazing job on it!
Thank you David!
Beautiful as always, Rafi. Your paint work is always outstanding. Great job.
Thank you Clint.