This is a very early Fighting Falcon kit introduced even before the aircraft was in active service. The 1/48th Monogram F-16 Falcon was released in 1976 while the Falcon was still a pre-production "YF-16" Falcon.
Notable Kit Features:
Simple low-parts count kit
Very basic cockpit for Monogram with decals for instruments detail
Early SIIIS ejection seat (not used on production F-16s)
Wings and horizontal stabs are molded as part of the top fuselage
Early front gear style (not used on production F-16s)
Split front gear door (not used on production F-16s)
Triple-fin 300-gallon fuel tanks (not used on production F-16s) Note: tanks are on a weapons style pylon instead of a fuel pylon
Raised panel line details
Nicely done open or closed canopy option
Build Inspiration:
I had originally constructed this 1/48th Monogram F-16 Falcon as the number two prototype in a sky-blue and white camouflage scheme used during testing. A few years afterwards I changed this scheme (as I hadn't done that well painting and decaling it) to a production aircraft used by the 159 TFW based in Jacksonville Florida around the time they were deployed to fight in the 1991 Iraq War. Unfortunately I didn't really do much better with the paint scheme the second time around either. (I kinda miss the original scheme now.)
Heads-Up Report:
This kit was designed as a pre-production aircraft prior to many of the actual details being publicly available. Unless you intended to build a prototype aircraft this wasn't the kit you wanted
No cockpit detail to speak of (not even the side-stick which is molded as part of the pilot)
Take care with the intake to get everything as smooth as possible although some sanding and filling is still required (Get the centre vane lined up straight as well)
Horizontal stabs are molded as part of the top fuselage so they are not "positionable"
Vertical tail as well as underwing seams will need some filler
Exhaust area will require some sanding and a bit of filler to smooth things out
Raised panel line details
The nose profile and fairing at the vertical fin are more representative of the later airframes
Kit Additions / Modifications:
Built out-of-the-box closing up the gear to get around a bit of the "prototype look"
Used third-party decals (Microscale?)
Finishing:
The second time around paint scheme for this aircraft was the typical F-16A Grays finish FS 36118 / FS 36270 over FS 36375 with a FS 36320 nose. I pondered, can I do the gunship gray paint free hand... not really (with the airbrush and tip I was using then) was the after effect answer, however I plodded forward with the finish in mind. Apparently I also lost the pitot tube somewhere in the mix too.
The After-Build Report:
Monogram had produced several very nice jets in their line-up, however this isn't one of them... If you really want a YF-16 there aren't many choices so this may be an option for you. If not look elsewhere in the plethora of Viper kits available. I personally like the 1/48th Tamiya F-16C variant however have build a few of the 1/48th Hasegawa kits as well.
Repainted in April 1988 in a Gulf War Scheme
Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers
Comments