Academy 1/48 F-16C "Flying Razorbacks"
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Overview
Much has been written about the F-16, and as it continues to soldier
on in dozens of air forces around the world, I am sure that there will
be many more books written on the type. A Google
search will bring up a great number of sites that will offer more than enough
information on the background of this famous fighter.
The Kit
 Academy's 1/48 kit of the F-16C has been released a few times before,
including once in Thunderbirds markings. This time around, the markings
tackle a couple of the more interesting Air National Guard schemes, along
with one foreign operator, that of South Korea. For those who are not
familiar with the kit, it comes molded in a light gray plastic, with
recessed panel lines and several options for underwing stores.
 As usual, the instructions have you start out with the interior, which
is adequate for the scale. The seat is in four pieces, and is a decent
representation of the ACES II seat carried in the F-16. The instrument
panel is also separate, as are the rudder pedals and the side stick.
The instrument panel and side consoles are detailed with decals, which
might be fine in 1/72, but this scale really should have relief detail,
especially considering the size and clarity of the canopy. To help hide
this, though, the kit includes a pilot figure, which is nicely detailed
and features a separate head and arm.
 Once the interior is finished, construction moves to the fuselage assembly.
Like pretty much every other F-16 kit out there, this is split into upper
and lower halves, with the lower half incorporating the lower half of
the wings. The main wheel well fits into the lower half, and there are
locating pegs for the cockpit assembly there as well. Once the fuselage
halves are together, the next step is the air intake. This is always
a problematic area on F-16 kits, as it is impossible to mold it in any
way to avoid a seam on the inside. Be ready for some tough work with
files and sanding sticks to smooth out the inside.
 The rest of the assembly is very straightforward. The vertical fin
has a two-piece base and a solid upper piece, done so that different
variants could be done (in fact, the earlier F-16A-style base is on one
of the sprues, marked as not for use). The exhaust nozzle is in three
pieces, while the nose cone is a single piece with a separate pitot.
The horizontal stabilizers are solid right and left pieces. Moving to
the underside, the ventral fins are also solid right and left pieces.
The landing gear is decent and does a good job of capturing the stance
of the F-16.
 Moving to the underwing stores, this kit comes with Sidewinders, Mavericks,
wing drop tanks, a couple of large bombs, and a couple of gun pods, the
latter two marked for non-use in the instructions. The only thing missing
from this kit is a centerline store. It would have been nice to have
the unique F-16 centerline tank. The final step is to add the canopy,
which is not smoked.
The decals really make this kit. The large decal sheet provides markings
for two ANG aircraft and one ROKAF aircraft. In addition to the specific
aircraft markings, a comprehensive set of stenciling is provided, which
includes the differences between the ROKAF and the ANG aircraft, a nice
tough. The title aircraft, an F-16C from the 184th FS in the Arkansas
Air National Guard, has a large razorback on the tail in  shades of gray,
with a red tail band carrying the state name. The second ANG aircraft
is from the 158th Fighter Wing in the Vermont Air National Guard. This
plane is finished in a special 50th Anniversary scheme, with a large
minuteman on the tail in black and white, and stripes around the nose,
also in black and white, as is the tail band with the state's name. The
tail codes are white with black shadows. Both of these aircraft are camouflaged
in the standard F-16 pattern of gunship gray and medium gray.
For something a bit different, the final option is from the Han-guk
Kong Goon, or Republic of Korea Air Force. This plane carries subdued
markings on an interesting camouflage pattern. Instead of the usual F-16
camouflage pattern, this plane is finished in overall light ghost gray,
with dark ghost gray sprayed on the insides of the flying surfaces and
along the fuselage top. No special unit markings are carried, but the
camouflage alone will make this one stand out from other F-16s.
Conclusion
This is a decent model of the F-16 and while it is not the most detailed
kit available, it will build up into a nice replica of this famous fighter.
The exquisite decal sheet is comprehensive and will entice some to build
more than one F-16. My thanks to MRC for the review sample.
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