This model is the old 1/32 Revell kit of 1979 vintage. It was reissued several times and the latest issue came with markings of the 512th TFS and an added sprue to upgrade the kit to a F-16C.

The roots of this particular model go back to the year 1999. At that time I was heavily involved in the Falcon 4.0 flight sim with the 512th Virtual Fighter Squadron. Some friends decided to give this kit to me as a birthday present, as the jet in the sim had exactly the same paint scheme. There was no question that I was going to build the same jet as I was flying in the flight sim. This is why the finished model does not have a serial number, and it was never intended to represent the real-life jet 85-1412.

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After some research, the kit was started in 2004. At that time 1/32 weapon sets were not available, so I had to scratchbuild some parts of the aircraft and scavenge some of the ordnance to be correct for the aircraft I flew in the sim. The model was finally finished in February 2015

The modifications to the kit:

• hand painted F-16C gauges and displays onto the kit's instrument panel

• modified the 16S210 wingtip launchers into LAU-129s

• made AIM-120s out of the kit's AIM-7s

• modified the kit's station 4/6 pylons to represent the fueltank pylons

• got some Hasegawa fuel tanks

• bought a set of CAM Resin AGM-88s

• added bulges with putty to the MLG doors

• got a port HTS pod from the 1/32 Academy kit after that was released

• added some detail to the inside of the exhaust nozzle

• filled wrong detail on the upper fuselage and rescribed with correct panels

• scratchbuilt pitot tube on the nose

• modified the Trumpeter ECM pod and the kit's centerline tank pylon

• scratchbuilt AOA sensors and standby pitot probe

• added landing lights to the NLG door

• applied markings on the tailbase with custom cut masks and black decals

• added the pilot's name below the canopy

• made static dischargers out of nylon bristles of a fingernail brush

Despite the modifications, this model was never considered to be a 100% accurate model, as this jet did not exist in real life. Instead, I took the chance to improve my skills and to try out different techniques. Considering the age of the kit, the modifications are a huge improvement and I am sure it can measure up with some F-16 models in that scale.

I'll leave you with some pictures during the construction of this model.

Have fun,

Dennis Mathes

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