1/48 Hasegawa F-16CJ Block 50/52

Republic of Singapore Air Force

by Chuang Xue Qian

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Hi everyone! This is my first submission to ARC and I'm presenting to you my recently completed Hasegawa F-16CJ of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). Just to give you a short description about the F-16. The F-16 is a lightweight all-weather multi-role fighter capable of both air-to-air and air-to-ground. It has proven itself to be one of the most lethal fighters produced in the 21st Century. The first time the F-16 ever saw combat was in 1981 when the Israeli Air Force which used 8 aircraft to destroy the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor with a top cover of 6 F-15s. A year later during Operation Peace for Galilee, the Israelis used F-16s to engage Syrian MiGs and shot down a total of 86 Syrian aircraft with no combat losses of its own. The RSAF acquired F-16s to modernize her Air Force during the 1980s to replace the ageing Hawker Hunter jets which had been flying since the 1960s. 

Anyway back to the topic, I had all along been planning to build one of those mean machines for my display stand and it's finally done after nearly a year of construction, painting, decaling and weathering etc.  I should say it's not very well done, but I still hope you'll like it.  This plane had to undergo several modifications such as scratch-building IFF aerials in front of the canopy.  And as RSAF Vipers are known to carry AMRAAM-C but the ones provided in the kit were AMRAAM-B.  It was easy to modify the missiles.  Just trim off a small portion of the fins and paint them black. Overall, this is a very beautiful kit as all parts went together perfectly without any hitch.

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As all RSAF Vipers are capable of launching the AGM-88 High speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), I created this what-if bird because I have never seen any RSAF Viper carrying such a missile. But when the need for Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) calls, the Vipers can be quickly modified for this purpose. Hence the what-if. This jet was finished with paints H305, 306, 307 and 308 for the standard USAF Viper scheme for Block 50/52s which is also adopted by the RSAF. The remove-before-flight flags were made of paper!! LOL! The decals were of SiamScale brand and were bought seperately. 

This model depicts F-16C serial number 615 of 140 'Osprey' Squadron based in Tengah Air Base, the biggest and most important fighter aircraft base in Singapore. The F-16s of 140 Squadron are primarily responsible for Air Defence, Fighter Sweep and Escort and Counter Air Operations/Strategic Interdiction/Maritime Air Operations. Besides 140 Squadron, Tengah Air Base is also home to 143 Squadron, 111 Squadron and formerly 145 Squadron which used to operate the A-4SU Super Skyhawk. Now 145 Squadron flies state-of-the-art Block 52+ F-16Ds and have been relocated to Changi Air Base. 

As F-16s are the RSAF's back-bone fighters, they have to be constantly maintained to ensure their tip-top performances in both peace time and war. 

Well, I'll let the rest of the pictures do the talking for you yea? 

Cheers!!

Xue Qian

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Photos and text © by Chuang Xue Qian