Hasegawa 1/72 F-16C Fighting Falcon

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter originally developed by General Dynamics for the USAF. Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft with over 4,600 built since 1976. Although no longer purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are being built for export.

Key features include a frameless bubble canopy for enhanced cockpit visibility, a side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, an ejection seat reclined 30 degrees from vertical to reduce the effect of g-forces and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system that helps agility. It has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 hardpoints. Although officially named "Fighting Falcon", the aircraft is commonly known by the nickname "Viper" among its crews and pilots.

Apart from the U.S. the type has also been procured by the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2025, it is the world's most common fixed-wing aircraft in military service, with 2,084 F-16s operational.

The Hellenic Air Force has received a total of 170 F-16 aircraft including F16CD block 30, 50, and 52. Special features of the HAF  aircraft are, among others, the installation of a drag chute at the fin base aft area and the very effective (and very beautiful) “Aegean Ghost” scheme, derived from a similar USAF Aggressor one.

THE KIT

This is the second generation 1/72 F-16 Hasegawa mold and was first issued in 1985 (the first generation was issued in 1976). This newer mold has been reboxed around 70 (!) times so far, with the occasional addition of extra sprues to cover newer/different versions.

The specific kit is the 2008 exact reboxing of the “original” 2000 F-16CJ (Block 50) version, bought in 2025 at the normal price of around $20 and for an in depth look, you may read our Editor’s preview found in the ever growing MM archives.

It was to be a “simple and quick” build (whatever that means), having a tight time frame, to be presented to an F-16 pilot.

I started by assembling the reasonably detailed for the scale cockpit and trapped it, together with the main bay sidewalls, between the fuselage halves. While no nose weight is mentioned (and I am not sure if most F-16 models need any), just to be sure and since the one piece nose gear/wheel seemed strong, I trapped 10 grams of fishing weights in the front. Basic cockpit color was Tamiya XF-66 Light Gray, the stick grip and inner top anti glare areas were painted black, while for all instruments and side consoles I used the good looking kit instrument decals.

The seat had the same light gray frame, black head cushion and olive drab lower cushions. The kit-provided good looking pilot was also attached. He had gray helmet, black visor and boots, “flesh” face, white scarf, Hu102 Army Green uniform and gray seat belts and oxygen mask.

The correct for my version air intake (a five piece affair, including the nose bay, which is a part of it) was then assembled and carefully attached in position. Its innards were painted white and its shallow end matt black, to add a sense of depth. The one piece wings were next, having their three pylons at each wing attached, followed by the 2-piece fin, the stabilators, the ventral strake, the main gear bay divider and its skin cover. The wing tanks were also assembled but not attached, to facilitate painting.

Hellenic F-16s sport a drag chute, fitted in a housing located aft of the fin base. This was simulated by an appropriate sized styrene piece which was attached aft of the fin base and blended to shape.

This concluded basic assembly which was of average to low complexity. Fit was generally very good, apart from the “usual suspect” air intake which, being an insert in order to cater for different versions, needs some extra attention in order to blend with the fuselage and present a homogeneous result. After a few rounds of filling and sanding, I temporarily attached (with tak) the gear doors in position and took the bird to the paint shop!

Opting for the Aegean Ghost very nice scheme (a wraparound light/medium/blue gray pattern derived from a USAF Aggressor one), I first sprayed the entire model with Hu140 Gull gray, then masked the nose and freehanded the light gray and light blue gray shades, using Hu127 US Ghost Gray and Hu145 Medium Gray (the latter actually dries to a very nice light blue-gray shade). The wing tanks were painted Hu127 US Ghost Gray. After a few overspray corrections I deemed the result passable and coated the complete model with Future, to prepare it for decaling.

For the insignia I used the beautifully printed (by Cartograf) Kalfakis Afterburner No 72/1 decal sheet (sadly OOP, likely for good…), while for the stencils I used the kit decals which, despite their age, behaved beautifully. A coat of Future sealed the decals.  

The good looking landing gear was assembled and attached in position, followed by the wheels and doors. Everything fitted nicely, with some extra care needed to align the main gear legs, which comprise three pieces each. The two tiny landing lights were carefully attached to the nose door and the wheels were filed to look weighted. All landing gear leg bits, bay walls, door innards and wheel rims were painted white, tires were painted black, the opaque landing lights front faces were painted silver (to simulate the lenses), while all oleos were highlighted with a fine tip silver pen.

The delicate pitot was painted Testors Burned Metal and glued on, followed by the 2-piece exhaust nozzle, which was simplistically painted Mr Hobby Burned Iron and also attached. Apart from the wing tanks, which were attached in position, I did not hang any ordnance (a personal preference). As a note, the kit provides air-to-air missiles for all pylons but not any air to ground ordnance, which has to be bought separately should you wish to arm your F-16 likewise.

Time for some weathering, consisting of a black wash all over to accentuate the engraved detailing (heftier in the landing gear area to give all parts a used, oily look) and application of brown and dark dry pastels at all places where dirt and grime would reside. The above weathering is on the simplistic side, as one can go really wild, since the quickly fading Aegean Ghost scheme offers lots of weathering possibilities. A matt coat gave the bird its final hue.

The HUD transparency was painted clear green and attached in position, followed by the 2-piece canopy which had its well defined frames hand painted. Blobs of red and green clear paint simulated the wingtip lights, before calling the Hellenic F-16 done!

CONCLUSIONS

The F-16 has been lavishly represented by many kit manufacturers through the years in 1/72 and this Hasegawa offering is certainly among the top offerings: general shape is spot on, molding is very good, panel lines are finely recessed and at the correct places, overall detail is great (the key areas included), fit is mostly very good, transparencies are well molded and clear, instructions are typical Hasegawa (excellent) and decals are well printed.

Out of the box a really nice F-16 can emerge. Though some extra attention will be required to the intake assembly and attachment, the kit builds nicely, is not over engineered  and I can even recommend it to a beginner who can take his time and come up with a good looking F-16.

Happy Modeling!

Spiros Pendedekas

9 May 2025