BASIC BUILD
Ethan Williams builds Revell’s 1/72 F-16D two-seater in a stunning 2014 NATO Tiger Meet livery.
Lockheed Martin developed the F-16D as a trainer version of the F-16C, itself an improvement of the F-16A. The Turkish Air Force (TuAF) took delivery of its first F-16s in 1987 under the Peace Onyx I programme. After the initial eight aircraft were delivered, the remaining 148 were built locally by TUSAS Aerospace Industries (TAI), all being Block 30/40 airframes. A further order was placed in 1992 for 80 Block 50 airframes under the auspices of Peace Onyx II.
Revell’s 1/72 F-16 was tooled in 2000 and has since been issued 19 times in various guises, plus two extra under other brand names. This recent offering contained the four styrene runners for an F-16C airframe (one being clear), with a separate frame containing parts specific to the two-seat D-variant, providing the rear cockpit parts and a different upper-forward fuselage. The decals allow for a specially painted TuAF aircraft during the NATO Tiger Meet at Schleswig Air Base, Germany, in 2014, featuring a stunning cyborg tiger design across the entire rear upper fuselage, external fuel tanks and ventral fins.
Above: Despite being a modern tooling, the entirety …
