1:48 F-16C Fighting Falcon wheels and canopy paint mask outside only (for Hasegawa 00232 kit)

The Fighting Falcon: a light fighter that changed the rules

The lightweight fighter program got going in America as a counterweight to ever heavier and more expensive machines. The prototype first flew in 1974, and the first short hop above the runway was actually unintended, when the pilot found himself in the air during a fast taxi run. The resulting aircraft brought fly-by-wire controls without mechanical linkages, a side stick in place of the classic one between the knees and a seat reclined backward so that the pilot could take higher loads.

The cockpit is covered by bubble glazing without a front frame, which gives a view almost all the way round. That was a novelty at the time it was created and it is still the most conspicuous recognition feature of the type. Over four thousand examples were built and the machine serves in more than twenty countries.

On this canopy the frame is only a narrow rim around the perimeter and the lower edge, but all the more reason for every inaccuracy to show at once. The parts from the sheet trace the rim along its whole length and leave no jagged edge of the kind hand trimming of tape often creates. The inner surface of the glazing is not dealt with by the set, according to the name.

The cut matches the moldings that Hasegawa makes for this type at 1:48. Besides the cockpit there are shapes for the wheels on the sheet. The golden tinge of real canopies is often imitated with paint, and a clean frame boundary matters especially then.

The glazing of modern machines tends to be tinted to a golden shade and on a model it is imitated by a fine translucent coat. A mask holds the boundary of that coat exactly where it should be and the rest of the area stays clear. It must not be overdone, otherwise the inside of the cockpit stops being visible.