1:72 F-16AM Falcon FA-101 Solo Display 2018 - Dark Falcon Belgian AF

A falcon in dark dress

Display flights by individual machines are among the most rewarding things to capture on a model, because display machines get a coat they would never carry in ordinary service. The Belgian F-16AM marked FA-101 performed in the 2018 season under the name Dark Falcon and its appearance corresponds to that.

The appearance and its pitfalls

The basis is a nearly all-over dark area, across which a stylized bird-of-prey artwork is spread. Such a base is the most demanding one a modeler could wish for. Black shows every scratch, fingerprint and uneven application mercilessly, and the transparent carrier film of the markings will form a visible glossy rectangle on it everywhere the surface is not perfectly smooth. At the same time a deep dark color goes darker still under matte varnish, so a sample on an offcut is practically obligatory here.

The second difficulty is legibility. Artwork on a dark background works only when it has a light underprint layer of its own, and that likes to shift against the colored part during longer soaking. Pull the piece out of the water, therefore, before it releases by itself, and let it come good on the paper.

Step-by-step procedure

• Smooth and degrease the airframe, then apply the black in several very thin layers.
• Add a thicker gloss layer so that the texture of the surface is evened out.
• Cut the artwork off as close to the print as possible and settle it on a wet base.
• Choose a fine matte varnish; a coarse grainy surface optically blurs the bird-of-prey motif.

In the box you will find only a printed sheet. The F-16 kit and the paints have to be bought as well, and so do the gloss and the matte layer of varnish.