1:72 Polish F-16D NTM 2013 Red livery

A two-seat Viper in the small scale

The F-16D version came about as a trainer, but with a number of air forces it serves at the same time as a fully capable combat machine. The second seat called for a longer tandem canopy and took away part of the internal fuel; machines of the newer production blocks also carry an enlarged dorsal fairing into which equipment displaced from the fuselage was moved. The silhouette of a two-seat aircraft therefore differs noticeably from the single-seater, and on a model that difference is clearly visible.

A saturated area instead of artwork

In 2013 one of the Polish two-seat machines appeared in a full-surface red rendition prepared for the gathering of the so-called tiger squadrons. Repaints for this event tend to be a parade of the ground crew's imagination, and the red variant was one of those that work even from a distance: no artwork, just a saturated color across the whole airframe.

Why it hurts more in 1:72

In this scale the whole aircraft measures a little over twenty centimeters and the cockpit frames are thinner than a millimeter. An attempt to cut them from adhesive tape usually ends in uneven width and paint run under the edge, which can then be corrected only by sanding it back.

The sheets in the package, by contrast, are machine-cut, so both sides come out symmetrical. The procedure: clean the surface, spray a lighter base, lay the mask on, apply the saturated shade in two thin coats and take the film off before the varnish has hardened completely. Red covers worse than most shades, so rather count on a third light pass. A kit is not enclosed in the package.