1:32 General Dynamics F-16C/D Block 52+

The Hawks of Krzesiny

The Polish Air Force took over the first machines of the Block 52+ version at the end of 2006 and their home became the Krzesiny base near Poznan. The sheet offers five particular aircraft: the single-seaters numbered 4050, 4043 and 4040 and the two-seater 4076, with aircraft 4043 covered in two periods, in 2006 and in 2010.

The Block 52+ version can be told from the older batches by the dorsal spine with additional fuel, a more powerful engine and more modern avionics. The Polish machines wear a gray low-visibility finish on which the stencils and markings are done in a gray only a shade darker, and it is precisely such details that make the decal sheet a substantial part of the final impression.

What to keep in mind during the build

The large scale forgives little. Gray stencils on a gray ground are fine on this type and tear if handled roughly, so it pays to cut them out with a narrow margin of carrier film and to transfer them one at a time. The two appearances of machine 4043 differ in details of equipment and pylons, so it is as well to decide in advance which of them the model will wear.

The aircraft from Krzesiny are among the most frequently built subjects of the present-day Polish Air Force. The sheet covers both the more ceremonially marked machines and the everyday service appearance these aircraft wear in routine training.

Each option comes with fuselage numbers, unit markings and a range of small stencils of the kind found on the real aircraft around the filler ports, by the access panels and on the undersides of the wings. It is details like these that make a model convincing, even though an observer does not notice them at first glance.