Tamiya 1/32 F-16C, Converted to a Block 25

By Chuck Sawyer

Here is my latest “Kicked Up A Notch” model of an F-16 Aggressor, which is the first one painted in the “Ghost” camo scheme, to sort of replicate the SU-57 “Felon” Stealth Fighter. The picture below I took in 2019 of 84-1220 at Nellis AFB at their semi-annual airshow.

Here is another pic I took of this same jet flying at the 2022 airshow.

Since 2019, at least three other Vipers are now painted in this same scheme (84-1236, 84-1301 and 86-0299) and while they all are very similar, there are several small differences in the digital paint pattern, so there is a bit of latitude as to what is “correct” or not, and the exact location of certain features can be quite variable. For the most part, pics of these jets show them to be quite clean with their new paint jobs, so I kept weathering to a minimum accordingly.

I was fortunate enough to already own the relatively rare Tamiya Thunderbirds kit (60316), which is a Block 32 that can easily be modified to create my subject above, which is a Block 25. I also added a significant amount of aftermarket items as follows:

Aires F-16C Cockpit Set (2066)
Aires F-16C Wheel Bays (2067)
ResKit F-16 (F100-PW) Exhaust Nozzle (RSU32-0018)
ResKit F-16 Block 25-32 Wheel Set (RS32-0024)
Kopecky Scale Models LAU-129 Missile Rails (32016)
Kopecky Scale Models Horizontal Stabilizers (32036)
Master Brass Static Dischargers (came with above)
Zactomodels AIM-9L/M resin missile
Bandit Resin Factory ACMI Pod Type E (BRF-32-005)
Master F-16 AOA Probes (AM-32-032)
Cross Delta F-16C Stiffener Plates (CD32001)
AeroMasks Camo Masks and Decals- Ghost Scheme (AM32-F1643T)
Two Bobs Blizzard Bad Guy Decals (32-063)
Uprise F-16B Fighting Falcon Decals (UR32223)
Airscale Cockpit Instrument and Placard Decals (Various)

For details on how I pulled all these parts together, I have a fairly long build thread in the Work in Progress forum.

Although there are a few errors here and there, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and it will sit right next to my F-15C Aggressor I made about 7 years ago in my new display case.

I hope you like it.

Tamiya 1/32 F-16C, Converted to a Block 25

By Chuck Sawyer

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