My first whiff - F-16W - FINISHED!!

[DogfighterZen]

Lovely job, as they say not far from here. No smiley can be expressive enough.

Thank you!
The twin seater will be started next week, but it will look a bit different...

[jsport]

  Overexcellent

[DogfighterZen]

  thank you, glad you like it!
I'll try to get some ordnance on the wings tonight, more pics after that!

[Dizzyfugu]

Great result. I love the organic lines and the elegant tail with the VT nozzle. Excellent. 

[DogfighterZen]

Great result. I love the organic lines and the elegant tail with the VT nozzle. Excellent. 

Thank you very much!   I am really glad with out it came out, but the DSI intake is what i'm really satisfied with, although i'll never build another one out of putty! 
And to show you guys my appreciation for your words, here it is with the drop tanks. 




The drop tanks were a bit difficult to align properly as was too lazy to measure and mark the hardpoints when i was shaping the wings. It was easy to find the spot, just hard to hold them in place... Still, they go on the same places as on normal F-16s, the wing's sweep angle is the same and the leading edge starts exactly in the same spot as the original wings.
I took a look at my other F-16s and pics of the F-16, F-18 and F-22's wing pylons and in every pic i've found, the pylon leading edge is placed right next to the wing's slats, so that's where i put them.
About the back story, i should have it by the weekend with a final pic session with the complete loadout, which i'm still not sure if i'll be fully packing it as i was planning at first, maybe i'll leave the missile truck role for the twin seater. I'll just have to keep trying them on to see how it looks with more "Boom!" sticks... 

[DogfighterZen]

So, the last missiles are on... 



"The F-16W was the 1st of a few redesigns of the old Viper.
After the US government dropped the F-35 back in 2001, the US Air force would still be well provisioned with the F-22 Raptor, but that would leave the other services with a problem.
By cancelling the F-35, the DoD decides to ask manufacturers for new upgrade programs that could enhance survivability and performance in various aspects of the existing 4th Gen fighters like the F-15, -16 and -18. All the kits had to be able to be retrofitted to existing in-service aircraft.



Eventually, the F-15 would have the newest version called F-15SE, and the Hornet would become the Super Hornet. But the changes would be further developed as the world's financial situation was becoming more and more unstable, Nato partners would probably be out of money to invest in completely new aircraft in the near future, so the cheaper alternatives seemed like a much wiser choice... until the price of these upgrade kits was revealed to the public, that is... 
The changes began with the engine, the  Pratt&Whitney F119 would be retrofitted to the F-16 airframe, which didn't pose a big problem as the 119's dimensions are very similar to the P&W F100 and GE F110. The 2D TVC nozzle is integrated into the engine, and also added weight to the engine choice as it would greatly improve maneuverability and lower the IR signature.



Taking the F-22's experience, and using some other design features that were supposed to be a part of the F-35, Lockheed decides to stick to the F-16 basic airframe and develop add-on kits that could address any short comings the original design had.
These kits would be developed throughout several years since mid 2002. The F-16W was the first aircraft to be built for testing of some of the major changes to the Viper, but an even bigger redesign would come around 2009, when the wings and tails were changed.
There were 2 versions of Packs to be developed, air-to-air and air-to-ground. The air to ground kit design would result in the AF-16A, of which the prototype was presented to the public in the 2012 Singapore air show.
The wings and stabs had become bigger, with a redesigned profile, using the F-22's wing profile, but adapting it to match the load capacity the old wing had, so instead of having only two wing pylon stations like the Raptor, it would have 3 hardpoints underneath the wing, and the traditional wingtip missile launcher as on the original Viper wing. The F-35's tail section design would be used when the decision was made to give the Viper twin tails.



The DSI intake, after the successful test series back in 1996, on an F-16C block30, would be adopted for these upgrade kits as it reduced weight and RCS.
The undercarriage section was also redesigned, as the length of the aircraft would be increased by the new horizontal tails. The option to try a Hornet type landing gear to give the fighter a higher ground clearance, but that meant an extensive study of how to fit a kit of the new bigger landing gears bays setup. Going with a CFT type of design, the bays would be moved down and aft, to give it an even bigger clearance of the tail on high AoA landings. This also brought out the old idea of having the F-16 on carriers, something that would become much easier to consider with the new gear.
Another old idea that re-emerged was the landing gear door-mounted missiles. The missiles would now be place on the sides of the enlarged landing gear bays, much like the F-15 or even the F-18's fuselage mounted missiles, giving the F-16 another 2 weapon stations.
Block 60 features as the IRST in front of the cockpit and Forward looking sensors on the sides of the cockpit.



Concerning radar cross section, the DSI, the twin tails, planform alignment of most angles, a new type of radar absorbing paint that was developed in 2009, along with the new RAM coating material applied on the whole aircraft and pylons, would help reduce the Viper's RCS to the size of a small car, with full external load. A big difference to the house-sized RCS of the original Vipers.



After all the changes were ground-tested and approved, the 1st prototype flew in 2010 at Nellis Air Force base, and kept being flown by the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron throughout the year."









Pics depict the F-16W in live weapons testing... There are a few screw-ups visible on the underside pic, the outboard LAU-127s were really hard to hold in place, and slipped a few times, resulting in the glue taking out a bit of paint. That will be touched up, i just didn't wanna be bothered with that... The number of missiles carried could even be higher but i decided that this was enough...
Some of you may notice that i included a reference to Dizzyfugu's AF-16A, as i think that it really fits my alternative scenario just perfectly and it is very similar in a few aspects like the twin tails, different wing and intake.
Hope you guys like how it came out, i know i'm really happy with it, considering my skills and what i've achieved in modeling so far. Next will probably be better as i now have the experience this one gave me.
Thank you all for the support with your comments and views throughout the 2 and a half years that this took to get finished!

EDIT: updated photo links for your viewing pleasure.

[kerick]

She's loaded for bear!
Amazing job! First whiff and you are kick'n butt!

[DogfighterZen]

She's loaded for bear!
Amazing job! First whiff and you are kick'n butt!

Thanks, kerick!  Good to know you like the loadout, i was thinking of keeping it lighter but i just like to see a well armed jet...
Still, i can see how a heavier air to air load could be used by this bird, but i'll leave that for the twin seat version...

[Tophe]

  Hurrah, what a marvel! I am ordering 100,000 copies scale one, to be delivered yesterday!

[Captain Canada]

Gorgeous ! Love everything about this one. Great job !

[DogfighterZen]

Hurrah, what a marvel! I am ordering 100,000 copies scale one, to be delivered yesterday!

Gorgeous ! Love everything about this one. Great job !

Captain and Tophe, thank you very much!! It's a great reward for me just to know that i managed to do something out of it that didn't disappoint my modeling family!
It was quite a venture for me, when i started it, i just thought:"Well, here's one for the bin..."
But with the motivation everyone gave me, i found the courage to get it done. That's why i call this site my modeling home since the moment i registered!  
Now i'm just enjoying this build for a while... i love to look at it while smoking funny things...  and after that, flying it through the cloud layer...
Tophe, 100,000 real ones? I guess that would make for an unbeatable Air Force!! Even if the enemy had 1000 Raptors and 1000 PAK FA T-50s... But the Lockheed factory says it can only start delivering by 2050, because of the F-35's delays...

[steelpillow]

Didn't disappoint - I'll say not! What a wonderful beastie it has turned out to be. 

About that back story: the budget cuts which led to the incremental development of existing types were brought on by the continuing financial fallout from the great banking crash, the faltering of the Chinese economy, and the economic instability caused by turning the global economic model around from one of exploitation to one of sustainability. In this climate, increasingly aggressive noises from Russia, China and Iran meant that military presence had to be maintained - despite tightening finances.

Here we see the result.

Somewhere in my whiffing box there lie the bones of a modestly supersonic Harrier III, the new Liberal majority government's fallback following the mutually agreed cancellation of the F-35. The prototype was a modified late-model Harrier actually rescued from the spares box a museum.

[Steel Penguin]

I have to say,  that does look wonderful   a top job on it 
all of a sudden there seems to be an outbreak of good looking f16s

[DogfighterZen]

Thanks, guys!  You're spoiling me...

@Steelpillow - That would probably be the perfect background for this bird! Great idea! 
I just wonder how much would such a redesign of the Viper cost... I imagine this could be expensive, but still, the DSI was already tested and would be ready for production in a short time, the P&W F119 engine and nozzle are in production... the wings shouldn't be too hard to integrate after the experience of the Mitsubishi F-2A and the Raptor, but i'm not so sure about the whole aft fuselage with the new landing gear bays, twin tails and horizontal stabs set up. I believe that would take some work... but i also believe that even with the development and integration costs, these upgrade kits would still be cheaper than the F-35... In case it was too expensive to retrofit the changes to older versions, these would probably be the new build Block 72 as it's Pratt&Whitney powered, Block 70 would be the GE powered version.
I'm not an F-35 hater, on the contrary, i would like to see that bird become a great fighter like the Viper, especially the F-35C as it goes by PR19_Kit's rule of bigger wings, but it just seems that it still has a long way to go...

Now, where's that Supersonic Harrier III? I wanna see that, it must be a beauty... 

@Steel Penguin - You're right, in the past few weeks we've seen quite a few F-16 builds around here, and all look great! Leptiprince's bunch of Vipers, Comrade Harps's F-16G, AF-16A by Dizzyfugu, Chris Payne's Iranian F-16... All beautiful!! I guess we can call it a Viper Syndrome, or Acute Falconitis desease, as i was diagnosed with it too... 

[steelpillow]

One thought on the landing gear. Rather than a total refit involving new rear fuselage, why not just cant it backwards when extended and fit long-stroke oleo legs? It could then support your rearward shift in CG and deck landings, while still retracting into the original bays.

My Harrier III features lengthened front nozzles with integral afterburners. To control supersonic airflow the intakes are brought forward of the cockpit and wrapped around the radar, old-style, with massive blow-in doors to augment airflow at very low air speeds. A tailless delta wing replaces the heavier conventional wing, while also providing additional space for fuel and avionics. Could take a while to appear though, I got distracted by Wing C'dr Clive Caldwell's RAAF Twinfire Mk. VV from the defence of Darwin in 1943.