Lockheed-Martin AF-16A Strike Falcon; ‘115' of No. 1 Sq. Royal Jordan Air Force

Dizzyfugu · November 29, 2015, 03:41:03 AM

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Lockheed Martin (originally developed by General Dynamics) F-16 Fighting Falcon is originally a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft, developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,500 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are still being built for export customers.

One of these recent developments is the AF-16 "Strike Falcon", a thorough update of the original fighter design as a 4.5 generation aircraft and optimized for the attack role. The prototype was presented to the public at the 2012 Singapore Air Show, and the type is intended for the export market as a simpler and less costly alternative to the F-35 multi role SVTOL aircraft.

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Compared to the original F-16 fighter the new attack aircraft underwent considerable modifications – the most obvious is a new wing with more area (effectively, almost doubling it) and a much thicker profile, a V-tail layout and a fixed Divertless Supersonic Intake (DSI).

The AF-16's new delta wing was designed around a large single piece of carbon fiber composite material. The wing has a span of 11 meters, with a 55-degree leading edge sweep and can hold up to 20,000 pounds of fuel – extending range and loitering time considerable. The purpose of the high sweep angle was to allow for a thick wing section to be used while still providing limited transonic aerodynamic drag, and to provide a good angle for wing-installed conformal antenna equipment.

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Another side effect of the new wing's shape is a highly reduced radar signature, which was further improved by the angular, canted twin tail fins and the DSI's design that absorbs much of incoming frontal radar beams and totally blocks the moving parts of the jet engine.

A simple afterburner nozzle for the F110-GE-100 afterburning turbofan was retained, even though a 2D and even 3D vectoring thrust nozzle could be mounted.
The AF-16 features the same AN/APG-68 of the F-16C/D Block 25, but it has been optimized for the ground attack role, even though air combat capabilities are retained. This includes improved ground-mapping, Doppler beam-sharpening, ground moving target indication, sea target, and track while scan (TWS) for up to 10 targets.

The system provides all-weather autonomous detection and targeting for Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided precision weapons, SAR mapping and terrain-following radar (TF) modes, as well as interleaving of all modes. The system is also fully compatibility with Lockheed Martin Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infra-Red for Night (LANTIRN) system, which was integrated into the forward fuselage (instead of pods on the F-16).

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The AF-16 quickly attained interest, and one of the first countries to order the Strike Falcon is Jordan. Jordan gained independence in 1946, but its first air bases had been set up in 1931 by the Royal Air Force. By 1950, Jordan began to develop a small air arm, which came to be known as the Arab Legion Air Force (ALAF).
In July of 1994, King Hussein of Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel, ending over 40 years of hostility between these two nations. Shortly thereafter, the government of Jordan began to lobby within the American government to purchase as many as 42 F-16A/B Fighting Falcons.

Following the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty and the lending of Jordanian support to the United States during the Persian Gulf War, the U.S. recommenced full military relations with Jordan starting with the donation of 16 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (12 F-16A and 4 F-16B) in storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) at Davis Monthan AFB. Deliveries commenced in 1997 and were completed the following year, replacing the Mirage F1CJs in the air-defense role.

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In recent years, U.S. military assistance has been primarily directed toward upgrading Jordan's air force, as recent purchases include upgrades to U.S.-made F-16 fighters, air-to-air missiles, and radar systems.

Other types, especially the ageing F-5E/F fleet, needed replacement, too. The RJAF's F-5E/F, as well as the remaining Mirage F.1s in the ground support role, took several years after the F-16's arrival until the AF-16A could finally fill this gap in the RJAF's arsenal. Fourteen machines had been ordered in 2012 (twelve AF-16A single seaters plus two AF-16B two seaters for conversion training) and were delivered in early 2015, allocated to No. 1 Squadron at Azraq. For twelve more an option had been agreed upon, while the RJAF F-16As will focus on the interceptor and air superiority role.

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length (incl. pitot): 52 ft 1 1/2 in (15.91 m)
Wingspan: 36 ft (10.97 m)
Height: 12 ft 4 1/2 in (3,78 m)
Wing area: 590 ft² (54.8 m²)
Empty weight: 18,900 lb (8,570 kg)
Loaded weight: 26,500 lb (12,000 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 42,300 lb (19,200 kg)

Powerplant:
1× F110-GE-100 turbofan with 17,155 lbf (76.3 kN) dry thrust and
28,600 lbf (127 kN) with afterburner

Performance:
Maximum speed: Mach 1.2 (915 mph, 1,470 km/h) at sea level,
Mach 1.6 (1,200 mph, 1,931 km/h) at altitude
Range: 1,324 nmi; 1,521 mi (2,450 km) with internal fuel
Ferry range: 2,485 nmi (2,857 mi, 4,600 km) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 42,000 ft (13,000 m)
Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
Wing loading: 44.9 lb/sq ft (219 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 1.095

Armament:
1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A2 Vulcan 6-barrel Gatling cannon with 511 rounds
A total of nine hardpoints for Air-to-air missile launch rails and a wide range of guided and unguided
air-to-ground ordnance with a capacity of up to 17,000 lb (7.700 kg) of stores

The kit and its assembly:
This whif kitbashing was inspired by real design studies from General Dynamics that show evolutionary developments of the F-16 in a no-tail configuration, but with an enlarged diamond-shaped wing shape (much like the F-22's), obviously based on the F-16XL. Additionally you find several similar fantasy CG designs in the WWW – the basic idea seems to have potential. And when I stumbled across the remains of a Revell X-32 in my stash and an Intech F-16A kit, I wondered if these could not be reasonably combined...?

What sounds easy eventually ended up in a massive bodywork orgy. The Intech kit (marketed under the Polish Master Craft Label) is horrible, the worst F-16 kit I have ever seen or tried to build - it's cheap and you get what you pay for. Maybe the PM Model F-16 is worse (hard to believe, but sprue pics I saw suggest it), but the Intech kits are ...challenging. This thing is like a blurred picture of an F-16: you recognize the outlines, but nothing is sharp and no part matches any other! Stay away.

Well, actually only the fuselage, the cockpit and parts of the Intech kit's landing gear survived. The X-32 kit is, on the other side, a sound offering. It was not complete anymore, since I donated parts like the cockpit and the landing gear to my SAAB OAS 41 'Vيًarr' stealth aircraft from Sweden some time ago, but there were many good parts left to work with.

Especially the aerodynamic surfaces (wings and V-tail) attained my interest: these parts match well with the F-16 fuselage in size and shape if you look from above, and the leading edges even blend well with the F-16 LERXs. But: the X-32's wings are much, much thicker than the F-16's, so that the original blended wing/fuselage intersection does not match at all.

Additionally, the X-32's bulged landing gear wells in the wings had to go, so these had to be filled as an initial step. The wing roots were roughly cut into the F-16 kit's shape and glued onto the fuselage. After drying, the whole blended wing/fuselage intersection had to be sculpted from scratch - several layers of putty and even more wet sanding sessions were necessary. I stopped counting after turn five, a tedious job. But it eventually paid out...

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Furthermore decided to change the F-16's chin air intake and implant parts from the X-32 divertless supersonic "sugar scoop" intake. Such an arrangement has actually been tested on an F-16, so it's not too far-fetched, and its stealthy properties make a welcome update. The respective section from the X-32's lower front fuselage was cut away and had to be modified, too, because it would originally not fit at all under the F-16's front. The intake was carefully heated at the edges and the side walls bent inwards - I was lucky that no melting damage occurred! Inside of the new intake, the upper, bulged part was implanted, too, so that in real life the jet engine parts would be protected from direct frontal radar detection.

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The front wheel position was retained. As a consequence of the new, much more voluminous and square air intake, the rather round section from the main landing gear onwards had to be sculpted for a decent new fuselage shape, too. But compared to the massive wing/fuselage body work, this was only a minor task.

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The F-16A's fuselage was not extended, but for a different look I decided to eliminate the single fin and rather implant the X-32's outward-canted twin fins - the original extensions that hold the F-16's air brakes and now blend into the new wings' trailing edge were a perfect place, and as a side benefit they'd partly cover the jet nozzle. The latter was replaced by a respective spare part from an Italeri F-16 – the Intech nozzle is just a plain, conical tube...!

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The landing gear was mostly taken over from the Intech F-16, even though it is rather rough, as well as the pylons. The ordnance was puzzled together: the Sidewinders and the cropped drop tanks come from the Intech kit (the latter have a horribly oval diameter shape and the triangulare fins are a massive 1mm thick!), the Paveway bombs come from a Hasegawa air-to-ground weapons set.

Painting and markings:
The livery is somewhat inspired by a CG illustration of a fictional Big-Wing-F-16IN in Jordan colors. I also found a desert camouflage rather interesting for this aircraft – F-16s are typically grey-in-grey, with rare exceptions. Anyway, the paint scheme I applied is pure fiction fictional. I wanted a multi-color scheme with rather sober and subdued colors, partly inspired by contemporary Iranian MiG-29s.

I ended up with three upper and a single lower tone. The scheme is roughly based on the pattern that is applied to Venezuelan F-16s, but with desert colors: these are a pale, yellow-ish sand (Humbrol 103, Cream), a medium sand brown (Humbrol 187, Dark Stone) and a dull medium grey (Revell 75, RAL 7030). The undersides were painted in a pale blue (Humbrol 23, RAF Duck Egg Blue).

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Since a lot of the (already rather vague) surface details of the Intech kit was lost through sanding, I simulated panels through dry painting, later some panel lines were manually added with a pencil, too. A light weathering was done with a thin black in wash. The cockpit was painted in Neutral Grey (FS 36173), and the canopy was tinted with a thinned mix of clear brown and yellow – and it turned out nicely! Even though the rear part had to be painted over, because the clear part's fit with the rest of the fuselage was poor and putty had to be used to fill gaps and sculpt a decent rear end.

Most of the decals come from a Mirage F.1 decal sheet from FFSMC Productions, a French manufacturer. Together with the pale desert colors and the subdued RJAF markings, the AF-16A looks better and more coherent than expected, esp. after a uniform coat of matt acrylic varnish had been applied (from a rattle can).

1:72 Lockheed-Martin AF-16A 'Strike Falcon'; aircraft '115' of No. 1 Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī), Azraq AB, summer 2016 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A bold idea, with many doubts on the way, esp. because of the massive body sculpting. But once the kitbashed model was painted and sealed under matt varnish, things suddenly looked pretty cool – a positive surprise. Even though I will certainly never ever touch an Intech F-16 again...

The Big Gimper · November 29, 2015, 04:15:34 AM

Awesome build Thomas. I never saw the X-32 parts until I read your build notes.

Gondor · November 29, 2015, 04:17:19 AM

Quote from: The Big Gimper on November 29, 2015, 04:15:34 AM
Awesome build Thomas. I never saw the X-32 parts until I read your build notes.

I agree with the above comments. Terrific build

Gondor

DogfighterZen · November 29, 2015, 04:58:46 AM

I just love that...

As always, excellent stuff, Dizzy!!

That would be the logical partner for my F-16W, which is an air superiority development...

I may actually get to finish that one this year...

Thorvic · November 29, 2015, 06:07:44 AM

Yeap that looks rather good and a brillant use of the X-32 parts

Dizzyfugu · November 29, 2015, 06:11:31 AM

Thank you very much!

That thing turned out more conclusive than expected, even though it took a lot of bodywork to get the thick X-32 wings onto the F-16 fuselage. The desert paint scheme suits the model well, too, way different from the typical all-grey F-16 stuff. Also nice to hear that the X-32 are not too obvious, and the wings actually blend well with the F-16 lines.

JayBee · November 29, 2015, 06:30:38 AM

Absolutely superb, workmanship, paintwork, and concept.

deathjester · November 29, 2015, 06:43:18 AM

That is both awesome and believable! Well done Sir!!

sandiego89 · November 29, 2015, 06:45:46 AM

Great surgery skills Dizzy! I can't say she looks pretty, as nothing with X-32 parts would, but she looks good!

- Dave

NARSES2 · November 29, 2015, 07:06:57 AM

Not much that can be said about that other than my jaw just dropped

Dizzyfugu · November 29, 2015, 09:59:45 AM

Thanks a lot, again - and also for the Whiffies nomination of this one!

KiwiZac · November 29, 2015, 12:03:17 PM

I like it a lot! Great work. I'd never seen an attractive F-16 model before this.

Army of One · November 29, 2015, 02:56:02 PM

Great build......thanks for posting the colours used as thats a question i would have asked........

Gondor · November 29, 2015, 03:43:13 PM

Love the extra amount of whiff in one of the pictures where there is an F-4 taking off in the background

Gondor

Tophe · November 30, 2015, 11:14:21 AM

Very inventive model!