F-16C/CJ/CG
Data and Stencils

Afterburner Decals, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

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If you think that you have seen this sheet before then you are right!  This sheet is a re-drawn version of the same sheet first released by Afterburner decals back in late 2007.

The sheet is essentially the same as the first issue except that it now carries two comprehensive sets of burner petals and decals for the inside of the burner can to replicate the internal “ribbing” for the want of a better word for both the General Electric F-110 GE-100 and the Pratt Whitney PW-229 engines as well as some other minor items.

The sheet provides the stencil data for the F-16C/CJ/CG Fighting Falcon and is sized to fit the Tamiya kit.

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Thumbnail panels:

The vast majority of items are printed in either grey or black but there is some colour in the form of red for the fuel caps for the drop tanks, red and white for the ACES II logos for the ejection seat(s), red to simulate loaded chaff buckets and white ones to simulate empty ones and yellow and white manufacturer’s names for the tyres – yes, it even goes into that depth of detail!

I could spend the next two hours or so listing each item on the sheet but this is a perfect case of a picture telling a thousand words so refer to the illustration accompanying this review to see what is on the sheet!  Having said that though what follows is a brief summary of what is provided.

You get two sets of national insignia, a series of numerals to make up individual aircraft serial numbers – four sets of 0 to 9, as well as their prefixes – AF 87 through AF 03 (a single pair of each), three sets of ejection seat warning triangles, a pair of air-to-air refuelling markings, a pair of rescue arrows, 28 “no step” and 28 “walkway” markings, eight speed brake warnings, and whole lot more!

The two sets of canopy framing decals (a black set and a grey set) remain from the initial issue of the sheet as do pair of decals to simulate the wrap-around carbon fibre ring at the end of the fuselage.  The black “shadow” decals to apply to the exhaust nozzle to give an impression of depth also thankfully remain.

The decals have been printed by Cartograf.  They are thin, in perfect register and have an absolute minimum of carrier film surrounding each design.

The placement guide is printed on glossy A-4 sized paper and shows large upper and lower surfaces plan views as well as left and right hand side profiles as well as illustrations to show the placement of decals to the canopy framing, external fuel tanks and the aforementioned afterburner cans.  Thankfully, each design is printed large on the placement guide with an arrow pointing to where it should be applied so as you get it right.  The visually challenged will need a means of magnification to identify the smaller of the data items though!

The placement guide and the decal sheet come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

A welcome update of what was already a great sheet from the guys at Afterburner Decals.

Thanks to Afterburner Decals for the sample

Review Copyright © 2010 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 15 March, 2010
Last updated 15 March, 2010

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