The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon was the winner of the NATO fighter design contest in the early seventies and entered service in the mid 1970's. The relatively tiny and single engined "Electric Jet" is one of the hottest dog fighters around, able to accelerate vertically and pull 9-G turns. Computerized or "fly-by-wire" flight controls are a key to the F-16, where a computer interprets control inputs and tells the flight surfaces where to go and what to do.
The F-16 model was built using Unigraphics V10.4 and contains 68 separate parts in an assembly of approximately 40Mb of part data. The overall part makes extensive use of assemblies and reference sets to produce configurations that contain separate geometry for a canopy closed with a pilot, the canopy open, the gear up, or a deployed landing gear.
The initial data for the model was from simple polygon point data of an F16. This point data was used for approximate bulkhead locations and general shapes. Conic curves were then constructed and the point data was deleted. Surfaces were lofted in Unigraphics and uses mainly mesh surfaces from the defining control curves. Detailed information on everything from antenna placements to landing gear details were obtained from library books on the F16 and jet fighters in general.
For rendering, the model uses scanned images of the interior cockpit instruments and other F-16 markings to add realism. Image texture maps were also used to create the color transitions from the dark blue body color to the lighter gray body color. By using an image texture the body color transition did not have to fall on the boundary between two surface bodies and gave a more natural look. The overall body was given a matte material finish which is closer to the dull finish on the real planes. The nose cone is more reflective and was given a "phong" material type. The overall markings are a combination of markings for the 388th TFW plus the F16 Fighting Falcon insignia used in the Official Christening Ceremony. As a side note, the first operational F16 unit was the 388th TFW which was given the assignment of training the first operational F16 pilots for the USAF and NATO.
Panel lines were constructed by projecting and offsetting lines onto the lofted body, and creating ruled surfaces between the lines. As with any photorealistic project, the addition of details such as panel lines are critical in order to achieve a realistic effect.
The gold tint canopy effect was obtained by creating a translucent gray
canopy using a "phong" material and then setting the specular highlight
color for the material to yellow. This results in an overall clear canopy,
that has a gold highlight in direct sunlight.
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