✈️ F-16 Fighting Falcon (United States): step-by-step build

A Technic-beam fighter jet with a bubble canopy, swept wings and red, white and blue paint.

Whoosh! The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a small, quick American fighter jet with a big bubble canopy. This is a Technic-parts model inspired by it (not a real jet!): the wings get shorter towards the tips to make the swept shape, a boomerang beam makes the tail fin lean back, and three little wheels let it taxi across the table. The red, white and blue colours are borrowed from the US Air Force display team.

• Level 2 of 5 (easy)
• About 40 minutes
• 23 steps, 69 parts
• Powered by: Push
• Series: Aircraft from 21 Countries

What you will learn

• Pins: Grippy or Smooth: Pins join beams together — some hold tight, some let things swing.
• Triangles Are Strong: A triangle cannot be squished — a square can.
• Axles & Wheels: A wheel on an axle turns dragging into rolling.

Parts you need

• 1 × Beam 15
• 14 × Blue long pin
• 23 × Black pin (grippy)
• 1 × Beam 9
• 3 × L-beam 3×5
• 8 × Beam 3
• 4 × L-beam 2×4
• 1 × Beam 11
• 1 × Boomerang beam 3×7
• 5 × Beam 5
• 2 × Beam 7
• 1 × Axle 6
• 3 × Train wheel
• 1 × Axle 3
• 1 × Bush

Steps

1. Lay the floor of the fuselage: take a white 15-hole beam, then push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a white 9-hole beam onto them.
2. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a white 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: the nose-wheel leg) onto them.
3. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 2 black pins in and press a dark grey 3-hole beam (the pointed nose) onto them.
4. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin in and press a blue 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
5. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a blue 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
6. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 2 blue long pins in and press a white 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
7. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 2 blue long pins in and press a white 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
8. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin in and press a white 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
9. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a white 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
10. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a white 11-hole beam onto them.
11. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a blue boomerang beam (its bent end leans back: the tail fin) onto them.
12. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a clear 5-hole beam (the bubble canopy) onto them.
13. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail fin: push 2 black pins in and press a red 3-hole beam leaning back along the fin onto them.
14. Build the wings: slide a blue 7-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then slide a blue 7-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out.
15. Build the wings: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a white 5-hole beam onto them.
16. Build the wings: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a white 5-hole beam onto them.
17. Build the wings: push 1 blue long pin in and press a red 3-hole beam onto them, then push 1 blue long pin in and press a red 3-hole beam onto them.
18. Build the wings: push 1 black pin in and press a light grey 5-hole beam onto them, then push 1 black pin in and press a light grey 5-hole beam onto them.
19. Build the tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a red 3-hole beam onto them.
20. Build the tailplanes: push 1 blue long pin in and press a red 3-hole beam onto them, then push 1 black pin in and press a blue 3-hole beam onto them.
21. Build the tailplanes: push 1 black pin in and press a blue 3-hole beam onto them.
22. Put on the wheels: push a 6-long axle through both legs and put a wheel on each end.
23. Put on the wheels: push a 3-long axle through the leg, with a wheel on one side and a bush on the other.

Play time

Push the jet along the table and watch all three wheels roll. Can you land it gently on its back wheels first?

Real-world inspiration

General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon, US single-engine fighter (bubble canopy, cropped-delta wing, wingtip missile rails).

Credited demonstrations and component sources

• General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon — Wikipedia: Public reference for the real aircraft's shape and colours; this is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a flying or tested replica.