We have been involved in the design of some real jets and I can tell you, it is a real adventure! After you get a briefing of what the unit, team or CO, the design work starts, resulting in 5 to 10 initial liveries. These are the basis to what will become the final design, which will be refined until the crews flying the jets are 100% happy. Once the designs are approved, we talk with the paint shop crews on how to get the design on the real aircraft after which the hard work starts:painting, masking, more masking and more painting. This can take between 2 and 7 weeks! And when the aircraft is rolled out, it’s always a special moment! Here are some of the aircraft we’ve done so far:
F-16 Belgian Air Force Dark Falcon
This project was for the Belgian Air Force F-16 Demo Team and pilot Stefan Darte, callsign “Vador”. This design was done in collaboration with Johan Wolfs. The concept had some special features: Each year, the design on the vertical tail changed, following a specific theme. So, the jet had 3 different tails, one for each year that Vador flew it. The hardest part of this project was to get a green light for the all black radome.
In 2020, Florennes Air Base was preparing for the airshow to be held at the base the following year. We were asked to create a simple design for the occasion, making sure the newly developped guidelines would be underlined in the design. The three shades of blue were used in this design and the modified logo was placed on the ventral fins. Unfortunately, when the jet was painted, the Covid-19 crisis broke and the airshow was all but cancelled. And not many people got to see this special livery…
For the 105th anniversary of the Belgian Air Force’s 1 Squadron, another design was made, reminicent of the “black bird” schemes in which Mirages and earlier F-16s were painted. A freshly painted F-16 – FA-57 – got a themed vertical tail, tartan ventral fins, a black and golden upper front fuselage and special markings on the nose wheel door.
When the Alpha Jet was about to be withdrawn from service with the Belgian Air Force, we were asked to design a special livery that also included the 100thy anniversary of 11 Squadron, which was tradionally a night fighter unit. The unit’s logo is a bat. So, a special tail was designed and the wings received a special scheme, in line with the Dark Falcon F-16, which flew at the same time.
For each of these projects, we also designed the merchandising for these jets, including T-shirts, badges, posters, cards, books, caps and even beer mugs ! Each time, it was an unforgettable adventure of which we’re very proud! And please don’t go telling it around, but we’re working on a few more, see make sure to visit back here every now and then!
