Lockheed Martin
F-16A/B Block 20
2 in 1 kit

Kinetic, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Mick Evans

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Kinetic follows on with its line of F-16 kits this time covering early Republic of China F-16A and B block 20 aircraft as a 2-in-1 kit where the modeller can build either version. 

Taiwan operates a total of 150 F-16A/B Block 20 aircraft which are essentially identical to MLU aircraft and are powered by the F100-PW-220 turbofan engine.

The bulk of this kit is a mix of sprues found in previous releases of the Kinetic F-16A or D single and twin seat aircraft kits.  The optional sprues cover the specific antenna fit and ECM gear that the ROCAF F-16s fly with.  The kit also has the correct exhaust nozzle for the F100-PW-220 turbofan engine and the big mouth intake included.  Having now reviewed six of the Kinetic kits and having built at least 3 I can confidently say that Kinetic have corrected the nose droop that was apparent in the early single seat kits.

The make up of this F-16 kit is at least 80% common with the Kinetic Barak and Sufa kits that I reviewed earlier on HyperScale. So I will not repeat these parts in this review.  This kit has two separate upper sections of the forward fuselage one for the single seat version and one for the twin seat version, including all of the cockpit and canopy sections for each version.

Criticism of the early Kinetic single seat kit has been around the nose droop, lower fin parachute/ECM fairing and the panel lines.  Lining up all three kits in parallel there is now very little difference in the nose droop across the three kits.  The panel lines under a coat of paint look similar to the Tamiya kit, Tamiya’s kit being slightly sharper, although there is some difference in the location of some panels, which is correct, I did not have accurate enough drawings to comment and the difference in placement of the panels in the two kits is minimal.

Sitting the two kits (Tamiya and the later Kinetic) side by side it is difficult to pick the difference. Tamiya a bit finer in panel detail, Kinetic better wheel well detail.  The big difference is all of the options and the huge weapons detail supplied in the Kinetic kit.  But the downside is the extra work to assemble the Kinetic kit.  For some reason this kit has reverse knock out pins that are actually protrusions.  These are a bonus on external visible surfaces as you can trim them off and sand without losing surface detail unlike the usual depression on other kits that has to be filled and sanded.  But they are present on the inside surface of every curved surface such as fuselage, fuel tanks, bombs etc, and they must be removed before assembly can begin.

The Kinetic kit comes in quite a large box, but it is packed with approximately 450 parts, which is far more parts than any F-16 kit from Hasegawa and slightly more than Tamiya.  In reality a lot of these parts are alternate parts and some will be consigned to the spares box.  The range of weapons provided looks more like a dedicated weapons detail set rather than included options and the list provides for almost every weapons fit possible on an F-16 except for 6 bomb multiple ejector racks.  This list includes

• 2 x 370 gallon wing tanks

• 1 x 300 gallon centreline tank

• 1 x AAQ-13 LANTIRN Pod

• 1 x AAQ-14 LANTIRN Pod

• 1 x AAQ-20 Pathfinder Pod

• 1 x AQL-184 ECM Pod

• 4 x AIM-120B AMRAAM

• 4 x AIM-120C AMRAAM

• 4 x AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles

• 4 x AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles

• 2 x AIM 7 Sparrow missiles

• 2 x AGM-65 Maverick

• 4 x Mk.82

• 2 x GBU-31 JDAM

• 4 x GBU-38 JDAM

• 4 x GBU-12 Paveway II

• 2 x GBU-24 Paveway III

• 4 x CBU-87

The decals are nicely printed with good colour saturation and crisp detail.  A complete sheet of weapons markings are also provided.  The main aircraft sheet has been printed by Cartograf of Italy.

Markings are provided for an F-16A or B of the 401st fighter squadron of the Republic of China Air Force.  ROCAF Falcons are finished in a wrap around camouflage of FS36375 lower surfaces and FS36118/FS36270 upper surfaces.

Kinetic's 1/48 scale F-16A/B is a very comprehensive kit of both the single and twin seat Falcon that is fairly accurate overall.  With all of the weapons provisions supplied in the kit,and at the remarkable price of $26.99, I think that it provides the best value for money for any early model F-16 kit.

Thanks to Lucky Model for the samples

Review Text Copyright © 2009 by Mick Evans
Images Copyright © 2009 by Brett Green
Page Created 9 November, 2009
Last updated 10 November, 2009

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