Israeli Air Force Lockheed Martin
F-16C Block 40 “Barak”

Kinetic, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Mick Evans

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Following the cancellation of the Israeli Industries Lavi fighter project in May 1988, Israel placed an order for 60 F-16C/D Block 40 aircraft (30 F-16C and 30 F-16D), plus an option for 15 more aircraft under the Peace Marble III program. 

The first of these F-16C/D Block 40 aircraft, called Barak II (Lightning), arrived in Israel in August of 1991.

The F-16C Barak II is fitted with the General Electric F110-GE-100 engine, delivering 28,000lbs of thrust, which is at least 4000lbs more than the Pratt and Whitney F100-PW-200 fitted to the earlier F-16A Netz. To cope with the extra airflow required by the GE engine, the Barak II is fitted with an enlarged air intake commonly called “big mouth”.

The Barak has extensive local modifications incorporated, with different avionics fits and a higher gross weight than other F-16Cs totalling 48,000 pounds - at least 5,500 pounds heavier than USAF F-16Cs.

Over the past few months I have read quite a few reviews on the earlier F-16 releases by Kinetic and now that I have the kit in front of me I can see for myself what all the fuss has been about. 

Just recently I have built the old 1/48 scale Hasegawa F-16A as an Israeli Netz, the Hasegawa F-16D as a twin seat Barak with the assistance of the CMK Barak detail set, and the Tamiya F-16C as a single seat Barak with the assistance of a bit of scratch building.

Previous reviews of the earlier Kinetic releases have highlighted inaccuracies with the tail parachute/ECM housing extension and some panel lines. It has also been claimed that the nose has too much droop.  Some of these issues are easily corrected and some may be perception - it all depends on what the modeller is happy to accept or correct.  From my experience with the Hasegawa and Tamiya F-16 kits, all the kits suffer from minor inaccuracies and various levels or lack of detail. During my review I will not go over old ground or compare the kits to much further but present the review on the merits of the kit.

Kinetic’s 1/48 scale Barak kit comes in quite a large box, but it is completely packed full with approximately 450 parts. This is far more than any F-16 kit from Hasegawa and slightly more than Tamiya. 

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In reality, many of these parts are options and some will be consigned to the spares box.  The range of ordnance 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 centerline tank

• 1 x AAQ-13 LANTIRN Pod

• 1 x AAQ-14 LANTIRN Pod

• 1 x AAQ-28 Litening Pod

• 1 x AAQ-33 Sniper Pod

• 1 x ALQ-131

• 4 x AIM-120B AMRAAM

• 4 x AIM-120C AMRAAM

• 4 x AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles

• 4 x AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles

• 2 x AGM-65 Maverick

• 2 x AGM-119A Penguin

• 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

Not all the weapons provided can be fitted to the Israeli Barak but the instructions provide a load fit out table and any unused weapons can be consigned to the spares box as a bonus.  One disappointment is the absence of the Israeli-made much larger 600 gallon wing tanks that are often fitted to the Barak and Sufa.

The kit is designed to allow the manufacturer to issue many versions of the F-16 with minimal mould changes.  In fact the kit contains most of the parts to make almost any version of the F-16C.  The alternate parts are provided as replacement panel drop in and surface mount detail and in some cases filling of some surface panel detail.

Sometimes these inserts and options can cause fit problems but in this case the parts seem to fit okay.

The nose in the review kit certainly appears to have too much droop but most of this is caused by a weak point in the fuselage mould around the nose wheel well causing the lower nose half to droop and when it is lined up with the upper fuselage half. There is a 6mm gap that pulls together when glued.  I compared the dry fitted nose to the Hasegawa kit and the droop is the same but the join line is in a different position causing the lower half of the Kinetic nose to be about 2-3mm deeper, but the dimension of the kit noses is similar.

The surface detail, while not quite as sharp as the Tamiya kit, is still quite crisp and clear. I would rate the surface detail to be very good and it should look convincing under a coat of paint.  The detail in the cockpit and wheel wells is sufficient. I am usually an after-market detail fanatic but after careful examination of the kit parts and comparing them to the Aires detail sets that I used for the wheel well, cockpit and engine of my Hasegawa kit, I have decided the detail is ample and I will not be adding any after market sets. 

The exhaust nozzle is excellent, containing full internal detail even to the point that the afterburner flame holder ring is correctly positioned downstream from the turbine discs.  Full internal detail is proved on the speed brake petals allowing these to be displayed in the open position, and all of the Israeli specific antennae, ECM bulges, and various panels are all supplied.

The transparencies are crystal clear and will possibly need a coat of clear smoke to accurately portray the gold impregnated tint of the real aircraft.

The decals are nicely printed with good colour saturation and crisp detail.  A complete sheet of weapons markings is also provided.

Markings are provided for two aircraft as follows:

• F-16C Block 40 Serial number 502 of the First Fighter Squadron, and

• F-16C Block 40 Serial number 516 of the Scorpion Squadron.

The instruction sheet gives a good level of breakdown and clear instruction while the painting and decal instruction sheet is in colour and provides excellent colour scheme and decal placement detail.

At the end of the day, the finished model will deliver a very well detailed and reasonably accurate Barak. The kit will be very nice straight from the box with no need for expensive aftermarket sets to detail or convert to this version of the F-16.  Purists will always criticise minor inaccuracies, but I am still to see a faultless model kit and this is one that I will be happy to build and proud to display.

Thanks to Lucky Model for the samples

Review Text Copyright © 2009 by Mick Evans
Images Copyright © 2009 by Brett Green
Page Created 28 April, 2009
Last updated 28 April, 2009

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