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Just picked this kit up over the weekend. I will be using the kit decals and loading it up for bear using stuff from a Hasegawa F-16CJ kit. So far I've done some upgrading work to the kit seat. Original seat on the left and upgraded one on the right. I'll most likely add seatbelts in due course. Mark

This build has only taken 22 years Build thread. Here's a rundown of some of the "Whif" features... Markings: 184 FS "Flying Razorbacks" Fort Smith, Arkansas, #07-4276. Originally flying the F-16C, the Razorbacks were due to convert to the A-10 in 2007 but in it was decided that a replacement was needed for the venerable "Warthog" and Lockheed Martin were commissioned to create a suitable replacement. Airframe: The new aircraft had to be cost effective and ready for service ASAP. As there had already been several studies into creating a ground attack version of the F-16, Lockheed Martin were keen to follow up on this as R&D would be far less costly than designing an aircraft from scratch. LM simply took the existing airframe design and applied new materials that were not available during the production of the USAF's F-16s. New carbon-carbon wing spars and centre fuselage sections and carbon fibre wings were designed to give the A-16 unparalleled strength for high G manoeuvres and greater load carrying capacity. The centreline stores position was at last capable of effectively mounting an external gun pod, something that plagued A-16 trials in the 80s & 90s. Thrust vectoring: A full 360° vectoring nozzle based on technology trialled in the F-16MATV demonstrator was designed and installed on the General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofan with a maximum thrust of 32,500lb. Canards: Both the F-16 CCV & F-16 AFTI programs investigated advanced manoeuvrability using canards, LM redesigned them to enhance performance further. Computer simulation showed that such a high AOA could be achieved in conjunction with thrust vectoring that the front section of the airframe would disrupt airflow to the engine intake, a problem faced by Rockwell on the X-31 which also featured canards and thrust vectoring. LM looked at Rockwell's solution and extended the A-16s intake by 2' to place it right under the pilot overcome the problem. Attack & detection systems: The AN-APG-80 radar can perform air-to-air, search-and-track, air-to-ground targeting and aircraft terrain-following functions simultaneously and for multiple targets giving the A-16 superb low level attack capabilities. In addition to this the A-16 is fitted with integrated FLIR, AN/ASQ-213 HARM targeting system and 360° RWR. This eliminated any need for external LANTIRN & HTS pods. Avionics spine: Housing advanced defensive and attack avionics the end of the spine houses a rear facing radar with both air-to-air and air-to-ground capability. Wingtip rails: The new high strength wings allowed installation of twin "over & under" rails to carry the new AIM-157A "Rattler" short range radar guided high manoeuvrability missile. Stores positions: With the twin wingtip rails doubling the A-16s basic air-to-air capability, LM saw no need to increase wing size to carry extra air-to-ground stores. They kept the existing pylon arrangement but upgraded the systems to allow a greater variation of weapons to be installed. 40mm gun pod: Developed specifically for the A-16, this four barrelled 40mm gatling was designed to give the A-16 fantastic anti-armour capabilities using the A-16s unique off-axis manoeuvring for precision strafing.

Originally built in 1992 for an Air training Corps competition it has been gathering dust while sat on TVs, book shelves, cupboards and desks ever since. I had built it as an attack variant of the F-16 with information from various books and magazines (remember, no internet for most of us back then). I had a big problem when I was informed (very late) by my CO that the rules stated it had to be completed before my 20 birthday (oldest age for Cadet and 10 days away) so I had to build about half the kit, paint it and decal it in just over a week. Painting was done with a hairy stick but I thought I'd go up-market and bought a rattle can of Humbrol varnish. You can imagine my dismay as I watched my beautiful European One camouflage blister and crack over 30% of the underside. Needless to say, I didn't win and after winning the previous year I was gutted, so on top of a wardrobe it went. A few years later for some reason I slapped a thick coat of gunship grey all over it... To this day I can't remember why This brings us to last December. It's been sitting on top of one of my book cases for years and I was looking at it and just thought about what a waste it was. And that was it, it was that moment that got me back into modelling after a 12 year break! I've taken over 200 photos during it's restoration and had intended to do a build thread from the beginning but never got around to starting it. I haven't done anything to it in a few months so this group is ideal for getting me going again and finally finishing this kit properly after 21 years. This first post is a bit picture heavy but it gives you an idea of where I am with it. The only photo I have of it as a shelf queen. Lots of Fairy Power Spray to lift 3 coats of grey, 2 coats of varnish and 3 coats of camo! Lots of green putty... Most of the cockpit detail was scratch built for the original build. Scratch built 40mm gun pod. Kit exhaust with lots of extra detail. It originally had no pilot and the kit seat was awful so I bought a Reheat Models ACES II and an Academy pilot on eBay for it. A bit of chopping and fettling got the pilot nice and comfy in his seat. I went a bit mental and fitted full seat straps. And I've made a fictional HUD for him to use This was taken at the end of February, since then I have pre-shaded it (March) and sprayed the underside (July), so still plenty to do.

Top Gun Falcons Eduard 1:48 Limited Edition The Kinetic F-16 is very well known throughout the world, having first been accepted into service in 1979. The Kinetic kit is almost as well known in modelling circles and with the huge number of variants released it’s not surprising that it’s also proving pretty popular. Eduard have now taken Kinetics F-16A kit, added some resin and etched parts, paint masks, and released it as a limited edition kit. The kit comes in a top opening box with a picture of a representation of a US Navy aggressor aircraft “flying” out of the box top. On opening the box, the modeller is confronted with a pile of styrene of different grey hues. To say the box is packed to the rafters would be an understatement, although being in a single poly bag some parts had come away from the sprues. Fortunately the clear parts, resin etc are all in separate bags. Even though it is possible for the styrene to be damaged there doesn’t appear to be any to be seen. Since the Kinetic kit has been reviewed elsewhere on Britmodeller, it would be churlish to repeat a construction sequence, so instead this review will be on the Eduard and Brassin additions that have been added. The instruction seat is one of the clearest the reviewer has come across in a long time. Resin The resin parts provided come in three bags. The largest of which contains the engine parts, which consist of the front turbine disc, rear turbine disc, engine exhaust duct and the exhaust petals. Each part is very nicely moulded with on the exhaust parts requiring to have their moulding stubs to be carefully removed and painted before the parts can be assembled. The next bag contains a Brassin ejection seat, consisting of the seat itself, the mounting rails, seat back and ejection oxygen bottle. Once again the parts are beautifully moulded with some really fine detail, even where it may not be clearly seen. The last set contains the replacement Brassin wheels. With their moulding blocks connected to the bottom of the tyre by a thin web these will be easy to clean up with no visible loss of detail. The hubs, tread and brake units are all very well moulded. In all the resin parts there are no visible faults or pin holes and the only flash is a very thin web between the ejection seat rails, easily removed with a sharp blade. Etch There are two sheets of etched parts. Both are quite small, but then even in this scale most of the actually details are small, and there are quite a lot of them. The first sheet filled with mostly pre-painted parts, and is designed for the cockpit. As is usual for these parts usage, some of the styrene details will have to be removed before the etched details can be fitted. This is particularly the case for the side consoles and the instrument panels. The instrument panels receive a new HUD control panel, lower centre console and side consoles with new MFD bezels, with the screens on. The quarter consoles also get new dials and fascias with additional levers whilst the side panels receive completely new panels, again with added levers. The styrene rudder pedals are replaced with PE parts as are the vents on the rear bulkhead. The rest of this sheet concentrates on the ejection seat, with new parts for the seat firing handle, scissor shackle, head box horns, seat release handle, seat rail ties, main cartridge housing, and head box stencil plates. The seat is then finished off with a comprehensive harness consisting of the various types of straps and buckles which build up into a very realistic looking arrangement. The second sheet is mainly for external details, with the exception of the HUD glass mounting, canopy locking mechanisms, coaming details, EGT spiders web and the afterburner section screen. The rest of the set contains, items such as the airbrake internal hinge mechanisms and external hinge covers, static wicks, brake lines, chaff and flare dispensers for the fuselage and pylons, and lastly several aerials. Masks Included in this edition is a set of masks for the canopy, internal and external wheels and tyres. These are a very handy addition for any modeller. Decals The comprehensive decal sheet, printed by Cartograf looks superb, with each option printed in its own section. The decals all appear in good register, nicely opaque and slightly glossy. The options provided are:- F-16A Block 15AM OCU, s/n 90-0943, NSAWC, NAS Fallon, 2002-2008 in a three tone brown scheme. F-16A Block 15AR OCU, s/n 92-0409, NSAWC, NAS Fallon, 2002-2008 in a three tone blue and grey scheme F-16A Block 15AM OCU, s/n 90-0947, NSAWC, NAS Fallon, 2003-2008 in a three tone grey scheme. F-16A Block 15C, s/n 81-0688, US Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, 1993-1995, in a very attractive white and red scheme. Conclusion I will admit to this being the first time I’ve actually got my hands on the Kinetic kit, but am very impressed with the detail and finesse of the panels lines. Now, I heard that the original kits had shape problems, particularly the nose, but I understand this has been corrected in later kits, such as this one. The addition of the Eduard and Brassin parts make this a very attractive and detailed kit which should build into a great looking model. The other benefits are that there are loads of parts left over for the spares box, including weapons, a selection of ECM and aiming pods and new pylons, none of which are used on the box options. Review sample courtesy of

A couple more too add. Both fun to build, with their individual frustrations, not least the canopy shape of the F-16 and the undercarriage length of the A-10. Never mind, there are more important things to be concerned about. Firstly the A-10 Revell A-10 Thuderbolt II 4 by jonbru0903, on Flickr Revell A-10 Thuderbolt II 2 by jonbru0903, on Flickr Revell A-10 Thuderbolt II 1 by jonbru0903, on Flickr Then the F-16 Academy F-16 Fighting Falcon 4 by jonbru0903, on Flickr Academy F-16 Fighting Falcon 3 by jonbru0903, on Flickr Academy F-16 Fighting Falcon 2 by jonbru0903, on Flickr Academy F-16 Fighting Falcon 1 by jonbru0903, on Flickr Best wishes all. Quite like the new look of the Forum.