F-16A ADF Fighting Falcon ‘Veltro 51 (Octopus)’ - 1:72 Hasegawa

[Paul A H]

F-16A ADF Fighting Falcon ‘Veltro 51 (Octopus)’

1:72 Hasegawa

The F-16 Fighting Falcon has been one of the most successful combat aircraft of the last 30 years. It has provided air forces around the world with an affordable, reliable, high-performance multi-role fighter aircraft. No fewer than 4500 examples have been manufactured, making it one of the most produced jet fighters in history, and it continues to notch up export orders to this day.

The F-16A (single seat) and B (two seat) were the original production variants of the F-16. Many examples are still in service with air forces around the world. The Italian Air Force leased 34 ex-US Air Force examples in 2003 under the ‘Peace Caesar’ programme. The aircraft were needed as a stop gap measure whilst the Italians awaited deliveries of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The last Italian F-16s were returned to the USA earlier this year.

As you might expect of an aircraft produced in such numbers, there have been quite a few kits of the F-16 produced in a range of different scales. Most of the major manufacturers can count at least one or two variants of the aircraft in their inventory. Hasegawa’s F-16 has been around for a few years now, and in that time it has appeared in a variety of boxings, often with extra sprues added to enable different variants to be built. Age has not dimmed the kit’s attractions though, and it still rates as one of the better offerings in 1:72 scale.

The kit’s parts are moulded in light grey plastic. The parts look reasonably crisp and sharp, but there is a little mould flash here and there. It’s a sign that the moulds are starting to show their age, but it isn’t anything that can’t be cured with the swiper of a sharp scalpel blade. The kits surface detail is fairly typical of a reasonably modern Hasegawa kit, which means it is precisely and delicately engraved and there is no softness of unevenness in the panel lines.

The kit shares another trait in common with some other Hasegawa kits of a certain vintage in that the cockpit is a very simple affair. The instrument panel and side consoles lack any kind of raised detail and decals are provided to represent the instruments instead. A reasonably decent ACES II ejection seat is included, but overall this kit’s cockpit would really benefit from photo etched or resin enhancements.

Unlike the F-16 kits of some other manufacturers, which have been engineered to allow both A and B variants to be built from the same basic moulds, the fuselage halves of Hasegawa’s kit are moulded in one piece without a separate cockpit area. This eliminates the need to clean up a potentially awkward join line. On the other hand, the wings have been moulded separately, so there may still be a little cleaning up to do, albeit in a less awkward location.

The undercarriage bays have a basic level of structural detail moulded in place. They are not as busy as the undercarriage bays in the 1:72 Kinetic kit, but they are pretty respectable nonetheless. The undercarriage itself is nicely detailed, although the nose wheel is moulded in one piece with the gear leg and none of the wheels are weighted. The potentially tricky engine intake is moulded in five parts and is nicely detailed, although it is not full-depth.

A fairly good set of ordnance is included, including AIM-9 Sidewinders, AIM-120 AMRAAMs, two 370 gallon fuel tanks, one 300 gallon fuel tank and some bombs. Most of these are not used for the kit depicted on the decal sheet, so you can have a field day filling the spares box. The canopy is nice and transparent but is not tinted, which is a bit of s shame as I’m sure Hasegawa have provided tinted canopies in the past. A handful of photo etched parts are provided to represent the particular variant of F-16 used by the Italian Air Force.

It should come as no surprise to learn that the decal sheet caters for just one aircraft – that depicted on the box artwork in the special scheme worn by an aircraft of Veltro 51. Unlike some other sheets of this nature, this one doesn’t include too many big decals as many of the larger areas of colour have to be painted instead. Most of the fiddly bits are catered for on the sheet though. The sheet itself is printed by Cartograf.

Conclusion

Overall this is a nice kit and it should look good once finished in this striking scheme. The overall shape is good, as is the quality of engraved detail. The basic cockpit is probably the weakest area.

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[Julien]

Thats still a nice kit

Julien

[sroubos]

This kit seems to be getting another release in a combo boxing with a Dutch MLU version. A number of additional parts are required to model that one, including a lengtened vertical tail and IFF antennae. This ADF version should also have the IFF antennae but I don't see them in the sprues, does anybody know how Hasegawa accounts for these?

http://www.hasegawausa.com/product-pages/hsgs2172.html

Edit:

I think I got it, there are two versions of the birdcutters. There seem to be two parts for this on the sprue with the ADF tail but I'm not sure if the MLU antennae part is usable, it does not sit on a 'shelf' like the ADF version.

Edited August 20, 2015 by sroubos

[niki]

Hasegawa caters for the MLU-type bird slicers via sprue 'L' found in their F-16AM/BM & F-16E/F/I kits. That will most likely be included this new box - I hope...

[sroubos]

Thanks, that's useful info. Sprue Z will be required as well to accomodate the extended parahousing... although I have a couple of resin ones for this as many Dutch (and Norwegian) aircraft had these long before the MLU upgrade.

[Hook]

Thanks, that's useful info. Sprue Z will be required as well to accomodate the extended parahousing... although I have a couple of resin ones for this as many Dutch (and Norwegian) aircraft had these long before the MLU upgrade.

RoG's new tool 1/72nd F-16's are an excellent source of both parabrake and ECM-style extended housings as well.

Cheers,

Andre

[sroubos]

Hi Andre, yes I was aware of that, but the Revell kit is more expensive than the Hasegawa at the moment. It also has a separate front/rear fuselage to deal with so it's not my preferred kit, although it is apparently a bit nicer than the Hasegawa. This is why I bought the resin housings so I'm future-proof and can do Hasegawa mods. If I ever see the Revell kit on offer for a decent price I'll get one.

Edit: And of course I'm looking for an excuse to get those awesome Diana decals

Edited August 26, 2015 by sroubos

[GMK]

Are those photo-etched strengthening plates? That'd be interesting, especially if self-adhesive.

[Hook]

Are those photo-etched strengthening plates? That'd be interesting, especially if self-adhesive.

There's the Daco selfadhesive plates as well:

http://www.dacoproducts.com/KAst22.php

Cheers,

Andre (no affiliation with Daco other than liking their stuff)

[niki]

As discussed, Hasegawa has included the ADF & MLU airframe specific parts, including strengthening plates - I'm not sure these are self adhesive though, going by the machine translated instructions...

However, Hasegawa wouldn't be Hasegawa if it weren't for such details as can be seen on the bottom half of this instruction page :

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10342080/10/0

Edited October 15, 2015 by niki

[sroubos]

How very nice... you need to buy one of their weapons kits. Is that pod included in Revell's MLU kit though?

[SleeperService]

How very nice... you need to buy one of their weapons kits. Is that pod included in Revell's MLU kit though?

Err They really want you to buy two....

[sroubos]

Only if you want it fully loaded with AMRAAMs... bit boring.

It's still a cheap move though.

Edited October 16, 2015 by sroubos

[Hook]

Is that pod included in Revell's MLU kit though?

Unfortunately, no.

Cheers,

Andre